TreeHugger
Songster
- Apr 7, 2008
- 342
- 13
- 196
Six years of having chickens and I've NEVER purchased a full grown bird...I wish I would have left it there.
Went to a small animal auction yesterday and decided to buy a silkie hen, she is beautiful but has issues.
1) She is a young pullet - about a year old at most.
2) She is underweight and was infested (bad) with mites and lice.
3) Poo doesn't look right, it's watery and although I don't see worms I'm thinking it's a good possibility.
4) I noticed yesterday when I got her home, her crop was empty and she drank a lot of water.
5) She never attempted to eat, she just drank water. This morning I started force feeding her cooked egg yolk.
6) What worries me is I just went to check on her and she was trying to eat but missing the food by about an inch. She would get a piece of food about every 10 bobs of her head. She only ate a small amount of food and then went back and drank an excessive amount of water.
7) She stands in the corner of the cage most of the time, in fact she seems to back up instead of walking forward. She does turn her head to look at things so I'm thinking she isn't blind.
She is in quarantine - no physical contact but I'm thinking she is still to close to my flock. I'm not sure how far away I should have kept her. I've treated her for mites and lice and wormed her. I trimmed the feathers away from her face since her feathers were obstructing her vision (she still misses her food when eating). Her eyes and nose are clear and her eyes do not look like ones effected by Mareks.
Does anyone have any suggustions? I'm considering culling her but since I've already brought her on the property I figured I'd at least give her a chance in case she is just ran down from the bug infestion. I've never seen a bird "miss" the food and I'm wondering if she is just drinking a lot of water to feel full. I'm slowly starting to freak out....
Went to a small animal auction yesterday and decided to buy a silkie hen, she is beautiful but has issues.
1) She is a young pullet - about a year old at most.
2) She is underweight and was infested (bad) with mites and lice.
3) Poo doesn't look right, it's watery and although I don't see worms I'm thinking it's a good possibility.
4) I noticed yesterday when I got her home, her crop was empty and she drank a lot of water.
5) She never attempted to eat, she just drank water. This morning I started force feeding her cooked egg yolk.
6) What worries me is I just went to check on her and she was trying to eat but missing the food by about an inch. She would get a piece of food about every 10 bobs of her head. She only ate a small amount of food and then went back and drank an excessive amount of water.
7) She stands in the corner of the cage most of the time, in fact she seems to back up instead of walking forward. She does turn her head to look at things so I'm thinking she isn't blind.
She is in quarantine - no physical contact but I'm thinking she is still to close to my flock. I'm not sure how far away I should have kept her. I've treated her for mites and lice and wormed her. I trimmed the feathers away from her face since her feathers were obstructing her vision (she still misses her food when eating). Her eyes and nose are clear and her eyes do not look like ones effected by Mareks.
Does anyone have any suggustions? I'm considering culling her but since I've already brought her on the property I figured I'd at least give her a chance in case she is just ran down from the bug infestion. I've never seen a bird "miss" the food and I'm wondering if she is just drinking a lot of water to feel full. I'm slowly starting to freak out....
