Sick hen - trying to diagnose so we can treat her

[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?

 

[KGandE]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Our girl is doing okay. No signs of swelling or being eggbound. She is happy to eat again today, but only if we hold the food up to her and help her get started. For some reason, she isn't eating on her own, even though we put her old baby feeder in the crate with her and feed her out of them when we take her out. It's strange, but we are glad she's eating (and pooping more normally) so we are going to hope the improvement continues.