- May 21, 2014
- 14
- 24
- 94
What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Road Island Red, 22 weeks old, slowly losing weight
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Red has been slowly losing weight despite eating and drinking normally. 2 days ago I noticed her high-stepping, or raising her feet all the way up when taking steps, now she has difficulty keeping her legs under her and just wants to sit. She has also had a poopy looking butt the last 3 days. It has been very cold here (well below zero) so I brought them into the shed the last 4 days and so she might have some stress. The weight loss has been noticeable though for a few weeks.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Slowly over 2 weeks, sudden onset of leg weakness the last 2 days.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. We had to cull another girl over a week ago because she slowly was losing weight and eventually just sat hunched and fluffed up and miserable. All chickens were de-wormed because of that, given Corid, and vitamin water.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Appetite is fine…layer feed, scratch feed to supplement through this cold spell, a treat of oats/peas/yogurt/sunflower seeds/scrambled eggs for Christmas.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. somewhat runny, light brown, white dried poop in rear feathers
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Corid over the last 3 days, de-wormed with Fenben 5 days ago
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Self-treatment
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use. Pine flakes in coop, straw bedding when in the shed the last couple of days with the cold spell
I’m worried that this could be related to the last chicken that fell ill, however she never acted lame or uncoordinated, the one we culled also had some crop issues that we treated. I have 5 other girls and they seem fine. Red is being quarantined, her crop feels fine, and she’s eating and drinking. She struggles to put weight through her legs when first standing and then her legs are shaking when she walks and she is doing that high-stepping gait. Her butt is the only one in the flock that looks messy. Please help!! I don’t want to lose another girl in just 2 weeks! Thank you!
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Red has been slowly losing weight despite eating and drinking normally. 2 days ago I noticed her high-stepping, or raising her feet all the way up when taking steps, now she has difficulty keeping her legs under her and just wants to sit. She has also had a poopy looking butt the last 3 days. It has been very cold here (well below zero) so I brought them into the shed the last 4 days and so she might have some stress. The weight loss has been noticeable though for a few weeks.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Slowly over 2 weeks, sudden onset of leg weakness the last 2 days.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. We had to cull another girl over a week ago because she slowly was losing weight and eventually just sat hunched and fluffed up and miserable. All chickens were de-wormed because of that, given Corid, and vitamin water.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Appetite is fine…layer feed, scratch feed to supplement through this cold spell, a treat of oats/peas/yogurt/sunflower seeds/scrambled eggs for Christmas.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. somewhat runny, light brown, white dried poop in rear feathers
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Corid over the last 3 days, de-wormed with Fenben 5 days ago
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Self-treatment
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use. Pine flakes in coop, straw bedding when in the shed the last couple of days with the cold spell
I’m worried that this could be related to the last chicken that fell ill, however she never acted lame or uncoordinated, the one we culled also had some crop issues that we treated. I have 5 other girls and they seem fine. Red is being quarantined, her crop feels fine, and she’s eating and drinking. She struggles to put weight through her legs when first standing and then her legs are shaking when she walks and she is doing that high-stepping gait. Her butt is the only one in the flock that looks messy. Please help!! I don’t want to lose another girl in just 2 weeks! Thank you!
Last edited:
I don’t want to have to cull another one of my girls if there’s something I am missing that could save her! I noticed she regurgitated a bunch of water up after drinking. I’ve never seen her do this before. I wonder if it’s because she pitched forward when trying to walk?
