Pucky, our Barred Rock hen is real sick... ideas?

[JCMBinOhio]

We have a 4 barred rock hens (and 6 other older hens) that are about 15-18 weeks old, so I think too young to lay an egg. 4 days ago we noticed one was just standing by herself, she'd go in/out of the coop at dawn/dusk, but just stand there with her head tucked in her breast. Didn't seem to be eating or drinking. Two days ago we brought her in the house in a box, and started giving her Tylan 50 (~3/4 cc) and force feeding her (squirt food down her pie hole). She seemed to be a little better yesterday, but today her head is real wobbly and she's not keeping her eyes open and she's peeping/whining a lot when we check on her. She also wasn't pooping, but today she pooped a green quarter-sized poop that looked kinda regular.

Food I've given so far is her reqular Purina pellets soaked in pedialite, some sweet pea baby food, and a little yogurt (we ran out, but got more to give her later today) all at different times. Also thinking of giving her the yolk of a boiled egg for protein..

I've checked her for lice/mites, and didn't see any. They were all treated with poultry powder about a month ago.

I felt her crop and didn't feel any kind of bulge.

I gave all the hens Wazine 17 in the water about a month ago and didn't see any worms in the poos I saw.

Was thinking of trying Valbazen on her if I can find it..

Any thoughts? Help save Pucky... Doubt I'd take her to a vet though, so thoughts other than that..

Thank you
John & MB

 

[JCMBinOhio]

Just found this...

1) What type of bird , age and weight. Barred Rock, ~16 weeks, maybe 2-3 lbs
2) What is the behavior, exactly. See original post
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? See original post
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. See original post
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. No idea..
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. See original post
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. See original post
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? See original post
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Treat myself.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. No pic available yet (I'm at work)
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. Was in a clean 60sqft coop (TSC wood chip floor, not cedar), with 700 sqft enclosed -n- grassy chicken run.. Now in a large box with bedding and untouched food (Purina Layena pellets) and water (pedialite).

 

[Elite Silkies]

What are your temps? I know we have had some really hot days here, so I have started watering their coops down and putting ice bottles in their water. I had a smaller rooster that was chased into the coop by the other one and wasn't allowed to come back out, and he almost had a heat stroke. His head was very wobbly, once I brought him in and got him cooled down he was much better. The heat will get them down fast.

It could be a number of things.

Does her head look wobbly or does it appear to be drawing to one side? You better be careful squirting food down her pie hole

you could put it into the lungs and she will aspirate.

Do you have any vitamins/electrolytes that you can put in her water?

 

[chkn]

Try 2 drops of pour on ivermectin because that'll kill internal and external parasites. Do it, the sooner the better!

bTW: I can't say I've seen worms in poops after treatments but I see no worms, at least when I treat with Valbazen (which is good)! Also, I can't recall seeing lice or mites on the chickens themselves though I know they have them. I do see what I think are mites around the run which is when I know I've got problems.

 

[JCMBinOhio]

We did have some hot temps in the past week.. for us anyway.. temps were about 90F. The hens can go under their coop into shade, and a few times I put ice in their water. Also hosed off the coop roof on the two hottest nights. They also have a fan at night that blows away from them.

Her head is wobbly, and shes started to turn it to one side and rest it on her back. She looks real disoriented and can't walk well at all.

I've tried to be careful to squirt the food/medicine way to the back (but the syringe in past her tongue).

Been adding Pedialite to whatever we feed her for electrolytes..

I did give her Valbazen a few minutes ago as well as a shot of Tylan.. so see if that does anything. One of her eyes now has crusty yellow stuff in it, so we rinsed her eyes with Tylan too. She also seems to have a runny nose now as well. Both of these just came on in the last few hours, so not sure if it was the cause of what went on before.

Won't be able to get ivermectin till tomorrow.. and now that I think about it I probably shouldn't do that now that I just gave Valbazen?

Thanks for the help so far..

Any ideas what's causing this? Hope the others don't get it..

 

[JCMBinOhio]

Pucky is still pucking... still has a real wobbly head but seems a little (very little) more alert today.. going to do another shot of Tylan..

 

[PAchickenlover]

Good luck hope Pucky makes a full recovery!

 

[JCMBinOhio]

So I was just changing out the wood shavings and found a poo underneath.. looked like she had eaten a bunch of real fine hair.. is there a worm that is real thin and maybe 1 inch long? I tried looking for pics, but didn't find any right off.. if it's worms I guess I can stop the Tylan? I had given her Valbazen yesterday.. is that a one dose deal, or do I give her more?

 

[JCMBinOhio]

Pucky's still pucking.. but barely.. she often tucks her head way down in her chest and then shakes it uncontrollably. Still no balance.. Can I give valbazen again? Her eyes, ears, vent, color don't look abnormal. She does seem to be losing weight. She takes the food from the syringe ok and swallows it fine. Occasionally she'll try to drink or eat on her own, but has no head control. Any ideas...

 

[JCMBinOhio]

So Pucky isn't getting any better..... and I've run out of ideas.. so I think it's the .22 pistol in the AM..... her head still shakes real bad and she stands there with her eyes closed. She'll swallow food if I put it in her mouth.. but since she's not progressing I don't want to let her just carry on like this since it's been 4 days now with no improvement.