My RIR has weight loss, runny poop, lethargic

[jjthink]

Hmmmm......tough one. Could be so many things.

Would definitely get fresh food, and dump the stuff with bugs. Fresh straw/pine shavings. Anything suspected to have any mold - ditch.

Would do the Polyvisol as suggested, and right away.

Fresh plain yogurt with bits of cut up fruit mixed in (mine won't eat it without). See if she'll eat a scrambled egg. She needs to have a 24/7 supply of fresh layer food (NOT scratch - huge difference) and a 24/7 available supply of oyster shell available in a separate dish. Has she had oyster shell (or other source of calcium) available?

My hen Ellie became totally listless on Labor Day. There have been no eggs since. Blood work revealed infection and/or inflammation, cause unknown. Treatment with antibiotic and anti-inflammatory seems to have improved her state, but I'm still not sure what is going on. Could be a transient infection or could be internal laying. She is molting now so I'm hoping that explains the cessation of egg laying.

Without diagnostic testing it is really hard to know what is going on with your girl, but all the supportive care measures noted above will hopefully help strengthen her.

If you can have her stool tested for parasites then you would know whether to worm her in her current state. Only because she is compromised would I be tempted to avoid that unless she truly does have parasites right now. I had Ellie's stool tested (she was too weak to worm unless truly necessary) and it was negative for parasites so I didn't worm her but have put out some pumpkin seeds and mixed a little food garde DE in their food, just in case the test was misread. If you can't have a parasite test done then I might take the risk and worm her because if she does have worms they could kill her lickety split. Ivomec Eprinex "spot on" - 1/4 cc for a 5.5 pound bird. I got it at a Tractor Supply store.

Duty calls - memo due at work - but I just wanated to at least get a few thoughts sent your way along with best wishes for your hen. Will check back to see how things are going.
JJ

 

[jasminty]

So after closer inspection, I am fairly sure she is laying internally. When I felt underneath her before I was really just feeling for a hard lump like egg.
But now that I think about it and have worked her over more thoroughly, she is so skinny in her breast but when I feel her abdomen in comparison it feels warm and quite swollen, not shrunken like the rest of her.
And feeling her sister who is still meaty (and now quite mad at me) I can say this one feels swollen and backed up. More so than I would think with just one egg.

My vet wants $75 to put her to sleep (which I think is outrageous, is that a normal price?) so I can't ask what a hysterectomy would cost.

I'm quite sad, but knew that 3-5 yrs is kind of the max for them. This was to get our feet wet (start small and simple). I did not realize this was the reason why they have a shorter life that other types.

Not sure what I should do from here for her, but I have gained a ton of knowledge, and will be doing a couple things differently in way of care (and food) moving forward.
Soon, I'd like to get 5 more, to keep my awnry Penny company. not sure what type we'll pick yet, need to do more research.

We keep chickens to help feed our big family, but they are also pets. I wish I could afford to spoil them more. And I love the lesson my kids get about nature, taking care of our air, water, soil, earth, and recycling and why it's important to do so. Knowing that food does not actually come from a shelf.

So I'm happy for this learning experience and grateful for the info and help. Sad for my favorite, sweetest, first girl.

I'm glad I made my way here. Will keep you all updated! And still happy for suggestions on simple, cheap, improvements to keep our friends happy and healthy.

~I'm off to get proper food and supplies.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm sorry, first of all. It does sound like she's probably an internal layer. I have pictures of what we found in the autopsy, if you'd like to see what's possibly going on inside her. Second, that amt seems very high to euthanize a chicken. Seems vets here only charge about $25 to euthanize a dog.

 

[jasminty]

Quote:

Thank You

Actually I have a pretty good idea of what (the mass)would look like from what I have read ball of cooked yolk and mash, but I wouldn't mind taking a look to see how one would fine the ovaries or know what parts to look for to remove. I would try to do it myself if I had the right equipment and had better internal knowlegde, but I dont so I wouldn't dare even try.....

What I was quoted was for an exam and the procedure.
An exam seems pretty unnecessary considering the outcome. Maybe its just a legal thing, but this place has always been way over zealous with the charges and procedures and never even heard of the VIP or any low cost clinic when I told her that how my dogs get vaccines. Shes not a bad vet I just think shes missed a whole demographic and cheap does not occur in her vocab/world...

I will have to see if some where (maybe a city shelter) can because I wouldn't know how to do it myself. (well I have one idea, dont think I can handle it). Might be different if we had always had 100 but shes my first (and fave) one of two

Is there any thing easy that will make them go to sleep and not wake up?

poor thing

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
I'm sorry this is happening to you and your girl

I was hoping it was something simple like my girl and she would perk up. I wouldn't know what to do either at this point. I feel for you, big time. :aww



I agree, $75 is ridiculous for a chicken, but that is cheap...for the west coast anyway. It always costs me close to $150 or more to euthanize any animal, no matter what the size, at my vet and I live in a small town! They attribute the cost to the state law requiring vets to perform an exam and consultation before euthanizing any animal. I'm a 13 year client there so I have pitched a fit many times over the exam when it was obvious what was needed and they have waived the fee, "fixed it" so it looks legal for their paperwork.

 

[chickenlady]

Why rule out worming her if you have not tried that already? You can get the ivomec eprinex pour on. It will take a day to start seeing results if it is a worm infestation, if she doesnt get better, put her down. I am not at all trying to slight the info you have received so far, but what do you have to lose with worming her? Best of luck.

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
I've chimed in enough already probably, but I have to agree with you. I always start with the least drastic and work my way down...or up...the list.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
I've chimed in enough already probably, but I have to agree with you. I always start with the least drastic and work my way down...or up...the list.

That is always a good policy, especially if a little more time wont hurt the situation any. Eprinex pour on is easy to worm with, too. Expensive, but it goes a very long way.

 

[jjthink]

Ditto re: worming...
That, and all the nutritional support.
JJ

 

[jasminty]

Thanks for all the input. I had the same thought about worming anyway. She is not acting like shes really fragile (in fact I let her back out side in the sun and she seemed much happy to not be locked up and bored). But that is the thing, ever since she was kinda sickly when I first got her I have suspected she had gotten egg bound- or something but she didn't seem right (I didn't know about internal laying then). Shes acting pretty normal but her symptoms and weight say otherwise. Her body is so sucked in and her abdomen so swollen, I feel like what else could it be? I really dont think worms would do that to her, not with the swollen bottom/abdomen.
Considering that I'm having an awfully hard time even finding any wormer (other than peprazine in tablet form, says for puppies /kittens etc does not mention poultry) I will probably opt for some pumpkin seeds. Its probably more gentle to her (Its not like it will hurt her!) since shes so thin and frail anyway. And I prefer to go natural if possible anyway.
I dont know. I'm pretty frustrated with the vet. She does birds, goats horses and yet it seems like they dont know much for chickens. I'm waiting for a call back, but I doubt she will give me anything with out a full exam and blood work up, fecal test, exrays(j/k) etc etc etc. Makes me wonder what folks do for a whole flock.
I've called the local feed/tractor stores too and they dont carry much of anything but feed.

Not sure where else to look. Maybe a regular pet store?
I might have to resort to walking out of the neighborhoods, going down the way and knocking on some ranch and farm house doors lol.

I feel like I should know/ have a place to get these kinda of things because I plan on getting more girls, and if/when I loose this one my one will be all alone all winter unless I get in on the last batch of chicks now. But I am feeling a bit unprepared for that, with little access to good supplies

I'll let ya know how it turns out.

PS I already changed the feed and boy were they happy!!!