CaptainSamH
Songster
...spending more time than normal just standing in place, definitely not following the flock.
I wouldn't normally haven't noticed, but we just lost a hen after showing similar signs and losing a lot of weight - her crop would not empty and her poops were very spare and she was literally skin and bones - and I am way more attuned now (rookie mistake).
To add to the issue, this girl is my daughters' favorite bird - the others are basically livestock, but Amber feels like their pet. I'm wondering what a good first step is to care for her so that it doesn't get as far along as the last one.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) She's an amberlink, about 6+ months old, and so far physical appearance has not changed, but it's only been a day or so, noticing the behavior. Our RIR who we lost showed symptoms (that we now recognize went on for a couple of weeks) that led to serious weight loss.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. See above, and she also had loose bright-ish green poop with loose urate with no bulk (like broody poop, but liquid).
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? <48 hours
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? Just lost one showing similar signs
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I don't know, but I did find a soft, mal-formed, but intact eggshell in the coop 3-4 days ago - like a small deflated balloon.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. A little electrolyte/probiotic water and she had some egg and has been ranging in our yard, but watching her it looks like her head's bobbing (like she's looking for food), but not actually eating.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. No blood, see above description
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Nothing yet, besides electrolyte/probiotic water, checked her crop - not too big. After the last one started getting really sick, I added some grit to their feed station and brought back adding oyster shells - would that help?
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? Have a vet appt. for Wednesday, but want to get ahead of this if I can. (Also, we can afford the initial vet consult, but that's about it, the $200 they wanted for an emergency visit for the last one was too much).
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use Coop with straw, wood shavings in the laying boxes and a long roosting bar.
I wouldn't normally haven't noticed, but we just lost a hen after showing similar signs and losing a lot of weight - her crop would not empty and her poops were very spare and she was literally skin and bones - and I am way more attuned now (rookie mistake).
To add to the issue, this girl is my daughters' favorite bird - the others are basically livestock, but Amber feels like their pet. I'm wondering what a good first step is to care for her so that it doesn't get as far along as the last one.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) She's an amberlink, about 6+ months old, and so far physical appearance has not changed, but it's only been a day or so, noticing the behavior. Our RIR who we lost showed symptoms (that we now recognize went on for a couple of weeks) that led to serious weight loss.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. See above, and she also had loose bright-ish green poop with loose urate with no bulk (like broody poop, but liquid).
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? <48 hours
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? Just lost one showing similar signs
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I don't know, but I did find a soft, mal-formed, but intact eggshell in the coop 3-4 days ago - like a small deflated balloon.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. A little electrolyte/probiotic water and she had some egg and has been ranging in our yard, but watching her it looks like her head's bobbing (like she's looking for food), but not actually eating.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. No blood, see above description
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Nothing yet, besides electrolyte/probiotic water, checked her crop - not too big. After the last one started getting really sick, I added some grit to their feed station and brought back adding oyster shells - would that help?
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? Have a vet appt. for Wednesday, but want to get ahead of this if I can. (Also, we can afford the initial vet consult, but that's about it, the $200 they wanted for an emergency visit for the last one was too much).
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use Coop with straw, wood shavings in the laying boxes and a long roosting bar.
), but that info is really helpful for the next time. Probably would have tried with the RIR (Buttercup) we just lost, had I known. Is it the stuff I can just grab at the pharmacy (then crush it and mix with something)?
I haven’t dealt with any health issues in young chickens in 4 years, and have only had 2 older ones die of health related issues, so I’m not much help in diagnosing the problem. Just from reading the responses here I’d say get her on calcium citrate right away. Do you have tums on hand? I believe that is calcium citrate. I have also heard activated charcoal is good for cleansing their system, but for the life of me I can’t find that in any store. I’m going to search online but that wouldn’t be a fast solution for you unless you happen to have it.
