oh look. another chicken in the bathtub....

[crtrlovr]

I just put my Australorp chicken back out into the coop today with her flockmates after one week of "tub time". I'd gone out to do coop cleanup and saw her just standing, wings down at her sides. The soil here is LOADED with coccidia, and I have been routinely feeding medicated chick starter to the whole flock on the vet's recommendation. Apparently it hasn't been keeping it in check; I just lost another beautiful little OEGB BB red cockerel (about 9 mos. old) to what was probably coccidiosis and a full grown approx. 3 yr. old Buff Orpington hen. As soon as I noticed Jack was sick, I got some sulmet and medicated the water. I didn't realize the BO hen was sick until I saw her stay inside the coop when I let everyone out. I brought her in the house to feed her & take care of her, and while I was scrambling some eggs for her, she died. The Aussie had a very pale comb, and she was very thin. She has only been here for a couple of months -- she and her 6 sisters came from a friend who had to give up her chickens due to a neighbor's complaints

and they've all been vaccinated, no illnesses, good weight, and totally healthy hens. The Aussie (aka Mattie) is feeling a bit better, and her comb is not nearly as pale. I put her out into the coop with the others, and on my way back in to the house, I saw bright red blood. I quickly found the source -- a hen had gotten her foot caught in a leaf rake a couple of months ago. I'd freed her, massaged her leg & foot, and brought her in for a couple of days to recover. She seemed to be doing fine, so I put her back out (and she was DELIGHTED to be back out with her buddies!). The toe seemed to heal, but had a dark band around it. Apparently instead of actually healing, it was dying.

Approx. 1/2" of that toe separated, bone and all, and was only attached by a small piece of skin. I stuck her foot in a plastic bag, brought her in, sterilized some embroidery scissors, and snipped off the skin. I put quik-stop blood coagulant powder on the end of her toe with a 4x4 and kept pressure until the bleeding stopped. Tomorrow she gets antibiotic ointment and a finger-cot (hopefully she'll leave it on to keep the toe covered for at least a while)... and that, my friends, is why there is yet another chicken in the bathtub....

 

[debilorrah]

Where is the pic???????

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

Poor babies

It sounds like the stuff that happens here - it seems like when one thing happens, you have a handful of other things go wrong too! I hope she gets better soon.. I have a chicken who's missing all toes and one foot entirely.

 

[gryeyes]

I always seem to have some pullet, cockerel or hen in my "infirmary" in the bathroom. So far, no full grown rooster has become ill enough for indoor treatment. Or any treatment, for that matter. Sometimes it is a special chick, sometimes it's a "tween" chicken.

Good thing no other human lives here with me. It's just me and the chickens (and dogs and cat).

 

[crtrlovr]

I actually forgot to mention the one with the prolapsed vent that stayed in overnight ... treated her with PrepH, and she was fine the next day. I do keep checking on her, b/c I know they can have a tendency to prolapse again if it has ever happened to them before.