My red sex-link hen, Penny, isn't doing well.
She's about 4 or 5 years old - yes I know what's "old" in [productive] chicken years, but she's a pet and I'm really worried about her. A few days ago, I noticed she had some diarrhea. I didn't think too much about it - it's spring, everything is rich, and we had so much rain, everything is a bit watery so all the birds seem to be a bit runny from ingesting so much.
Things seemed to have gotten better, all of the birds are pooping normally; however Penny still seemed to have bouts of diarrhea... She was still very active and looking good, except for having a gross bottom, so I brought her in, cleaned her up and put her back out. She seemed completely fine for a while - poop was getting more normal.
Yesterday, she really took a turn for the worse all of a sudden. She isolated herself from the others and just stood at the corner of the run. Her poop became very watery again. She hasn't been eating a lot, but still drinks a bit on her own. I have isolated her from the others in a cage in my garage (it's warm in there). I have water, layer pellets, and chick starter out for her, but have also been supplementing her with gatorade/pediolyte and hard boil eggs. When I offered her the egg, she seemed very interested in it. She took a few bites, but then sort of took a mouthful and just stood there holding it in her beak - almost as if she went into a trance and forgot she was eating. I pulled it out, and she kind of "came back" and went to grab it from me again, but then did the same thing and sort of starred off holding on to it...
Today, she's about the same, but seems a tad more lethargic. My dog sort of startled her and she cackled a bit at her, which I was happy to hear. I stopped at the farm-feed store to ask about her and see if they had any antibiotics - they only had stuff for respiratory conditions... I also just picked up some plain cultured yogurt for her and have been force feeding her that and the watered down gatorade. She seems less interested in food and I have been offering her everything from cooked oatmeal to apple sauce, etc... She seems to try a little of it when I keep persisting, but will not eat enough of anything.
She's still standing which is good I guess, but I also noticed her crop feels squishy. It's still big as if she had eaten, but it's just not as 'solid' feeling as it should be.
I have no idea what's going on with her!
I'm not sure what to do. Does anyone have any ideas of what's wrong with her or what I can do to help?
(she's still isolated from my other birds. All of my other birds seem totally fine.)
She's about 4 or 5 years old - yes I know what's "old" in [productive] chicken years, but she's a pet and I'm really worried about her. A few days ago, I noticed she had some diarrhea. I didn't think too much about it - it's spring, everything is rich, and we had so much rain, everything is a bit watery so all the birds seem to be a bit runny from ingesting so much.
Things seemed to have gotten better, all of the birds are pooping normally; however Penny still seemed to have bouts of diarrhea... She was still very active and looking good, except for having a gross bottom, so I brought her in, cleaned her up and put her back out. She seemed completely fine for a while - poop was getting more normal.
Yesterday, she really took a turn for the worse all of a sudden. She isolated herself from the others and just stood at the corner of the run. Her poop became very watery again. She hasn't been eating a lot, but still drinks a bit on her own. I have isolated her from the others in a cage in my garage (it's warm in there). I have water, layer pellets, and chick starter out for her, but have also been supplementing her with gatorade/pediolyte and hard boil eggs. When I offered her the egg, she seemed very interested in it. She took a few bites, but then sort of took a mouthful and just stood there holding it in her beak - almost as if she went into a trance and forgot she was eating. I pulled it out, and she kind of "came back" and went to grab it from me again, but then did the same thing and sort of starred off holding on to it...
Today, she's about the same, but seems a tad more lethargic. My dog sort of startled her and she cackled a bit at her, which I was happy to hear. I stopped at the farm-feed store to ask about her and see if they had any antibiotics - they only had stuff for respiratory conditions... I also just picked up some plain cultured yogurt for her and have been force feeding her that and the watered down gatorade. She seems less interested in food and I have been offering her everything from cooked oatmeal to apple sauce, etc... She seems to try a little of it when I keep persisting, but will not eat enough of anything.
She's still standing which is good I guess, but I also noticed her crop feels squishy. It's still big as if she had eaten, but it's just not as 'solid' feeling as it should be.
I have no idea what's going on with her!
I'm not sure what to do. Does anyone have any ideas of what's wrong with her or what I can do to help?
(she's still isolated from my other birds. All of my other birds seem totally fine.)
