New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[speckledhen]

Yeah, I want to remain hopeful, but I've lost enough birds in every sort of way over the years. Generally when they go downhill they keep going. I haven't had any luck stopping it myself in my birds, only slowing it.

I do hope it's something he can recover from though. Maybe he sprained one of those big old legs.

I have lost younger birds for no apparent reason too. It's frustrating, but it's life.

I agree with all you said. He doesn't limp, so I don't think he's hurt that way. I just saw him try to get up on the roost steps because I put something up there for Cora. He barely made it onto the first one (less than a foot off the ground) and he knew better than to try to go higher after that, so he stood there for a minute, then hopped back onto the floor, poor baby.

It's definitely life. Sometimes, it just happens. I don't like mysteries, but chicken-keeping does have a certain number of those, no matter how well they're managed. If I even tried a necropsy, all I could do was look at his heart and liver to see if they were normal. Not sure it's worth cutting my beautiful boy open since no one else is affected. Hens are so different. Roosters become injured or their hearts fail suddenly, usually, or like my Isaac and Suede, they just run out of time and get old. But this is just odd.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I agree with all you said. He doesn't limp, so I don't think he's hurt that way. I just saw him try to get up on the roost steps because I put something up there for Cora. He barely made it onto the first one (less than a foot off the ground) and he knew better than to try to go higher after that, so he stood there for a minute, then hopped back onto the floor, poor baby.

It's definitely life. Sometimes, it just happens. I don't like mysteries, but chicken-keeping does have a certain number of those, no matter how well they're managed. If I even tried a necropsy, all I could do was look at his heart and liver to see if they were normal. Not sure it's worth cutting my beautiful boy open since no one else is affected. Hens are so different. Roosters become injured or their hearts fail suddenly, usually, or like my Isaac and Suede, they just run out of time and get old. But this is just odd.

I don't do a neocropsy either. It seems wrong to do that to them. and it doesn't bring them back. I always remember that one post where someone did a neocropsy and found the birds crop full of string. Chickens often will eat everything.

I'm sure chickens can suffer from some problems we humans do with internal organs. I'm not sure if there's symptoms that would tell me if a chicken is in kidney failure or liver failure. He's such a pretty boy, but I guess that makes no never mind in the circle of life.

 

[speckledhen]

Update taped this morning, then another short one later in the day showing the way he's walking and his coloring:

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

He's up and walking around. He's a little unstable, but he's up.

Broodies That's how I feel about that subject currently.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, Jill broke one of her 5 eggs. I had collected one Brahma egg today and put that one under her after replacing the nest material, washing off the dried egg from the other eggs and from her. I hope that didn't hurt the others. I know it's 2 days behind and not sure whose egg it is, but I hope it's Betsy's and not B.J.'s.

 

[speckledhen]

Morning report: Bash was crowing up a storm. He is walking taller, lifting his feet more, isn't stumbling. He actually is dancing for his hens a little bit, talking to them, calling them (haven't heard that for several days) and he seems a little better today. His poop is still water, so I'm watching to see if that improves. He asked to be fed his scratch grain mix out of Tom's hand, but refused the tray of eggs and yogurt I took out for him and his girls...maybe he wants his regular food now, is all. Cautiously optimistic.

 

[speckledhen]

I was researching about poisoning in poultry and Bash had all the symptoms of lead poisoning. Where he'd ingest something containing lead, we have no idea. We use no orchard sprays, have no lead paint here, etc. The former owner used to shoot a lot and we've been finding bullet casings here for 17 years, but why he'd eat those or if they'd have lead in them, I have no idea. If he found some buckshot, maybe...
Here is a paragraph from the Merck Veterinary Manual:
Lead poisoning usually is caused by paint or orchard-spray material. Metallic lead in amounts of 7.2 mg/kg body wt is lethal. Signs are depression, inappetence, emaciation, thirst, and weakness. Greenish droppings are commonly seen within 36 hr. As poisoning progresses, the wings may be extended downward. Young birds may die within 36 hr after ingestion. Acute lead poisoning may be diagnosed from the history and necropsy findings of a greenish brown gizzard mucosa, enteritis, and degeneration of the liver and kidney. Chronic poisoning results in emaciation and in atrophy of the liver and heart. The pericardium is distended with fluid, the gallbladder is thickened and enlarged, and urate deposits are usually found in the kidneys. Ingestion of lead shot often occurs in wild waterfowl on heavily gunned feeding grounds. Retention of only a few lead pellets in the gizzard can kill a duck.

 

[1muttsfan]

His weakness, open-mouth breathing and poor color suggest heart issue. His thirst and watery stool suggest kidney issue. Lead can cause both.

You could try Epsom salts, I treated a kitten with lead poisoning once that way when the owner could not afford chelation. Epsom salts reduce absorption of lead from the GI tract.
For lead treatment, dissolve 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt in one ounce water. Dose for a 7# bird is 7.5 ml (1/4 ounce). This needs to be repeated every 12 hours until all the lead has passed through the digestive tract.

The most common source of lead poisoning in animals is actually old lead-based paint.. Your old buildings maybe? Could have flaked off?

 

[speckledhen]

His weakness, open-mouth breathing and poor color suggest heart issue. His thirst and watery stool suggest kidney issue. Lead can cause both.

You could try Epsom salts, I treated a kitten with lead poisoning once that way when the owner could not afford chelation. Epsom salts reduce absorption of lead from the GI tract.
For lead treatment, dissolve 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt in one ounce water. Dose for a 7# bird is 7.5 ml (1/4 ounce). This needs to be repeated every 12 hours until all the lead has passed through the digestive tract.

The most common source of lead poisoning in animals is actually old lead-based paint.. Your old buildings maybe? Could have flaked off?

There are no old buildings on this property, though. We built them all ourselves less than 14 years ago, used new paint from Home Depot. The house was built in the mid-90's and has even been repainted by us (twice). The only source of lead I can even think of is residue in bullet casings he might find, but those are very few and far between after picking them up for so many years from when we moved into this place. I never felt any shapes like that in his crop. I can use Epsom salts, though, good to know!

 

[speckledhen]

He mated Cora! He's definitely on the mend!