sick hen - won't eat

[vonchick]

Hello,

I've been working with a 3 1/2 year old easter egger hen for about. 2 months now - she was
Not eating aand becoming very thin. After worming with wazine and ivermectin she bounced back. Then she started molting and lost a lot of weight. Because of extreme cold weather I brought her indoors for nights and the coldest days. All was good, she was eating and chirping and had gained back 1/4 lb. Three days ago she stopped eating anything but mealworm beetles - and my supply of those is about gone. She does drink. My question is - should I worm her again or is it too soon at 2 months since the last treatment? The last worming was like giving her a shot of B12, it really perked her up. And after that I did see her eating earthworms in the garden. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[DorisBondo]

My hen is in a nearly situation to yours. I suggest you to force feed her with crumbles(special food for chickens) and is a good thing that she is drinking water.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Wazine will only get rid of round worms and there are many more chickens can get. Ivermectin has also become quite ineffective as a dewormer. So it's quite possible worms are still your problem. You might try deworming her again with something effective like Safeguard or Valbazen. Do a repeat in 10 days. Also check her over carefully for mites/lice.

 

[casportpony]

I'd worm her with Safeguard or Valbazen.

-Kathy

 

[vonchick]

I can't get to the feed store today to see what wormers they have - everything is closed due to the winter storm. I put her on wazine earlier today rather than do nothing, and I can hear her slinging seed and pellets around now. No idea if she's eating anything, but just interest in food is a big improvement!

 

[vonchick]

Doris,

I haven't had luck force feeding. Is there a method to it? I started out offering her some of her favorite treats. She would gently take them from my hand and fling them. She seemed to enjoy the game. Then I moved on to trying to force her to take a loose mixture of scrambled eggs and rice. I did all this in the bathroom, and cleaning all the food off the walls of the shower stall took longer than expected.

 

[DorisBondo]

Doris,

I haven't had luck force feeding. Is there a method to it? I started out offering her some of her favorite treats. She would gently take them from my hand and fling them. She seemed to enjoy the game. Then I moved on to trying to force her to take a loose mixture of scrambled eggs and rice. I did all this in the bathroom, and cleaning all the food off the walls of the shower stall took longer than expected.

Is easier if somebody will help you to hold her and you coud try to give her with a teaspoon directly in her beak. This is my method and in this way I feed my girl with my fathers help. I do this several times per day for 1 month ago. I wish you luck and I hope your girl will be recovering soon!!

 

[pwand]

Doris,

I haven't had luck force feeding. Is there a method to it? I started out offering her some of her favorite treats. She would gently take them from my hand and fling them. She seemed to enjoy the game. Then I moved on to trying to force her to take a loose mixture of scrambled eggs and rice. I did all this in the bathroom, and cleaning all the food off the walls of the shower stall took longer than expected.

Tube feed her.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding
Also treat her for mites.

 

[Sarevan]

I wormed with Valbazen worked great. I would also tube feed her, can be two people job at first but with practice I can now do it alone. I liquify the pellet feed in a blender so it will go through the holes in feeding tube use probiotic water as the liquid ( I always end up with a bit extra to keep for next feeding, but I add the extra to the others mash so it wont be wasted) also kaytee baby bird food formula is also thin enough to be used.

A tube feeding kit can be found at the farm / ranch store mine was a lamb feeding kit 14g for under 3.00. Aquarium tubing can be used just heat the end to round off the end you will be inserting in the hen. The syringe can be reused just clean it well and occasinally use olive oil or mineral oil on the rubber gasket to keep it flexible. Get extra syringes various sizes for feeding or to measure administer meds.


Search for tube feeding in the forum, I use search for anything I need to look up. This forum is an amazing collection of info, besides the people are astonishing for the experiences / knowledge they share.

 

[pwand]

I had boughten a 60ml syringe and the feeding tube at the local vet all for $5.00