Hello everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster. This is Matilda, just a few weeks ago:
She is getting sick, again. This is the third time she has begun showing the same symptoms over the course of about one year. She is about five years old, a bantam cochin, weighing just over 2lbs (though her max and best weight I would say is closer to just over 3lbs). Her only symptoms right now are lethargy - the droopy eyes - though today I think she has stopped eating, just like the previous two times she was sick. No one else is showing any symptoms.
The first time she was sick, she was broody for a looong time and I thought it was just malnutrition. I fed and watered her manually, giving her poly vi sol, and she recovered fully. She was emaciated, her balance was gone, she could barely walk. She was near death but she recovered. Several months passed and then she started deteriorating again. I caught it earlier, and this time she wasn't broody, so I knew it wasn't simply malnutrition. I took her to the vet, he gave me fenbendazole to treat broadly for worms and something else, metacam I think?. I did so, and found what I believe was a roundworm in her poop in the following days, but only one. I fed and watered her manually for something like three months this time, but she recovered in the end. She's been healthy for a few months now and in the past two weeks she has been slowing down again. The droopy eyes, just generally lethargic. But she's been eating and drinking and pooping normally, until today. I came home and her crop was empty. I made her some mash with poly vi, which she loves, and she nibbled but clearly had no appetite.
When she was nibbling on her mash, she was making some odd noises. Or rather, there were odd noises coming from inside her. Little pops, almost like when your stomach is growling. I've never heard it from any chicken so it struck me as odd.
Over the weekend I found a mite on her. One mite. I've checked everyone and haven't found any others, but I'm sure I saw the one. Looked like a Northern Fowl Mite to me. So I've been treating them all with DE under the wings and around the vent for a few days now. I treated the coop with liquid permethrin in case of Chicken Mites (even though the coop is whitewashed on the inside). I've replaced all the bedding in the coop (which is sand) in the past week. I'm generous with DE and SweetPDZ in the coop and run. I've also been dipping their legs in oil in case of Scaly Leg Mites, which two of them look like they could have. When I found the mite on Matilda, I noticed some kind of inflammation and scab around her vent. It doesn't look like excrement from mites (which I can't find anywhere on her). I've attached a picture but it's not very good I think, there's a lot of DE around and on the spot that is inflamed and scabbed.
I did some research when she started showing symptoms again, believing maybe it could be worms, again. I found out that the dosage the vet gave me for fendbendazole was wrong (city vet), and so Matilda got HALF the dose she should have for her weight. I bought Merck's Goat Dewormer (fenbendazole 100mg/ml, the same concentration the vet prescribed) and have treated the whole flock based on their appropriate weights at a dose of .25ml/pound. I've gone through the first five days and I'm in the ten day window between starting the second round of five days.
I really thought that having done all this she would have started to get a little stronger, but today she is definitively worse. I didn't force feed her, but let her go to bed with a mostly empty (and very soft) crop, but feel that tomorrow I will have to feed her myself. She has no energy, and just hangs her head and stands around. I've been giving her extra attention and love these days. I know she's strong and wants to get better but I feel she could be giving up. Please, if anyone has any advice, I know she's older but I'm not ready to lose her.
She is getting sick, again. This is the third time she has begun showing the same symptoms over the course of about one year. She is about five years old, a bantam cochin, weighing just over 2lbs (though her max and best weight I would say is closer to just over 3lbs). Her only symptoms right now are lethargy - the droopy eyes - though today I think she has stopped eating, just like the previous two times she was sick. No one else is showing any symptoms.
The first time she was sick, she was broody for a looong time and I thought it was just malnutrition. I fed and watered her manually, giving her poly vi sol, and she recovered fully. She was emaciated, her balance was gone, she could barely walk. She was near death but she recovered. Several months passed and then she started deteriorating again. I caught it earlier, and this time she wasn't broody, so I knew it wasn't simply malnutrition. I took her to the vet, he gave me fenbendazole to treat broadly for worms and something else, metacam I think?. I did so, and found what I believe was a roundworm in her poop in the following days, but only one. I fed and watered her manually for something like three months this time, but she recovered in the end. She's been healthy for a few months now and in the past two weeks she has been slowing down again. The droopy eyes, just generally lethargic. But she's been eating and drinking and pooping normally, until today. I came home and her crop was empty. I made her some mash with poly vi, which she loves, and she nibbled but clearly had no appetite.
When she was nibbling on her mash, she was making some odd noises. Or rather, there were odd noises coming from inside her. Little pops, almost like when your stomach is growling. I've never heard it from any chicken so it struck me as odd.
Over the weekend I found a mite on her. One mite. I've checked everyone and haven't found any others, but I'm sure I saw the one. Looked like a Northern Fowl Mite to me. So I've been treating them all with DE under the wings and around the vent for a few days now. I treated the coop with liquid permethrin in case of Chicken Mites (even though the coop is whitewashed on the inside). I've replaced all the bedding in the coop (which is sand) in the past week. I'm generous with DE and SweetPDZ in the coop and run. I've also been dipping their legs in oil in case of Scaly Leg Mites, which two of them look like they could have. When I found the mite on Matilda, I noticed some kind of inflammation and scab around her vent. It doesn't look like excrement from mites (which I can't find anywhere on her). I've attached a picture but it's not very good I think, there's a lot of DE around and on the spot that is inflamed and scabbed.
I did some research when she started showing symptoms again, believing maybe it could be worms, again. I found out that the dosage the vet gave me for fendbendazole was wrong (city vet), and so Matilda got HALF the dose she should have for her weight. I bought Merck's Goat Dewormer (fenbendazole 100mg/ml, the same concentration the vet prescribed) and have treated the whole flock based on their appropriate weights at a dose of .25ml/pound. I've gone through the first five days and I'm in the ten day window between starting the second round of five days.
I really thought that having done all this she would have started to get a little stronger, but today she is definitively worse. I didn't force feed her, but let her go to bed with a mostly empty (and very soft) crop, but feel that tomorrow I will have to feed her myself. She has no energy, and just hangs her head and stands around. I've been giving her extra attention and love these days. I know she's strong and wants to get better but I feel she could be giving up. Please, if anyone has any advice, I know she's older but I'm not ready to lose her.
