Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

We are in the middle of the downstairs floors going down & it bucketed down all last night & is down right dreary & miserable this morning. Hopefully this afternoon I can start putting my grandsons bunk bed together in preparation for his arrival next week. I have painted my pantry but am waiting on my men folk doing the shelving. I hate cooking anyway but without a working pantry the kitchen is a nightmare! Still waiting on the go~ahead to paint the linen cupboard. & though the glazier has measured up he hasn't arrived back yet. I have a garden & chickens desperately in need of attention. I need this house done ~ like last year!!!

@rjohns39 : Give Sue a big hug to welcome her home from us!

 

[Ribh]

It seems like you are doing anything which I could think of. You have checked her craw. Correct?

We will add her to our prayers.

You have checked her craw. Correct?

Yes, Bob. Reading on BYC for all these months means I think I have covered all the usual things ~ so it's something not so usual. Her crop is never really full, like Soda who gets a huge bosum up, & is empty in the morning but there is something there @ nightfall. She does seem to be craving extra protein. She's always in the coop proper hunting bugs.

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you both, yes she is home again, they had to staple her scalp together! She was in over four nights and very glad to be out again! No concussion or subdural bleed, so that was good.

Staples! For a scalp wound!

 

[Shadrach]

We were discussing a little while ago [on @BY Bob's thread I believe]] that with so many birds between us someone was always bound to have a bird with a problem @ any given time. I think I'm it just now.

I took Suyin to the vet when I took Alpia for her eye & the vet assured me there was nothing wrong with my bird. The vet is wrong. I don't know what is wrong, but something is. I didn't want to take her back to the vet & be told the same thing when the vet didn't even weigh her so I chatted with the produce store people ~ & we are all flummoxed. Suyin is so light a breath could blow her over. So long as she was alert, foraging & especially fence hopping, I wasn't too worried. Yes, her eyes are still bright & alert. Her poops appear to be pretty normal. She drinks excessive amounts of water ~ but she always has. She has lost that really feisty edge that made her something of a problem within the flock. She is eating very little, often just raking her beak through the food but not actually ingesting anything. She tends to eat from the feeder , little but often. I have been adding extra protein through her moult but we have had a couple of really cold days & she has been standing a lot rather than foraging with the flock, fluffed up but her head hasn't been down, though she sometimes dozes off.
What I have tried:

• electrolytes [she has been better today]
• Mealworms [that got her pretty excited]
• Worming
• checked for lice & mites
• & on the advice of the produce store a broad spectrum antibiotic [Oxymav 100]. This is probably a bad call but I am @ my wits end. I don't know what I am dealing with & no~one else seems to know either. Her feathering is fantastic after her moult & she is looking pretty good but she's not right. I know she isn't.

The man says it's probably something genetic & despite some chooks living to 10~12 she looks & acts more like an old lady hen & she hasn't come back on the lay yet either. She will be entering her 3rd year so she is hardly ancient though as a X she may just have got a bad set of genes. Not expecting anyone to know what I am dealing with but it makes me sad that there seems to be nothing I can do to build her strength & muscle.

Worm her Ribh. If you can't find anything obvious as in no exterior problems I would worm her. You don't always see worms in the poop, especially if they are cecal worms. Cecal worms will affect the digestion. I can't remember whether they mess up the liver or something else.
I think casportpony recently did a bit of na article on cecal worms.

 

[Shadrach]

The first thing I think of when I hear weight loss and thirst as a combination is diabetes.

Here is an blog I just read about how a lady managed it in her hen.

http://www.suburbhen.com/2012/10/diabetes-in-chickens.html

Whatever it is, I hope Suyin feels better soon.

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the link.

 

[Ribh]

Worm her Ribh. If you can't find anything obvious as in no exterior problems I would worm her. You don't always see worms in the poop, especially if they are cecal worms. Cecal worms will affect the digestion. I can't remember whether they mess up the liver or something else.
I think casportpony recently did a bit of na article on cecal worms.

Thanks, @Shadrach. Can I over worm her? I do my flock regularly just because we have so many wild birds abut.

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks, @Shadrach. Can I over worm her? I do my flock regularly just because we have so many wild birds abut.

It's worth a try.
Not all wormers rid the chicken of all types of worms.
You can worm a chicken for a week and they may pick up worms the day after so regular worming may give you peace of mind but may not be effective for the chicken.
I take a few random samples to Gloria every now and then. What many people don't do is take a cecal poop sample as well.
Roundworm is common here and I would bet that a few of the chickens have round worm at any given point in time. I worm for round worms when I see them in the poop or a chicken is looking under the weather.

 

[Ribh]

It's worth a try.
Not all wormers rid the chicken of all types of worms.
You can worm a chicken for a week and they may pick up worms the day after so regular worming may give you peace of mind but may not be effective for the chicken.
I take a few random samples to Gloria every now and then. What many people don't do is take a cecal poop sample as well.
Roundworm is common here and I would bet that a few of the chickens have round worm at any given point in time. I worm for round worms when I see them in the poop or a chicken is looking under the weather.

Good point. I always have wormer so I'll do that. & see how we go.

 

[Ribh]

Staples! For a scalp wound!

Yep. One of my lads got 5 staples in his scalp after a mate tried pushing his head through the iron railings on the school verandah.

 

[BY Bob]

We are in the middle of the downstairs floors going down & it bucketed down all last night & is down right dreary & miserable this morning. Hopefully this afternoon I can start putting my grandsons bunk bed together in preparation for his arrival next week. I have painted my pantry but am waiting on my men folk doing the shelving. I hate cooking anyway but without a working pantry the kitchen is a nightmare! Still waiting on the go~ahead to paint the linen cupboard. & though the glazier has measured up he hasn't arrived back yet. I have a garden & chickens desperately in need of attention. I need this house done ~ like last year!!!

@rjohns39 : Give Sue a big hug to welcome her home from us!

That is not just a couple of things. That is a lot. Not having a functioning kitchen is a real bother. It will pass but it will be frustrating.

Of course it is less than what @Kris5902 is dealing with. She is building the whole house!