Plants
Chirping
- May 25, 2024
- 27
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Hi everybody, I have a sick hen and this is a bit of an explanation of what has been going on. We have a diagnostic from a vet but I'm sharing this with you in case it might be helpful!
First the care! We see our hens, 4 in total, as pets more than laying machines, so we really try feeding them good. Besides a mix of grain, we give them oats mixed with boiled and mashed veggies, scrambled eggs and mashed eggshells, sometimes meat like brains, liver and other leftovers. They have their own coop with roosts, they free range in our garden, and so far no other hen is sick besides Caramelo.
Our hen Caramelo, a Harco about 3 years old, has been having issues with laying. Her eggs had a thin shell so we brought her to our first vet. We were told it may be due to poor calcium levels or issues with the gland. We got a shot with vitamins that didn't really improve. Some months later, about 3 weeks ago (November in Belgium), we noticed Caramelo had trouble walking, limping a bit, so we brought her back, this time to a substitute vet. This second vet said did a superficial exploration and said it could be due to bugs causing irritation, gave us anti inflammatory meds and a pipette to get rid of bugs and eggs.
At the end of the week she was worse, completely still, with the tail down and closing her eyes. At least she didn't lost the appetite and we kept feeding her nicely.We managed to get another vet, the third, on Sunday, a bird specialist, who checked her and did an echography. We saw white masses on her abdomen and said it either would be an infection of the egg canal or cancer. The hen dropped on the vet table and it was transparent but the center was more yellowish, with a tiny tiny red spot. This vet took the hen for 3 days and gave antibiotics and hormones to stop the laying to avoid issues with the duct, likely caused due to the soft shells that may have created a perfect enviroinment for the bacteria.
The hen improved, the vet did another echo and informed us that the infection was going away. We took her back home, and we were giving 1ml of orniflox twice a day and the anti inflammatory once a day. We also had to give water as the medicine may cause irritation if not rinsed in from the throat. 7 days in, when we stopped with the anti inflammatory, the hen felt worse, so the vet told us to resume the anti inflammatory for another week and she improved.
We are once again on wednesday, 14 days after the echo exploration with the last vet, and Caramelo was sick once again. She didn't leave the coop and didn't move at all, tail down amd closing her eyes. She had bad balance and was laying more on the side than the usual sitting, more like when they sunbathe. She ate a bit but not a lot, but we noticed the depositions were really green, sort of grass green. We went to the vet and told us that it looked like the infection was back and maybe it spread to the kidneys or the liver. She had some fever, so he took a blood sample to analyze, gave an antibiotics shot and gave us an extra antibiotic, saying that the bacteria, most likely some sort of ecoli, may be resistent. On the bright side, the hen didn't lose weight and it is stable on 1.7kg. So we now must give 1ml of orniflox and 1ml of Eusaprim twice a day + the anti inflammatory once a day for 10 more days.
Today we had the results and it confirmed that the infection spread to the liver, so we will keep giving her the medicines. The hen is eating and driniking but not moving a lot. We are keeping her at home because it's cold and she is fighting enough things to add cold on top of that.
Well, that's quite a long text! While dealing with this, I can take a couple of key points.
-FIND A COMPETENT VET! Looking back now, we feel like we lost one week from the visit with the first vet who did a superficial check. If you know something is wrong, look for someone who can take care of them.
-Feeding the chicken nicely may give them better chances to fight the diseases. Maybe we are a bit over the top, but if the hen is already weak, the infection may have a head start.
-Pay attention to the signs. If a chicken is looking off, they may have been feeling bad for some days already.
Now I have a bit of doubt, but while we know it can take a turn for the worse, we are really positive and try our best for her!!
Did someone have a similar experience? We are relieved that it has not spread to the kidneys because the vet said there isn't much to do on those cases, but what about the liver? Is there something else that has helped you with it?
First the care! We see our hens, 4 in total, as pets more than laying machines, so we really try feeding them good. Besides a mix of grain, we give them oats mixed with boiled and mashed veggies, scrambled eggs and mashed eggshells, sometimes meat like brains, liver and other leftovers. They have their own coop with roosts, they free range in our garden, and so far no other hen is sick besides Caramelo.
Our hen Caramelo, a Harco about 3 years old, has been having issues with laying. Her eggs had a thin shell so we brought her to our first vet. We were told it may be due to poor calcium levels or issues with the gland. We got a shot with vitamins that didn't really improve. Some months later, about 3 weeks ago (November in Belgium), we noticed Caramelo had trouble walking, limping a bit, so we brought her back, this time to a substitute vet. This second vet said did a superficial exploration and said it could be due to bugs causing irritation, gave us anti inflammatory meds and a pipette to get rid of bugs and eggs.
At the end of the week she was worse, completely still, with the tail down and closing her eyes. At least she didn't lost the appetite and we kept feeding her nicely.We managed to get another vet, the third, on Sunday, a bird specialist, who checked her and did an echography. We saw white masses on her abdomen and said it either would be an infection of the egg canal or cancer. The hen dropped on the vet table and it was transparent but the center was more yellowish, with a tiny tiny red spot. This vet took the hen for 3 days and gave antibiotics and hormones to stop the laying to avoid issues with the duct, likely caused due to the soft shells that may have created a perfect enviroinment for the bacteria.
The hen improved, the vet did another echo and informed us that the infection was going away. We took her back home, and we were giving 1ml of orniflox twice a day and the anti inflammatory once a day. We also had to give water as the medicine may cause irritation if not rinsed in from the throat. 7 days in, when we stopped with the anti inflammatory, the hen felt worse, so the vet told us to resume the anti inflammatory for another week and she improved.
We are once again on wednesday, 14 days after the echo exploration with the last vet, and Caramelo was sick once again. She didn't leave the coop and didn't move at all, tail down amd closing her eyes. She had bad balance and was laying more on the side than the usual sitting, more like when they sunbathe. She ate a bit but not a lot, but we noticed the depositions were really green, sort of grass green. We went to the vet and told us that it looked like the infection was back and maybe it spread to the kidneys or the liver. She had some fever, so he took a blood sample to analyze, gave an antibiotics shot and gave us an extra antibiotic, saying that the bacteria, most likely some sort of ecoli, may be resistent. On the bright side, the hen didn't lose weight and it is stable on 1.7kg. So we now must give 1ml of orniflox and 1ml of Eusaprim twice a day + the anti inflammatory once a day for 10 more days.
Today we had the results and it confirmed that the infection spread to the liver, so we will keep giving her the medicines. The hen is eating and driniking but not moving a lot. We are keeping her at home because it's cold and she is fighting enough things to add cold on top of that.
Well, that's quite a long text! While dealing with this, I can take a couple of key points.
-FIND A COMPETENT VET! Looking back now, we feel like we lost one week from the visit with the first vet who did a superficial check. If you know something is wrong, look for someone who can take care of them.
-Feeding the chicken nicely may give them better chances to fight the diseases. Maybe we are a bit over the top, but if the hen is already weak, the infection may have a head start.
-Pay attention to the signs. If a chicken is looking off, they may have been feeling bad for some days already.
Now I have a bit of doubt, but while we know it can take a turn for the worse, we are really positive and try our best for her!!
Did someone have a similar experience? We are relieved that it has not spread to the kidneys because the vet said there isn't much to do on those cases, but what about the liver? Is there something else that has helped you with it?
Ps: This is Caramelo on her new bed, so we can keep an eye on her, make sure she eats and drinks and stays warm
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