Think one of my hens is dying.....

[dlhunicorn]

yes on the syringe (CROP feeding which is through the tube directly into the crop) is sometimes necessary with vERY ill birds who temporarily are unable to feed themselves but it is always necessary to feed in such a way (with the exception of tube/crop feeding) so that the bird is able to swallow it itself.
Offer the yogurt/probiotic free choice and occasionally dip her beak in it... same with the feed (hopefully you can get the baby parrot/bird formula from the petstore and mix that in with it so it isnt completely dry) > both (not being dry) will also stave off dehydration.
for the water/electrolytes> just keep dribbling along beak.

 

[shannonb]

OMG.....this morning she is MUCH spunkier.....did not want to cooperate with the beak dipping!!! I think she is blind though. How does a perfectly spunky bird (for the entire almost 1 1/2 yrs that I've owned her) go blind overnight?

There are no injuries to her eyes or anywhere else. Still no sneezing or other illness symptoms. She still doesnt want to eat, and the poop is still diarrhea, but it's not completely green anymore, there is some white to it. I'm hoping that is a good sign. I know her being more feisty def is : )

I just don't know about this blindness thing though.

Must be partly from the power of prayer.....been doing alot of that : )

Thanks everyone.......

 

[tplummer]

Give her some electrolites. It might help and it mught not. Our white rooster who in a 10*10 coop would lay over on his side and get up in a minute, gave him the meds and he ended up not making it any way. Not as bad as a pit pull killing 16 chickens.
two were my cousins.

 

[shannonb]

tplummer, that's terrible, I'm so sorry.

She is getting electrolytes : ) I think it's working. Got my fingers and toes crossed.

Her nails seem really long, can I clip them?

 

[janinepeters]

Sure, you can clip them, but why don't you wait until the urgent issues are resolved, especially if handling stresses her. I'd handle her just enough to accomplish the immediate necessities.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
It depends on how you give it. If you force feed it into the mouth opening, yes - aspiration is a risk. If you put it into/onto the side of their beak opening and they can tongue it back, then they swallow it themselves. The key is feel - how fast you do it, as well as moisture. If it's not drippy wet, is more like... pudding let's say... then they can tongue it back. If they don't tongue it back, it won't run back on its own and you can remove it with a q-tip without aspiration risk.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
You'll want to check her pupils using light to see if her pupils dilate and contract normally. Cover one eye, cover it for quite a few seconds, then uncover it watching the pupil carefully. The pupil should be large and then shrink. If it doesn't do that after a couple of times, there's an issue. Do that for both eyes.

While examining the pupils note their size. If they're not perfectly round, if they're misshaped at all, and there's no injury then it's likely the optical form of Marek's. That can cause blindness overnight. If the pupil is grey, that would also be Marek's. This usually happens in one eye, but it could be in both. One eye usually is indicated by the bird tilting his head to one side.

Optical Marek's isn't a death sentence. However, it means that there's marek's around in the flock, and that all new incoming birds must be vaccinated - and chicks must be vaccinated before any exposure to your existing birds. Whether or not you cull a Marek's bird depends on your philosophy. If you're in it for selling birds, then I would consider it. If not, then that's something different.

I'm not saying your birds have Marek's. But I am saying that if you suspect blindness overnight, then you need to rule marek's out.

I'll add more in a bit - still trying to catch up. There are some wonderful posts here.

Edited: DUr - I see now that I had posted on optical mareks before. I thought it was a weird coincidence saying it twice. /sigh Sorry about that. I'm actually blushing!

 

[shannonb]

Well , just got back from the vet....did subq fluids first, then took the x-ray because we felt something and thought she was egg bound.....nope....cancer and lots of it. Well, at least masses. I humanely put her out of her misery.

Thanks for everything...

Shannon

 

[threehorses]

Ahhh then it was Mareks. I'm so very sorry, but I'm glad that you have a definite answer. Note that it spreads through feather dander so, again, you'll want to vaccinate against it if you have your own chicks, and buy vaccinated birds. that doesn't mean a Marek's infection won't happen, but it helps.

Mareks causes neoplasias (tumors) throughout the body and the internal organs. It's viral, a herpesvirus.

Again I'm so sorry that you had to put her down, but thank you for being such a good steward and taking her in!

 

[shannonb]

Vet said it was likely a mammary tumor?

Or something like that? Guess I wasn't paying much attention to her at that point.....

Will my other birds die now too?