- Jul 24, 2013
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Hello everyone,
It has been a long time since I posted, and even longer since I had a sick bird. Unfortunately, I have one now that I would love some help with.
About a month ago, I picked up one of my best White Wyandotte bantam hens (3.5 years old, multiple best in shows in her show career) and thought she felt a little light. However, she was behaving normally, strutting dominantly around the coop (she's the top hen), eating, and drinking like usual. I was a little concerned, but didn't think much about it.
Then, about ten days ago, the same hen got worse. She used to love eating feed moistened with water, but she barely wanted to touch it now. She was still relatively bright eyed and mobile, though. At this point, she was isolated from the other birds in a cage to keep her in good condition, since shows are starting soon. I brought the hen inside to observe closely and treat. I also weighed her: she weighed about 19 oz, down from approximately 26 oz when she was perfectly healthy.
First, I tried treating her with Corid and colloidal silver (about 1 cc of the silver per day). I also wormed her with the Worminator. After about five days of treatment, there was no change. She ate some corn, mealworms, some raw egg, and various fruits, but wasn't interested in pellets, ordinary earthworms (a treat some of my birds enjoy), or in eating large quantities of food. Her weight remained around 19-19.4 oz. She continued drinking a little on her own, but I also made sure to give her extra water in a syringe.
After the Corid treatment, she was no better and in fact seemed a little worse. So, I treated her orally for about five days with Tylan 200. I gave her around .25 ccs of the injectable Tylan 200, which I read on BYC could be given orally, each day, morning and night. During this time, her weight didn't decrease, though this was partially due to me forcing some vitamins and Kaytee bird food into her. She continued to eat mealworms, corn, some vegetables/fruits, and some raw egg. Two days ago, she also started eating a few worms each morning (a minor improvement), and she has been more talkative.
Yesterday, I stopped the Tylan and decided to try a more natural, supportive treatment. I gave her more colloidal silver, as well as some Curcumin/Turmeric and coconut oil, since I've read those are good for sick birds. She also got more egg to eat and a follow-up Worminator dose. Today she got more of the same (no wormer though). She ate slightly less corn this morning and was a little less interested in her worms, however.
What I'm asking for is any other supportive treatment ideas people have. Any specific vitamin or food source? I've heard of using certain oils (Oregano?), are there any other natural remedies? I'm kind of out of ideas with this hen. Perhaps she has some sort of blockage, failing organ, or tumorous growth inside? Her droppings have been wet, small, and somewhat mucous-y, but normal colored.
Edit around 8:00pm (I started this post earlier in the afternoon): She seems worse tonight. Less interested in mealworms/corn and droopy/tired. Maybe her body is shutting down?
I'll update in the morning.
It has been a long time since I posted, and even longer since I had a sick bird. Unfortunately, I have one now that I would love some help with.
About a month ago, I picked up one of my best White Wyandotte bantam hens (3.5 years old, multiple best in shows in her show career) and thought she felt a little light. However, she was behaving normally, strutting dominantly around the coop (she's the top hen), eating, and drinking like usual. I was a little concerned, but didn't think much about it.
Then, about ten days ago, the same hen got worse. She used to love eating feed moistened with water, but she barely wanted to touch it now. She was still relatively bright eyed and mobile, though. At this point, she was isolated from the other birds in a cage to keep her in good condition, since shows are starting soon. I brought the hen inside to observe closely and treat. I also weighed her: she weighed about 19 oz, down from approximately 26 oz when she was perfectly healthy.
First, I tried treating her with Corid and colloidal silver (about 1 cc of the silver per day). I also wormed her with the Worminator. After about five days of treatment, there was no change. She ate some corn, mealworms, some raw egg, and various fruits, but wasn't interested in pellets, ordinary earthworms (a treat some of my birds enjoy), or in eating large quantities of food. Her weight remained around 19-19.4 oz. She continued drinking a little on her own, but I also made sure to give her extra water in a syringe.
After the Corid treatment, she was no better and in fact seemed a little worse. So, I treated her orally for about five days with Tylan 200. I gave her around .25 ccs of the injectable Tylan 200, which I read on BYC could be given orally, each day, morning and night. During this time, her weight didn't decrease, though this was partially due to me forcing some vitamins and Kaytee bird food into her. She continued to eat mealworms, corn, some vegetables/fruits, and some raw egg. Two days ago, she also started eating a few worms each morning (a minor improvement), and she has been more talkative.
Yesterday, I stopped the Tylan and decided to try a more natural, supportive treatment. I gave her more colloidal silver, as well as some Curcumin/Turmeric and coconut oil, since I've read those are good for sick birds. She also got more egg to eat and a follow-up Worminator dose. Today she got more of the same (no wormer though). She ate slightly less corn this morning and was a little less interested in her worms, however.
What I'm asking for is any other supportive treatment ideas people have. Any specific vitamin or food source? I've heard of using certain oils (Oregano?), are there any other natural remedies? I'm kind of out of ideas with this hen. Perhaps she has some sort of blockage, failing organ, or tumorous growth inside? Her droppings have been wet, small, and somewhat mucous-y, but normal colored.
Edit around 8:00pm (I started this post earlier in the afternoon): She seems worse tonight. Less interested in mealworms/corn and droopy/tired. Maybe her body is shutting down?
