Malnurished Maran with eye problem - Advice Appreciated!

[spaznokas]

I brought home a 6 month old FBC Maran pullet that had survived a fox attack. (Her sister wasn't so lucky.

) The pullet only lost a few feathers due to the fox. However, she had been somewhat neglected and was malnurished with a roundworm infestation.

I've been treating her for the worms and she seems to be recovering well so far. She's drinking, eating, moving around etc. She's still undernurished so I've been providing her with yogurt & a little oatmeal as well as organic feed. She won't take much of the yogurt/oatmeal even with a few dried mealworms. (Umm I've never seen a chicken turn down dried mealworms!) I've also noticed that one of her eyes has seems a bit obscured by the lower and inner eye folds. It doesn't really look irritated or red and it wasn't due to the fox attack. She doesn't show any respiratory symptoms.

Two questions:

1. What more can I do for her to help her gain weight and restore health?

2. What could the eye issue be?

I appreciate your input in helping me heal this sweet girl. She's been through a lot and deserves a chance to live a long happy life!

 

[welasharon]

Try scrambled eggs also.

 

[Blue_Myst]

You have a good plan working there--the oatmeal and organic feed will especially put a bit more meat on her ribs.

Since she's malnourished, it might be a good idea to put a vitamin supplement in her food or water, if you haven't done that all ready. A lot of BYC'ers like Poly Vi Sol (without iron). She only needs a small dosage every day, and it's liquid so you could put it in her yogurt or her water.

If she's not eating, you might have to force a bit of the food on her. You can use a syringe or just poke her beak into the oatmeal/yogurt. When birds are feeling bad, they tend not to eat, and when they don't eat, they feel bad, and the cycle keeps repeating until something changes. I had a hen with no appetite for days, and the thing that turned her condition around was Poultry Nutridrench. I gave this to her in a syringe for several days, and she perked right back up again! It's not a vitamin supplement per se, but it has a lot of energy-related products that can be absorbed quickly by the chicken.

As for the eye issue, it's hard to say. A picture would be helpful, if you could upload one! I'd say it's either an injury or she's coming down with a respiratory illness like MG or Coryza. Sometimes the eye swelling happens before the respiratory symptoms are noticeable.

Thank you for putting so much effort into this poor hen! Good luck!

 

[spaznokas]

Thank you both. I forgot that I did add a vita/electrolyte supplement to her water. I'll try the scrambled eggs.

When I went out to take some pics, I noticed some redness and swelling where there wast any previously.

. I'll try to get these posted later. Can't on my phone.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

I am also trying to fatten up a poor girl I recently took in: She is literally skin and bones. She was loaded with worms, lice, and mites plus her lower beak had overgrown so she really was having a hard time eating. All she wanted to do was sleep when I got her: Face to the ground and fuzzy butt in the air. I trimmed her beak and wormed her with Ivermectin due to the lice/mites and she began to improve within hours.

Anyway, in a little under a week she is now up most of the day and eating as much food as I put in front of her. She has also began to speak again (she was completely silent before) and scratch when she eats. She still falls asleep rather suddenly, but her naps are shorter and less frequent; my daughter says she is a narcoleptic chicken (my BIL is narcoleptic and the similarities are striking)

So far the winners among the foods I've offered her are: Cat fooded wetted and topped with fish oil; scrabled eggs; peas and fresh corn; romaine lettuce; sunflower and pumpkin seeds; and oatmeal and honey in yogurt. I also switched her to 50% gamebird starter for the higher protein and am adding a little of the save-a-chick electrolyte formula to her water. I also gave her small doses of nutridrench the first couple of days and she acted kind of "buzzed" like I'd given her a monster energy drink for a while afterward.

She is in the house in a crate because I thought she'd recover better in here without the extra stress from the heat outside. She's not out of the woodwork, but well enough to have managed to escape yesterday and lead me on a chicken chase through the dining room. I think the only reason I caught her is because she got on the tile and looked like she'd stepped on ice...delaying her just long enough for me to grab her.

Good luck with your patient. Hope your Maran gets better soon.