Sick Chicken at Vet. Need some input please!

[minou33]

My favorite girl (20 weeks) was perfectly fine yesterday. This morning I noticed she wasn't eating, drinking or pecking. She was isolating herself and acting very lethargic and had watery whitish clear diarrhea. I isolated her and was able to drop her off at vet this morning. I suspected sour crop, but the vet thinks her crop feels normal. She says she might feel some liquid in her abdomen and wanted to speak with another vet there before doing x-rays. She hasn't started laying yet and all the other birds in the flock are fine. The vet said says she is seeing the same symptoms except that her last two poops have been fully formed and not watery which is good I guess.

I'm not going to cull her. My birds are for pets and not for production. But if the vets can't seem to find out what's wrong, any advice about what I should do when I pick her up this afternoon? Should I continue to isolate her (She is the dominant hen and I don't believe getting picked on would be a concern)? Should I try nutri-drench and is so how would I administer it if she's not drinking?

Any advice is appreciated! I know stuff happens... but I'm really so sad about this..

 

[M-H-Fielding]

My favorite girl (20 weeks) was perfectly fine yesterday. This morning I noticed she wasn't eating, drinking or pecking. She was isolating herself and acting very lethargic and had watery whitish clear diarrhea. I isolated her and was able to drop her off at vet this morning. I suspected sour crop, but the vet thinks her crop feels normal. She says she might feel some liquid in her abdomen and wanted to speak with another vet there before doing x-rays. She hasn't started laying yet and all the other birds in the flock are fine. The vet said says she is seeing the same symptoms except that her last two poops have been fully formed and not watery which is good I guess.

I'm not going to cull her. My birds are for pets and not for production. But if the vets can't seem to find out what's wrong, any advice about what I should do when I pick her up this afternoon? Should I continue to isolate her (She is the dominant hen and I don't believe getting picked on would be a concern)? Should I try nutri-drench and is so how would I administer it if she's not drinking?

Any advice is appreciated! I know stuff happens... but I'm really so sad about this..

Oh, I'm so sorry about that! It's hard to not know whats wrong.
If her abdomen has liquid in it, it sounds like 'Water Belly' to me.
I'm not an expert on this disease, but I know that it isn't curable.
I've had a few hens with it, and they didn't survive.
Normally though, when my hens had this, their combs turned a purplish color and they acted like they were cold.
I hope your girl pulls through!