- Aug 3, 2013
- 6
- 1
- 62
Hey Everybody,
I’m Carol from Baker County, Georgia (South Georgia). I hope someone with BackYard Chickens can help my little hen. I had been a member of Happy Hen House but they recently shut down.
I have a sanctuary for wild burros and abused/homeless donkeys. But I love all animals so also give a home to other species: 2 chickens, 2 rabbits, 4 dogs, 1 cat, and a pig.
I have had chickens all of my life and have had many different breeds: Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, White Leghorns, New Hampshire Reds, Black Sex Links, Dominiques, Bantams, but no fancy breeds. For several years now, I have had Old English Bantams because they are so friendly and get along well with the rabbits.
I don’t know whether this information is needed in order to help Dorise, my little sick hen, but I will give you her background in case it will help. I got Dorise in June 2012 as a chick. Within a few days, she had respiratory problems. I’m sure she came with them. My vet, who says she really knows nothing about birds or chickens, prescribed Tylan as her best suggestion. The Tylan cured the respiratory problem; but after a short period, Brewster, the little rooster, came down with the same symptoms. I gave Tylan to both of them and they got over the respiratory illness.
Dorise began laying on August 14, 2012, and I don’t believe I have ever had a hen who has laid as many eggs. She laid all through the winter. It has always been my understanding that Old English are very poor layers, and this has been true for all the little hens I’ve had. But not this little girl. I began to feel sorry for her and wish she would stop, especially when she began having her current problem in May, trouble with her feet. She first began limping. When I looked at her feet, they looked awful, like some I saw on your website under foot fungus. I took her to the same vet, and again she said she knew nothing about chickens. After I told her she knew more than I, she prescribed Chlorhexidine. She had me dilute it one part to ten of water and soak her feet once a day for 10 days. Her feet got a lot better but not completely well.
After she began not eating so well and did finally stop laying, I found another vet who was supposed to know about chickens. He said she probably had several things wrong with her; he didn’t know exactly what. He said he would try a general solution: He dewormed her, gave her a multi-vitamin injection, and had me give her Baytril injections for five days. He said I should soak her feet in diluted Betadine, which I’m still doing. There was absolutely no improvement at all, and that cost me $125 for the five-minute visit.
The poor little thing is hanging in there. She wants to stay in her nest all of the time. She does eat a little by my putting a bowl of food in her nest with her. When I sit her on the ground, she does a strange thing with all of her feathers. She kind of fluffs them all forward, including her tail feathers and her wings.
I particularly paid attention to your information on leg mites. I looked at her legs and feet with a magnifying glass but saw nothing moving around. Or, are they too small to see even with the magnifying glass? If she had the mites, wouldn’t the Chlorhexidine and Betadine kill them? And another assumption, if she had mites, wouldn’t the rooster have them too? His feet and legs, and all of him, look great.
I’m sorry this has turned into a book. I can’t take a picture by myself, but when my helper comes to work, I’ll get one.
Please, if you can tell me anything to help her, it would be wonderful.
This seems like a very friendly, helpful forum, and I hope I can help someone else in the future.
I’m Carol from Baker County, Georgia (South Georgia). I hope someone with BackYard Chickens can help my little hen. I had been a member of Happy Hen House but they recently shut down.
I have a sanctuary for wild burros and abused/homeless donkeys. But I love all animals so also give a home to other species: 2 chickens, 2 rabbits, 4 dogs, 1 cat, and a pig.
I have had chickens all of my life and have had many different breeds: Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, White Leghorns, New Hampshire Reds, Black Sex Links, Dominiques, Bantams, but no fancy breeds. For several years now, I have had Old English Bantams because they are so friendly and get along well with the rabbits.
I don’t know whether this information is needed in order to help Dorise, my little sick hen, but I will give you her background in case it will help. I got Dorise in June 2012 as a chick. Within a few days, she had respiratory problems. I’m sure she came with them. My vet, who says she really knows nothing about birds or chickens, prescribed Tylan as her best suggestion. The Tylan cured the respiratory problem; but after a short period, Brewster, the little rooster, came down with the same symptoms. I gave Tylan to both of them and they got over the respiratory illness.
Dorise began laying on August 14, 2012, and I don’t believe I have ever had a hen who has laid as many eggs. She laid all through the winter. It has always been my understanding that Old English are very poor layers, and this has been true for all the little hens I’ve had. But not this little girl. I began to feel sorry for her and wish she would stop, especially when she began having her current problem in May, trouble with her feet. She first began limping. When I looked at her feet, they looked awful, like some I saw on your website under foot fungus. I took her to the same vet, and again she said she knew nothing about chickens. After I told her she knew more than I, she prescribed Chlorhexidine. She had me dilute it one part to ten of water and soak her feet once a day for 10 days. Her feet got a lot better but not completely well.
After she began not eating so well and did finally stop laying, I found another vet who was supposed to know about chickens. He said she probably had several things wrong with her; he didn’t know exactly what. He said he would try a general solution: He dewormed her, gave her a multi-vitamin injection, and had me give her Baytril injections for five days. He said I should soak her feet in diluted Betadine, which I’m still doing. There was absolutely no improvement at all, and that cost me $125 for the five-minute visit.
The poor little thing is hanging in there. She wants to stay in her nest all of the time. She does eat a little by my putting a bowl of food in her nest with her. When I sit her on the ground, she does a strange thing with all of her feathers. She kind of fluffs them all forward, including her tail feathers and her wings.
I particularly paid attention to your information on leg mites. I looked at her legs and feet with a magnifying glass but saw nothing moving around. Or, are they too small to see even with the magnifying glass? If she had the mites, wouldn’t the Chlorhexidine and Betadine kill them? And another assumption, if she had mites, wouldn’t the rooster have them too? His feet and legs, and all of him, look great.
I’m sorry this has turned into a book. I can’t take a picture by myself, but when my helper comes to work, I’ll get one.
Please, if you can tell me anything to help her, it would be wonderful.
This seems like a very friendly, helpful forum, and I hope I can help someone else in the future.
