New here with a sick hen.

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boys with hens

boys with hens

Hatching
5 Years
Apr 21, 2014
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Hi, I'm new to the group. I am a mom of three boys and three years ago we added five hens to our crew. It's been a lot of fun with no problems until this last week. We have a nearly three year old Rhode Island Red who I thought was egg bound but she's not improving and it's been six days. Seems to long for her to be hanging on if she's egg bound. She's not eating or drinking much. We have her indoors now and she doesn't move much. She waddles when she walks and her breathing is labored. Her comb was purplish, but it seems to be red again. We bathed her and checked out her backside and besides being stinky, it seems normal. She's been very quiet. Not sure what to do next. We'd really like to treat her at home without a vet.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

X2 on posting in the emergency section. However, if she is egg bound, the egg may not move. You need to do an internal exam of her vent. Put on a latex glove and some KY Jelly on the index finger and insert it into her vent. If she has a stuck egg, you will feel it there. If she is egg bound, get a couple Tums tablets and break them into tiny pieces and feed them to her. The high calcium will help with the contractions to move the egg. You can also soak her body in warm water in your kitchen sink. Hold her in this warm water for about 10 or 15 mins. Doing both of these suggestions, should get the egg to move.

Also, feel her abdomen on the outside of her body between her legs. She should be fairly firm in this area. If she is bloated and feels like a water balloon, she could be internally laying or have reproductive cancer. You can't cure either of these things, but sometimes antibiotics can help with the secondary infections they get.

Good luck with your hen. I sure hope you can figure out what is ailing her and get her back to health soon!
 
Thank you. I have posted in the emergencies, etc. section as well. We've done the warm bath and have been giving her yogurt. I'll give the bath another go and try to be more thorough in my examining her. What kind of antibiotics? Can I get them at my local farm and feed?
 
boys with hens said:
Hi, I'm new to the group. I am a mom of three boys and three years ago we added five hens to our crew. It's been a lot of fun with no problems until this last week. We have a nearly three year old Rhode Island Red who I thought was egg bound but she's not improving and it's been six days. Seems to long for her to be hanging on if she's egg bound. She's not eating or drinking much. We have her indoors now and she doesn't move much. She waddles when she walks and her breathing is labored. Her comb was purplish, but it seems to be red again. We bathed her and checked out her backside and besides being stinky, it seems normal. She's been very quiet. Not sure what to do next. We'd really like to treat her at home without a vet.
Click to expand...


welcome-byc.gif





I use this to get fluids into the crop and it was $ 7. US dollars ..


Make sure the tube is longer then 12 inches and put the liquid
in slowly and this will keep her hydrated ....
 
If she has a bloated belly then you might try the antibiotics. Most meds at the feed stores are going to be for respiratory ailments. I would get on line and order some Amoxicillin and or Doxycycline. Both of these work for soft tissue infections like internal laying or tumors that might be causing infections. You can get the Amox at many fish supply places and the Doxy can be gotten in places that sell parrot supplies.

If you know how to give injections, many feed stores carry penicillin. This works well with soft tissue infections as well. Depending on her size, 1/4 to 1/2 cc with a 22 gauge needle, alternating left breast right breast once a day for 5 to 7 days.
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your hen, you've gotten good suggestions above, hope she recovers.
 
Update: We gave her another bath and cleaned her bum. This time there was matted white poo with some black in it. It didn't smell as bad as last time. Her abdomen feels kind of mushy. That's the best way I can describe it. I cannot feel an egg. She drank a little more water today and ate some more yogurt, but I kind of had to make her though. She seemed a little more alert today, but her bath seemed to have worn her out. Thank you for all the advice. I'm hoping she'll pull through, but I really don't want her to suffer. :(
 

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