My 8 month old silkie pullet Ty has been decidedly unwell for the last couple of days. On Friday morning she was lethargic, not eating, breathing heavily and her beak was filled with stringy saliva. I took her to the vet, who said that Ty probably has a throat ulcer and infection and gave me antibiotics to inject (IM) twice daily for a week, which I've been doing.
Ty was a little underweight (2.32 lbs with semi-prominent keel) and has a history of being generally a bit uncoordinated. She seemed particularly uncoordinated on Friday morning. She also had many loose stools stuck to her rump feathers a week ago, which I cleaned up and trimmed. Additionally, I took my chickens on a several hour long car ride last weekend, where they stayed in my parents' empty chicken coop. The chickens are given constant access to clean water, eat chicken scratch and are fed bread, yogurt, watermelon, tomatoes and greens as supplementary snacks.
Ty seemed better on Saturday and Sunday morning but now (Sunday afternoon) looks sick again. She's standing with her head down and tail up, is lethargic and is breathing a bit heavily. She also isn't eating or drinking (unless I dunk her beak in the water). Her wings are held a bit away from her body, but she's inside where there's AC (it's around 100 degrees outside).
After I'd written all of this I went over to take a photo and discovered that she just laid her first egg! Which accounts for why she looked like she was straining. The egg is covered in a membrane/sac and she's still just sitting in the corner with her head down and tail raised, breathing a bit heavily. She looks to be in a bit of pain and sometimes looks like she's straining.
What might be wrong and what should I do?? The vet is closed. Please help!
Ty was a little underweight (2.32 lbs with semi-prominent keel) and has a history of being generally a bit uncoordinated. She seemed particularly uncoordinated on Friday morning. She also had many loose stools stuck to her rump feathers a week ago, which I cleaned up and trimmed. Additionally, I took my chickens on a several hour long car ride last weekend, where they stayed in my parents' empty chicken coop. The chickens are given constant access to clean water, eat chicken scratch and are fed bread, yogurt, watermelon, tomatoes and greens as supplementary snacks.
Ty seemed better on Saturday and Sunday morning but now (Sunday afternoon) looks sick again. She's standing with her head down and tail up, is lethargic and is breathing a bit heavily. She also isn't eating or drinking (unless I dunk her beak in the water). Her wings are held a bit away from her body, but she's inside where there's AC (it's around 100 degrees outside).
After I'd written all of this I went over to take a photo and discovered that she just laid her first egg! Which accounts for why she looked like she was straining. The egg is covered in a membrane/sac and she's still just sitting in the corner with her head down and tail raised, breathing a bit heavily. She looks to be in a bit of pain and sometimes looks like she's straining.
What might be wrong and what should I do?? The vet is closed. Please help!
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