- Jun 20, 2011
- 5
- 0
- 7
I bought 5 hens from a farm the end of April. Big Mama came with perception problem (could not eat off the ground, only could eat from hand or container) and Lady in Red came with diarrhea.
In the 3rd week, Lady in Red was found with dropped wings and extreme weakness. Took her to the vet and the vet didn't know what it was. On the 3rd day, her legs got paralyzed - Right leg forward, Left leg backward in split position. She had no control over her neck, so she was diving into water container spilling the water. Her comb started getting pale and laying on the side. The farmer told me to feed her electrolytes and yogurt. I force fed her that mixture with antioxidents and her comb started coming back. I had to send her back to the farm where she came from, because I could not get myself to take her to the vet to put her to sleep. The farmer informs me that one of her leg didn't recover so she is now walking on her knee.
Around the same time, Big Mama's left eye lid started getting droopy. In the beginning of 7th week, Big Mama was found with left wing dropped with one side of her neck and head bulding and was very weak. Her wing was getting in her way when she was walking, I had to clip her wing. I fed her scrambled egg with vitamins and calcium along with coconut water yogurt mixture daily. She was getting weaker and weaker, constantly sleeping. Both of her wings dropped two days ago and she no longer had appetite to eat. Her eyes got red and she was panting rapidly during the day. She didn't have energy to fly upto the roost and chose to sleep on the ground. We were told it may be that the feed is the wrong kind. When we went to buy some new feed, the guy at the shop mentioned of New Castle's. I googled and found that it may be what Big Mama had - it says it's very contageous, showing symptoms of conjunctivitis, respiratory signs (gasping, coughing), nervous signs (depression, inappetence, muscular tremors, drooping wings, twisting of head and neck, circling, complete paralysis), swelling of the tissues around the eyes and neck, greenish, watery diarrhea, misshapen, rough- or thin-shelled eggs and reduced egg production. She passed away today after 9 days of suffering.
Other hens seem to be okay so far, but New Castle's incubation period can be upto 2 weeks and the virus can survive in the soil for over 20 days they say. The farmer told me UC Davis offers free necropsy. I contacted them and was told to send her into San Bernardino branch. We will send her out tomorrow and will post the result once I get it.
In the 3rd week, Lady in Red was found with dropped wings and extreme weakness. Took her to the vet and the vet didn't know what it was. On the 3rd day, her legs got paralyzed - Right leg forward, Left leg backward in split position. She had no control over her neck, so she was diving into water container spilling the water. Her comb started getting pale and laying on the side. The farmer told me to feed her electrolytes and yogurt. I force fed her that mixture with antioxidents and her comb started coming back. I had to send her back to the farm where she came from, because I could not get myself to take her to the vet to put her to sleep. The farmer informs me that one of her leg didn't recover so she is now walking on her knee.
Around the same time, Big Mama's left eye lid started getting droopy. In the beginning of 7th week, Big Mama was found with left wing dropped with one side of her neck and head bulding and was very weak. Her wing was getting in her way when she was walking, I had to clip her wing. I fed her scrambled egg with vitamins and calcium along with coconut water yogurt mixture daily. She was getting weaker and weaker, constantly sleeping. Both of her wings dropped two days ago and she no longer had appetite to eat. Her eyes got red and she was panting rapidly during the day. She didn't have energy to fly upto the roost and chose to sleep on the ground. We were told it may be that the feed is the wrong kind. When we went to buy some new feed, the guy at the shop mentioned of New Castle's. I googled and found that it may be what Big Mama had - it says it's very contageous, showing symptoms of conjunctivitis, respiratory signs (gasping, coughing), nervous signs (depression, inappetence, muscular tremors, drooping wings, twisting of head and neck, circling, complete paralysis), swelling of the tissues around the eyes and neck, greenish, watery diarrhea, misshapen, rough- or thin-shelled eggs and reduced egg production. She passed away today after 9 days of suffering.
Other hens seem to be okay so far, but New Castle's incubation period can be upto 2 weeks and the virus can survive in the soil for over 20 days they say. The farmer told me UC Davis offers free necropsy. I contacted them and was told to send her into San Bernardino branch. We will send her out tomorrow and will post the result once I get it.
