One of my Australorps, Katherine is ill

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

@azygous should be here later this eve to look at your photos and offer further advice, so please check this thread later tonight. Meanwhile, give Katherine another calcium citrate tablet if you haven't already done so today. She needs at least one tablet every day until she expels whatever she is trying to push out.

Were you able to insert your finger into her vent to feel for any obstruction? Don't go any further than 1/2 inch since the digestive system exits the vent too, but if whatever she is trying to expel is near the vent exit, you should be able to feel it. The calcium citrate will cause contractions soon after you give her the tablet, and that will be your best chance to feel or see any obstruction she is trying to push out.

Did you read the article (written by azygous) that I linked, and did any info in the article give you guidance/a clue to what might be going on with Katherine?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd like to see a few more photos of the vent, can you get 1-2 that shows the vent directly instead of from the side?

Look her over for lice/mites while you are treating her and make sure her crop is emptying overnight.

 

[CrazyChickenLady0418]

Addtl Full Body photos

I'd like to see a few more photos of the vent, can you get 1-2 that shows the vent directly instead of from the side?

Look her over for lice/mites while you are treating her and make sure her crop is emptying overnight.

Crop seems to empty overnight, and she barely eats but is drinking. She has gotten so small, and I feel that she is suffering. She will eat the dried worms and a bit of chicken feed but very little.

 

[CrazyChickenLady0418]

I'd like to see a few more photos of the vent, can you get 1-2 that shows the vent directly instead of from the side?

Look her over for lice/mites while you are treating her and make sure her crop is emptying overnight.

Dont see any lice or mites; I took a few more shots of her vent and posted them here as well. She is losing her feathers, and she has gotten so small. I feed her grubs so that she eats something (this seems to be the only thing she will eat).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Crop seems to empty overnight, and she barely eats but is drinking. She has gotten so small, and I feel that she is suffering. She will eat the dried worms and a bit of chicken feed but very little.

If you feel she is greatly suffering, then it may be time to let her go.

You can try soaking her in a warm epsom salts bath to see if that gives her relief. It's hard to tell what she's suffering from and often we don't know unless we lose them and perform a necropsy to see what was going on.

 

[CrazyChickenLady0418]

If you feel she is greatly suffering, then it may be time to let her go.

You can try soaking her in a warm epsom salts bath to see if that gives her relief. It's hard to tell what she's suffering from and often we don't know unless we lose them and perform a necropsy to see what was going on.

I have been giving her warm Epson salt baths, which she likes. I gave her some blueberries, which she seems to enjoy, and soft egg whites; she won't eat the yolks. Thank you so much for the advice.