Lola's outside and walking normally! YAY!!!!

[Alethea]

I'm glad Lola seems to be on the mend and I'm sending merit to her and Nugget. You've done well. Whatever happens, remember that.

Nutritional yeast is high in B vitamins and tastes good. You could add some to the scrambled egg, and a little water, too.

 

[Chick named Lola]

Oh, thank you that's a great idea. Great news this am, I went in to check on the girls in their hospital bathroom suite.... and there's Lola standing on TOP on the dog crate.

I was like well, you must be feeling better! Then she fought me on taking her antibiotic...although it took some patience, I got most of it in her without having to hold her down or anything.

So maybe a combo of the antibiotic kicking in and having a friend with her has helped. I'm not going to put her back outside until her medicine is gone...It'll be impossible with her outside..or at least a major PIA. lol

 

[Alethea]

This is off the subject, but your last comment reminds me of when I have to catch the chickens to put vaseline on their combs when the temperature drops. Flora is hard to catch. It wouldn't be so bad, but the others run interference. I feel like a football player chasing the one with the ball with the others getting running at me in between.

 

[Chick named Lola]

This is off the subject, but your last comment reminds me of when I have to catch the chickens to put vaseline on their combs when the temperature drops. Flora is hard to catch. It wouldn't be so bad, but the others run interference. I feel like a football player chasing the one with the ball with the others getting running at me in between.

So funny and so true! I pet my girls but I really don't push myself on them...I do periodically pick em up just to give em a hug but they don't really like it. So now that I've gone and caught two of them and disappeared with them they are all reeeeeally leery of me. The day I caught Lola, the other girls went up in the coop to hide and wouldn't come out...silly girls.

 

[Chick named Lola]

This has been going on a week now. It's nice out today and I can't really get her to walk inside so I put her out in the run today to see how she was doing. As the only improvement I've seen is that she has more energy and is fighting me when I give her her antibiotics from the vet.

So out she went...a few feather flew but she stood up for herself and all is well as far as that goes. Then I saw her walk...no change. Broke my heart. She can't seem to walk straight, it's like she goes almost sideways to get where she is going. She was up on the roosts that are like steps...when she tried to jump down to the next step/roost she fell.

I've been trying to fatten her up as she's a bit skinny the vet said. Scrambled eggs, tuna etc... she still looks pretty skinny. Her quills are coming in though so hopefully she won't be so naked for much longer.

I'm waiting for the vet to call with some advice. Any idea's guys? How do you know about quality of life with this? Could she be in pain? Is she miserable or happy? I just don't know. Hubby is getting frustrated with her inside and asks every day when is she going back out. I don't know what to do.

 

[Chick named Lola]

Talked to the vet...he can't tell much without bloodwork but that another $150.00 on top of the $232.00 I've already spent. I'm on disability, very fixed income. I think he's leaning towards Mereks but only time will tell with that and a necropsy. So far all my other girls are ok. He says let's give it three more days...Come on Lola, you just have to get better.

 

[roxyblue]

You said that your hens were all in molt right? I had a hen that showed the same symptoms your hen is showing, almost like she was drunk, she would walk side ways and lay down a lot. If she is thin she could have worms OR it could just be her molt, I gave mine lots of extra protein in the form of eggs, chick feed, and yogurt and after a week and a few days she was close to normal again. Also, when the feathers are first poking through the skin they do become sore, it's best not to hold them a lot.
It's obvious that you care a lot about your chickens....your a good chicken mama.
good luck and keep us updated!
-Roxy

 

[Chick named Lola]

Really!!!! Oh thank you so much for posting that, you've given me some hope.

I am trying all those things to put weight on her. I think she's sick of scrambled eggs and tuna...she's been turning her nose up at it the past day or two. But put some meal worms down and it's on like Donkey Kong. She also is digging bird seed. In addition to her crumbles and vitamin water of course. So you just kept her quiet for a little over a week and that's it? No medication or anything? I'm just grasping at straws here for anything I can do to improve her condition and make her happy. She makes me so happy it's the least I can do.

Thank you for the kind words, I sure do love my girls. This is the one of the hardest parts of owning an animal, but I made a commitment to her when I decided to get her and I am going to see this through if it kills me.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Make sure Lola is protected from predators because shes a target, molting chickens are the slowest. I lost my Australorp hen while she was molting to a bobcat. I caught the bobcat red handed, and when I felt the Australorp "Honk" i felt her heart beat at least one last time I thought, she was still very warm. Darn my timing. So keep a eye out for predators.

 

[Harli50]

Sooooo sorry!!! hope she gets better sending virtual hugs your way