Sick hen

Somshine

Songster
Aug 14, 2022
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Okay so my 3-year-old Golden comet, Fanny, is clearly under the weather. Her comb is very floppy and she has not been herself the past 3 days. She will get up and move around but isn't really staying with the flock. She will walk and then she will lay down. The first day she happily soaked in lavender and Epsom salt for over 30 minutes in case she was egg bound. I also did a bit of vegetable oil in the rear end. Her crop is good. Gave her a shot of penicillin, it's all I've got access to at the moment. Yesterday she showed a little improvement. Today I did another penicillin. Her comb is much brighter red than it was the day before yesterday. And she is a little more lively but not back to herself. I boiled some water and quickly whisked an egg around in it and added some oatmeal. When it cooled I added some enzymes a little vitamin C and a kids gummy multivitamin and she ate about a half a cup pretty happily. Added a little bit of honey to her water and she drank some. So she seems to be improving slowly. Everybody else is fine. I imagine if she were egg bound by day three she'd be going down not improving. As I said, her crop feels fine. Any other ideas or suggestions?
 

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Also, her poop doesn't look normal. It looks sort of watery and empty. Not really diarrhea though, more like they're just isn't much to poop out. And although her comb has more red to it today it's still floppy. I do have a bag of fluids on hand but I'm trying to get her to drink. I know how to do them on other animals but I'm hesitant to do them on a chicken because it kind of creeps me out how thin their skin is.
 
Check her abdomen and see if its bloated. (abdomen is located underneath the vent and in between the legs)
Does she waddle at all when she walks or runs?
Withhold food and water during the night and see if her crop is empty in the morning.
If she was egg bound she would have died by now.
 
Also, her poop doesn't look normal. It looks sort of watery and empty. Not really diarrhea though, more like they're just isn't much to poop out. And although her comb has more red to it today it's still floppy. I do have a bag of fluids on hand but I'm trying to get her to drink. I know how to do them on other animals but I'm hesitant to do them on a chicken because it kind of creeps me out how thin their skin is.
Her droppings look like that because she not eating much.
 
No she's not waddling when she walks. But when I probed her abdomen she wasn't as docile about it as some of the other things I've done. When she moves around she's moving normally just not nearly as much. Where in the world do y'all get your hands on amoxicillin? I know that would be better. Last time I had an old sick hen I called around just trying to find a vet that would help me humanely end her suffering and I couldn't find one that worked with chickens. Also can you do fluids on a hen?
 
No she's not waddling when she walks. But when I probed her abdomen she wasn't as docile about it as some of the other things I've done. When she moves around she's moving normally just not nearly as much. Where in the world do y'all get your hands on amoxicillin? I know that would be better. Last time I had an old sick hen I called around just trying to find a vet that would help me humanely end her suffering and I couldn't find one that worked with chickens. Also can you do fluids on a hen?
I haven't got amoxicillin in awhile so I don't know where to get it. @azygous, @Wyorp Rock, and @Eggcessive would know where.
When you say fluids on a hen do you mean tube feeding?
 

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