Sick hen - trying to diagnose so we can treat her

[Katz5617]

I feel your pain. We're trying to reintroduce our pet back into the flock after an unidentified illness. She fell ill quite suddenly and was falling to the side, couldn't stand,lethargic, her left toes began to curl - no balance at all. We searched for injuries, blood, swelling. her crop was fine - we could find no explanation and none of the other chicks got sick. We brought her into the house and began hand feeding and watering her. I gave her medicated feed, wormed her, gave her vitamins. electrolytes, etc. We kept at it consistently for a little over two weeks. She eventually came around and is no longer staggering or losing her balance and is eating well and can literally run around - we've never known what it was or just what it was that helped her get better - but other than it seems her left wing is now paralyzed she seems good as new. The other chicks didn't want to let her return to the flock so my husband built an adjacent run so they can all familiarize themselves again. We've been doing this for about two weeks now and next week will probably put her back in. I guess my whole point is to say don't give up. We have no idea what was wrong with lady or if anything we did helped her or if she just got better on her own with time but as you said - she is our pet and we wanted to give her every opportunity to live. I know I would hand feed lady and find treats she would eat, put a little yogurt on my fingers - anything I could. People here gave me wonderful suggestions and things to look for. I really didn't think she would make it, but she fooled us and I don't regret the time I spent trying. She is such a sweet natured and loving little Lady. Good luck and I certainly hope yours has a happy ending. This is our first attempt at raising chickens and I certainly found out there is a lot to learn and this is our go to site for information. We just tried a multitude of things that the folks here suggested and something worked. Hopefully you can find the right combination of what it will take for your pet.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Well said, Katz! I'm glad to hear your mama recovered. Mysterious illnesses are always hard... but we do the best we can for our birds!

MrsB

 

[KGandE]

Thanks, all. This is helpful and I appreciate the input. We've upped her feedings from 35 ccs to 40 yesterday and will go to 45 tonight. She is tolerating it fine. Still not eating or drinking on her own, but opening her eyes a bit more often and alert.

I'm also going to ask the vet about possible parasites - reluctant to dose her with a wormer when she's so weak, but if we can test her and find out what she has (if anything) then we'll do it.

I'll try to post pics as well.

Any other ideas are welcome.

 

[MrsBrooke]

A little cantaloupe goes a long way. <3

MrsB

 

[casportpony]

Thanks, all. This is helpful and I appreciate the input. We've upped her feedings from 35 ccs to 40 yesterday and will go to 45 tonight. She is tolerating it fine. Still not eating or drinking on her own, but opening her eyes a bit more often and alert.

I'm also going to ask the vet about possible parasites - reluctant to dose her with a wormer when she's so weak, but if we can test her and find out what she has (if anything) then we'll do it.

I'll try to post pics as well.

Any other ideas are welcome.

Someone recently had a fecal done on her very ill hen. Results were negative. Three days later she had another fecal and this time it was positive for capillary worms and coccidia. Her hen was very sick... Down from 7 pounds to 4.5 pounds, could hardly walk, wouldn'tt or drink. She has since wormed her with Safeguard and treated the coccidiosis with Corid. Hen is still alive, but still requires tube feeding even after one month.

-Kathy

 

[KGandE]

Update:

No real change as of now. She's taking a bit more food (40-45 CCs, 2x a day) and keeping her eyes open longer. Still can't entice her to eat or drink on her own. Talking with vet again today and will ask about possible parasites as well as the bloods and xrays.

 

[KGandE]

Good news - Our hen started eating on her own today! It took a great deal of encouragement from our daughter, but the hen had a good breakfast of grower crumbles this morning. If she keeps eating, we'll try working in some of her layer pellets and see how she does with those. Fingers crossed, maybe she is on the road to recovery!

 

[Acornewell]

My most recent hen had similar issues. I could get her to eat her food if I added warm water to her layer crumbles.

How does her abdomen feel?

 

[KGandE]

She has lost weight, but other than that, she looks and feels normal. We are feeding her the crumbles dry, with some layer pellets mixed in and I also added some grit, just in case, since she's not been eating normally or getting any grit - but she's not drinking a ton. We will probably give her a tube feeding tonight and I will make it thin to be sure she's getting water.

How is your girl and how long has she been ill?

 

[Acornewell]

She passed away a few nights ago. I noticed her standing in the corner of the coop about a month ago poofed up and not interested in food or even treats. I brought her in and she was SO skinny. Except for her bum. She would mostly just stand around falling asleep. Almost like she was egg bound. I literally tried everything I could think of. Her abdomen...basically her fluffy bum started to become hard, and I really wish I would have just taken her to the vet. I was going to try to drain some of the fluid to help her breathe better, but she passed before I could... Now thinking back to it she hid being as sick as I now know she probably was. She just seemed tired like she was just trying to fight a cold. Every day would pass and she just still seemed the same. No improvement, but not acting like she was getting worse. She would still preen her feathers, and make her sweet noises at times. I had just held on hope that she would pull through, I wasn't for sure what was wrong with her. Usually my other birds have popped back from things pretty quickly.

Is it possible that she could be laying internally? Seems like once the days start getting longer again my other gals are laying more again...I wonder if that brings it on?