Sick chicken, can't invest more $$ for treatment/diagnosis - what do I do?

[slou]

I have a 4 year old hen who has been very weak for over a month now, sitting down every few steps, tail down, putting wing down to stabilize herself. She is very thin but still eating and drinking. I took her to a vet and paid $250 for exam + blood tests + medicines (antibiotic and calcium supplement) and mite treatments. I supplement their feed with mealworms and calcium already. After 14 days of 2x/day meds, she is showing no improvement. Vet tells me next step is x-ray ($80) although he already checked for eggs in her canal and confirmed nothing in there and she's unlikely to be laying, so if he found something else it would require more expensive treatment. We have several other pets including an elderly dog who is requiring hundreds of dollars of monthly medications and regular vet visits, blood tests, therapy and simply can't afford to be spending more money on this hen, but I feel terrible that she is suffering. Can anyone help with advice on what to do in this situation?

 

[PD-Riverman]

I have a 4 year old hen who has been very weak for over a month now, sitting down every few steps, tail down, putting wing down to stabilize herself. She is very thin but still eating and drinking. I took her to a vet and paid $250 for exam + blood tests + medicines (antibiotic and calcium supplement) and mite treatments. I supplement their feed with mealworms and calcium already. After 14 days of 2x/day meds, she is showing no improvement. Vet tells me next step is x-ray ($80) although he already checked for eggs in her canal and confirmed nothing in there and she's unlikely to be laying, so if he found something else it would require more expensive treatment. We have several other pets including an elderly dog who is requiring hundreds of dollars of monthly medications and regular vet visits, blood tests, therapy and simply can't afford to be spending more money on this hen, but I feel terrible that she is suffering. Can anyone help with advice on what to do in this situation?

Have you wormed her or had her checked for worms? If not I would be worming her Now----and use a Good Wormer.

 

[slou]

Thank you! But shouldn't that have shown up on the vet exam/testing if she had worms? And which wormer do you recommend?

 

[PD-Riverman]

Thank you! But shouldn't that have shown up on the vet exam/testing if she had worms? And which wormer do you recommend?

I would have thought he would have checked---You could ask if he did?? Lots of different things can have the some-what same symptoms. Example. I have had chickens that got real light-----even got to the point they had problems--standing/stumbling, but eat good---after the first loss of 27--necropsy test----they were eat up with worms. Now if I see the same problem----I wormed them and they gain a lot of weight back in a few weeks and Live. I am worming 1/2 of my flock as I type this----the other 1/2 will be wormed in a couple weeks. Call your vets office and see if they tested for worms/tape worms??

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm sorry that your hen is ill. Is your vet pretty familiar with chickens? From her age and symptoms, she could be suffering from egg yolk peritonitis or another of the reproductive disorders. I would think they did a fecal float for worms and parasites, but it should be on your receipt, or you can call the office and ask. If it is EYP, they could prescribe a strong antibiotic that might help short term, but it is usually just a matter of time before she gets pretty miserable. I will try to send some links to read with my next post.