Sick chicken

[azygous]

Re-read #8. Place a whole pill into the mouth. It will disappear as if by magic.

 

[Janzen]

Re-read #8. Place a whole pill into the mouth. It will disappear as if by magic.

Ok. It’s my first time to give a chicken a pill. I didn’t want to cause harm.

 

[azygous]

Don't worry. Chickens handle pills much better than humans do. Our problem is that our digestion requires us to chew before swallowing whereas chickens' digestion does not.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Ok. It’s my first time to give a chicken a pill. I didn’t want to cause harm.

Totally understand. I was nervous about it, too. Then I had a duck who needed antibiotics 2x/day for 3 weeks. I got over it quickly. Now I have no issues giving my birds pills. Wish cats were as easy to medicate...

 

[Janzen]

Don't worry. Chickens handle pills much better than humans do. Our problem is that our digestion requires us to chew before swallowing whereas chickens' digestion does not.

My hospital hen is still alive. She is still eating and drinking and I’ve been giving her the vitamins. This evening I saw her try to stand up. She did for a moment and they she went back down. She didn’t collapse, but it reminded me a person who has been bed ridden and they are trying to gain their strength back in the their legs. (The slick surface didn’t help her)

She obviously is still ailing, but I have hope with her trying to get up on her own. Would her attempting to stand be any indication of what her ailment may be? You mentioned weak legs. What might be causing that?

So far, no other flock mates are showing signs of anything.

 

[azygous]

If she continues to improve, it is likely a vitamin deficiency. This is quite common, but the only way to diagnose it is by trying the vitamins and see what happens. It's been my experience here on BYC that eight out of ten times it's a vitamin deficiency. The other two times it's an avian virus and the condition worsens. I've had both in my flock. When they get better from the vitamins, it's such a happy, happy time!

Try to get her to eat things like egg, boiled rice, fish. (Brown rice if you have time for that as it has B vitamins galore.) You need to get her nutritional levels back up and get her strength back.

 

[Janzen]

Hospital Hen Update: She is still with us. She showed a tad bit of improvement today with her strength and mobility. She has tried standing multiple times today and she even did a little chicken hop once this evening. She is still doing chicken things like cleaning her beak on the ground and eating bugs that get into the pen and she is alert. Her appetite needs to be better as well as her fluid intake. I don’t feel she is drinking enough. I have tried various solutions of electrolytes in her water and a bit of sugar. She has enjoyed the vegetables I’ve given her to supplement her diet.

 

[Janzen]

Update: I’m not sure I’m seeing much improvement after a week’s time. She really isn’t using her feet and lower legs to stand, move, or support herself. She is using her wings to upright herself and she always sits on her hocks. She moves around by going backwards on her hocks. Can chickens feel things in their feet? When I touch her feet or try to stimulate them, she doesn’t react at all. They don’t curl. She doesn’t pull back. Nothing. She is still eating and drinking and acting like a normal chicken, other than using her lower legs and feet. Any suggestions?

 

[azygous]

It can take up to four weeks to see an improvement if this is a B-vitamin deficiency. If she's remaining the same, there's still time for improvement.

However, if she's getting worse, you may suspect it's not a deficiency, but instead an avian virus.

 

[Janzen]

It can take up to four weeks to see an improvement if this is a B-vitamin deficiency. If she's remaining the same, there's still time for improvement.

However, if she's getting worse, you may suspect it's not a deficiency, but instead an avian virus.

She is definitely not worse. All things considered she remains perky. She fights hard when I give her the vitamins. I took her outside yesterday for sun and yard time and she acted like a completely normal chicken sans the foot/leg issue.