My last resort!! Asking for opinions before culling. Pics included

[dweder]

I have a PBR 11 month old hen, who started with signs of loss of appetite almost a month ago. I noticed she was not acting right, so I brought her into the house, pulled her from the flock.

* I wormed her, just in case, let her recover. No change. Stopped eating completely. I started force feeding her (yogurt, eggs, feed and nutri-drench)

* I took her to the vet. They found a very small amount of coccidia in her fecal float. I treated her with antibiotics for cocci. No change. Still not eating. Continued force feeding.

* She has no signs of respiratory problem. Terrible pale color in her face and comb. Her poop is very green as if she is not getting enough nutrition from the food. Wont eat anything on her own. She has lost half of her body weight.

* I started treatment with Oxine AH, fogging her 3 times a day. It's been two days on the Oxine, no change.

* Her beak has turned purple. I dont know if it's bruised from force feeding or this is a symptom of somthing else.

In summary, she is clearly underweight now, not eating on her own but is not getting worse, just not better. Does anyone have any ideas what else this could be????

You can see her beak is purple here

This mornings poop

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am so sorry she hasn't gotten any better with all you have done for her, sometimes in spite of all we do they still don't recover.. I can't tell you what to do but I can say that I have been where you are if it helps at all. I don't know about her beak but when their comb or wattles turn purple it most of the time means their not getting enough oxygen which could be heart.. hopefully someone else can help out. Bless you for hanging in there with her for so long..

 

[un-named]

I don't have any info, but I am proud of you for doing so much for her. You are a good owner.

 

[speckledhen]

Antibiotics don't treat cocci, which is a protozoan not a bacteria. You need a coccidiostat like Corid for that, however, it may not be cocci at all. How is her abdomen? Have you wormed her at all? Not saying it's worms, but weight loss like that can be worms, internal laying/egg peritonitis in the final stages, or a number of other things.

 

[dweder]

I used the wrong term. She was treated with Albon(from the vet) for Cocci. She has been wormed recently as well.

Thank you for the kind support everyone. I'm having a very hard time letting go of this one. Of course, she was my favorite hen! I'm just hoping someone can see something that I've missed. I would do anything to help her.

 

[speckledhen]

Sure wish we could be more definitive. I've lost 9 hens to internal laying, but they lose massive amounts of weight while still eating fine. If she isn't eating, I'm not sure what that could be. How is her crop? Gassy or just empty?

 

[dweder]

Her crop is empty in the mornings. I've been force feeding her twice a day by syringe until her crop is quite full. Based on what Im feeding her, the crop feels sorta spongey.

 

[purpletree23]

I agree with Miss Lydia. Sometimes no matter what we do or how hard we try to find out what is wrong they just don't get better. What I find unusual is a chicken that will not eat. Have you tried treats? Something soft and irresistible like scrambled egg quartered grapes, cottage cheese, chopped up strawberry or blueberries. My gals when they aren't feeling well also like chopped up chicken (size of peas) or Cheerios in yogurt.

If you haven't tried any of these give them a try and get back to us.

If you have and she has no interest gently open her mouth and see if there is anything that looks like it doesn't belong there. A stuck piece of wood, a bump or sore or even a discoloration.

IMHO force feeding is not the best thing for her. Unless you can find out what is wrong I would have her put down. The color of her poops shows that she is starving. It's bile and little else.

 

[ChooksChick]

Switch to baby parrot formula to give her all of the nutrients she needs and up her protein. She can use 250mL per day, which you can give her in two feedings with a big feeding syringe. It's the best way to keep her from losing weight, which you MUST do to stop her from those green poops, which indicate a use of her own tissues for energy to me. I have tube fed a rooster who lost his lower beak for 2 years and he was a lovely, shiny, heavy GIANT bird until the end- and he died from something unrelated.

This is a great substitute that will get her back into shape and put weight on her. You can get it at the pet store- I like the Zupreem or the Exact. Mix it with the least amount of water you can to get it like pudding or a bit thicker to get the most nutrients into her.

Once she's back into using fewer calories than she's burning, she may regain her appetite. What can you see in her mouth or throat that might be causing this? Nothing? I hate the way they stop eating when they feel sick, and then complicate their problem.

Best of luck!

 

[dweder]

I've given her every possible treat on the planet. She wont eat anything. Scrambled eggs used to be the highest value treat. Won't touch them. Won't touch mealworms either anymore!!