Sick Hen

[wildcelticrose]

~
Hello,

I was hoping that my introductory post would be a bit happier than this, but right now I have a sick hen.

She is a year and a half old Oppington Buff named "Lovey" (her flock mates are a Rhode Island Red named Ginger and a Black Australorp named Mary Ann)

We've had some off and on hot and cold weather and egg production from all three has been spotty.

All have been healthy and active.

Yesterday, I went out to the pen and discovered Lovey laying down near the waterer. Her eyes were half closed.

When I tried to move her, she just rolled over. I was afraid I had lost her right then.

I separated her from the other girls, put her in a box and brought her into the basement.

Her comb and wattles appear normal, her crop appears to be functioning normally and she does not feel egg bound.

When I put her in the box last night with a dish of food (layer pellets) and water, she did eat and drink some water.

Before I went to bed last night, I checked on her, and she was standing rather than laying down which is a good sign. She seemed annoyed to be in the box and pecked at it, which is also a good sign.

She had urinated and passed a normal amount of somewhat watery stool. I did not see any undigested material or parasites in the stool, but I will be looking more closely later today. (right now there are people working on the house, so I'm trying to leave her alone as much as possible until it quiets back down)

The weather was quite warm yesterday compared to what we've been having and there have been roofers working on the house, so it has been quite noisy. The coop is 50 feet from the house, so the noise wasn't right on top of them.

This morning she is standing up, her feather's aren't puffed up and she looks better than she did yesterday afternoon.

Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on?

I've been biding my time looking for symptoms other than weak, sleepy looking chicken.

I am also going to be sanitizing the feeder and waterer (have already dumped all the food and changed the water) and will be giving the pen a good cleaning. For the time being, I will keep her separated from the other girls.

 

[lauralou]

I really don't know what might be wrong with Lovey. You say it was quite warm yesterday. How warm is that? Was it over 90 degrees? Do they have shade in the pen? I've had a terrible time with the heat this summer, but we've had days and days of temps over 100. So naturally heatstroke springs to my mind. That might not be an issue for you at all.

My best advice for you is to keep an eye on her, make sure she is eating and drinking well. I just don't know what else to tell you. Hopefully my post will bump you back up to the top of the list and someone else will see your thread and give you some more advice.

Good luck with her. It's really hard when you know something is wrong, but you're not sure what it is or what to do about it.

 

[wildcelticrose]

~
She rallied late Friday night and Saturday morning.

This afternoon it became apparent that Lovey was not going to make it after her brief rally Friday night/Saturday morning.

She stopped eating and drinking (I got as much water down her as I could) and became unable to stand or sit upright again.

I brought her upstairs this morning and set her up in the bathtub with food, water and towels for comfort & warmth.

I couldn't force her to spend her last bit of time on this earth locked in the bathroom wrapped in a towel in the bath tub.

I gently took her outside and laid her in the grass under the grape arbor.

She nibbled a bit of grass, laid her head down and that was it.

And of course, I cried like an idiot.

All the books say that I should have just “destroyed' her immediately because if she had a disease, even one she pulled through from, she would still pose a threat to the rest of my small flock.

I had to try to nurse her back to health.

I know some people think “What's the big deal;it's just a chicken”.

She was a sweet bird, a funny bird, she gave me fresh eggs (and occasionally a run for my money as you can see from this cell phone video)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildcelticrose/4819917120/

I will miss her

I know that chickens are fragile creatures who can have a number of congenital issues as well as cancers. She came from a different source than Mary Ann and Ginger,who thankfully appear healthy and happy so who knows. I know I will never get another chicken from that farm.

I'm sad, and I feel guilty.

 

[SummerChick]

I am so sorry for you loss...she was a beautiful chicken....and sweet looking. I know exactly how you feel... i lost one of my hens about the end of June. I cried and cried, she died in my arms and i felt like i didn't do something but i came home from work and she was already in trouble i thought she was overly heated so i brought her in the house, tried to give her water. She died within the hour. I felt respondible and i let her down by not taking better care of her.

Laurie