This thread pulls on my heart strings tonight. My RIR (2 years old) developed an abdominal rash over winter and was treated topically, diagnosed as allergies this spring (by a vet), but became more distended in the abdomen these past weeks. I have only had chickens 2 years and was late to pick up the symptoms- ascites (water belly), purplish comb. To make a long story short, I removed fluid from the abdomen that was cloudy and had sediment (I assume infection- maybe egg yolk peritonitis?). I called around to my local vets hoping to get antibiotic- she ate tuna and drank water, she would stand outside, but was certainly unhappy. I could not get an antibiotic prescription without being seen and did not want to stress her on a 45 minute car ride to the vet, knowing I would only prolong the inevitable. This afternoon, I tearfully asked my dad to give her the dignified death she deserved. I did not want her to suffer one more night.
As I searched through threads last night, trying to make my decision, I read that oftentimes, chicken keepers feel more regretful about keeping their chickens alive for too long when they are sick- that they should have ended things sooner. I know my sassy Red is no longer suffering. So I guess I implement a bit of each- I had her to the vet, attempted to treat myself (going as far as having my sister perform the emergent paracentesis) and ultimately culled. In all these decisions, I kept her quality of life as my priority, and I can rest easy knowing that. So appreciative of this group!
Ugh… hard lump in throat again.
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Anyone trained their dog to stay away from chickens like this?
