Panicking...Chicken Aspirated Valbazen???

[lbgreenfield]

I think I may have just accidentally killed my chicken. I have a sick 4.5 year old Cali White that has been losing weight, has droopy wings, floppy comb (not super pale, still pink but not bright red), and is acting just off for the past few weeks. I consulted with a few people on BYC and decided based on her symptoms that she needed to be wormed and to orally dose her with 0.4cc of Valbazen. I just did that by gently pulling down her wattles and very slowly squirting some in at a time and immediately letting go. I then filled the syringe with some water and did the same thing and now I think she aspirated some of the Valbazen or water into her lungs because I can hear gurgling every time she breathes by listening to her back. I compared her lung sounds to my other healthy chickens and hers are definitely gurgling. I am totally panicking now, is there anything I can do? No avian vets in my area. She is in the isolation run right now, just standing with droopy wings, eyes closing like she wants to fall asleep.

Is there anything I can do? I’m a mess right now.

 

[DobieLover]

I think I may have just accidentally killed my chicken. I have a sick 4.5 year old Cali White that has been losing weight, has droopy wings, floppy comb (not super pale, still pink but not bright red), and is acting just off for the past few weeks. I consulted with a few people on BYC and decided based on her symptoms that she needed to be wormed and to orally dose her with 0.4cc of Valbazen. I just did that by gently pulling down her wattles and very slowly squirting some in at a time and immediately letting go. I then filled the syringe with some water and did the same thing and now I think she aspirated some of the Valbazen or water into her lungs because I can hear gurgling every time she breathes by listening to her back. I compared her lung sounds to my other healthy chickens and hers are definitely gurgling. I am totally panicking now, is there anything I can do? No avian vets in my area. She is in the isolation run right now, just standing with droopy wings, eyes closing like she wants to fall asleep.

Is there anything I can do? I’m a mess right now.

Are you certain she wasn't gurgling BEFORE you dosed her? If you have to listen to her back to hear it, did you listen before you dosed her?
Does she have any symptoms of a respiratory infection? When did she last lay?

 

[lbgreenfield]

Yes 100% certain, I listened to her lungs (and a few of my healthy chickens as well) before dosing her.

No symptoms of a respiratory infection, just listlessness, droopy wings, flopped comb, moving very slowly, eating and drinking but very slowly, and just acting completely different the past 2 weeks. Her abdomen is tight but it’s always been like that.

We adopted her from a family where the entire flock except her got killed by a fox. She hasn’t been laying since we got her, which was 1.5 years ago. Her poop is very small and black now, just yesterday it was brown and normal looking, although a bit mucus-y.

 

[lbgreenfield]

She’s also lost a lot of weight in the last 2 weeks. Her breast bone is protruding a lot now. I’m not sure what is going on. She just ate a few bites of watermelon but is just standing in one place, not moving. I feel terrible.

 

[lbgreenfield]

Anyone? She’s gone into the coop for the night but is completely lethargic and has no energy. I’m not sure she’s going to make it until the morning

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen possibly aspirating. There is not a whole lot that you could for that. She sounds like she was going downhill before, and at her age, she is already up there when reproductive disorders, cancer, and crop problems can occur. Her crop in the picture looks big, and if she has something wrong with her crop function, it could be easy for her to aspirate crop contents if being handled. Her tight lower abdomen could be ascites or a reproductive infection or again cancer. I would try to make her comfortable and offer foods she might like, such as scrambled egg, tuna, wet chicken feed, or canned cat food in small amounts. Check her crop in the morning to see if it has emptied, or if it is full, squishy soft, hard or doughy. Let us know what you find. When I lose a hen like this, I usually do a home necropsy to look at organs for what might have gone wrong. It helps to take pictures of the liver and abdominal contents to post here for answers. Sorry that she is sick.

 

[lbgreenfield]

Sorry about your hen possibly aspirating. There is not a whole lot that you could for that. She sounds like she was going downhill before, and at her age, she is already up there when reproductive disorders, cancer, and crop problems can occur. Her crop in the picture looks big, and if she has something wrong with her crop function, it could be easy for her to aspirate crop contents if being handled. Her tight lower abdomen could be ascites or a reproductive infection or again cancer. I would try to make her comfortable and offer foods she might like, such as scrambled egg, tuna, wet chicken feed, or canned cat food in small amounts. Check her crop in the morning to see if it has emptied, or if it is full, squishy soft, hard or doughy. Let us know what you find. When I lose a hen like this, I usually do a home necropsy to look at organs for what might have gone wrong. It helps to take pictures of the liver and abdominal contents to post here for answers. Sorry that she is sick.

Thanks for your reply. I didn’t think 4.5 years old was “old” for a chicken, but I guess it is. I feel terrible She’s so sweet and it’s so sad seeing her like this. It’s also been shocking how lethargic she’s progressed throughout the day today. She was a different chicken even compared to this morning. I’m going to monitor her as late as I can tonight and am planning on getting up extra early tomorrow morning.

I just felt her crop and it felt like it should at the end of the day, full, not hard or squishy.

I’m hoping she makes it through the night and that the meds kick in tomorrow. I’m going to try and get her to eat a scrambled egg with oatmeal mixed with Nutri-Drench first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have had a couple live to 9, and have about 10 who are 7-8 years old. But I have lost hens at 2-5 years often. When I started doing necropsies after they died, it was enlightening how often hens die from reproductive and crop problems. Just the fact that she hasn’t laid in a couple of years is probably a clue. Cancer is common after the age of two. Hopefully, she will be alive in the morning and feeling better.

 

[lbgreenfield]

I have had a couple live to 9, and have about 10 who are 7-8 years old. But I have lost hens at 2-5 years often. When I started doing necropsies after they died, it was enlightening how often hens die from reproductive and crop problems. Just the fact that she hasn’t laid in a couple of years is probably a clue. Cancer is common after the age of two. Hopefully, she will be alive in the morning and feeling better.

Well...I feel even more horrible now. I went out to check on her before going to bed, took her into the garage to wipe off her poopy vent, and lo and behold, her vent was covered in what I’m pretty sure are mites. I had checked her every day for mites/lice but it was during the day, not at night time. I feel absolutely horrible, I hope she makes it through the night. I have permethrin and garden/poultry dust on order for immediate pickup tomorrow morning. I’ve called off work in order to do a complete clean out of the coop, burn all the bedding, and will spray each chicken throughly. I’m also spraying the entire run area as well and will dust the new bedding in the coop.

I hope she makes it through the night. I’ve isolated her in a dog crate in the garage and she looked like she was on her last legs. Can’t believe I didn’t catch this sooner, my poor girl getting eaten alive by those little vampires...

 

[Castlewood]

Oh goodness I am pulling for you and your hen!