HollyEllen1
In the Brooder
- Aug 6, 2020
- 5
- 6
- 11
Hi Everyone,
One of my rescue battery hens has been poorly for the past 5 days. She started by limping on one foot and then a day later took herself off into the coop and has since refused to walk. She won’t weight bear on either leg/foot now at all and for the past 4 days will not take water or food herself. I have been pipette feeding her water with vitamins which she downs and I have also given her pro biotic fat free yogurt which she also loves. Today she lapped up yolk too but she will not take on either food or water unless I give it her. She is peeing and pooping as normal but isn’t laying however I don’t know if she is still one of our layers or not as we have 13 other girls who are all doing fine. She doesn’t like being picked up but seems to enjoy being settled in my lap when feeding. She can lift her head up and flap her wings but she cannot move her body much and she uses her beak to pull herself up in her box. I have brought her inside so she is safe and warm and I can feed her regularly but she will not take on any solid foods. I’ve tried mash with warm water, boiled egg, porridge, scrambled egg, sweetcorn, spagetti and grapes and nothing but the yogurt and egg yolk is doing it for her.
I have no clue why she has suddenly gone lame but I would say she is around 3/4 years old. I also don’t know why she won’t take water herself even though she clearly wants to drink and take on nutrients.
We don’t have any vets locally that deal with chickens but I also don’t want to travel far with her and stress her out.
I wondered if she could possibly be suffering from a vitamin deficiency and am hoping her electrolyte water will be helping with this but I really am at a loss.
Any advice or help would be massively appreciated!
Thank you so much!
Holly
One of my rescue battery hens has been poorly for the past 5 days. She started by limping on one foot and then a day later took herself off into the coop and has since refused to walk. She won’t weight bear on either leg/foot now at all and for the past 4 days will not take water or food herself. I have been pipette feeding her water with vitamins which she downs and I have also given her pro biotic fat free yogurt which she also loves. Today she lapped up yolk too but she will not take on either food or water unless I give it her. She is peeing and pooping as normal but isn’t laying however I don’t know if she is still one of our layers or not as we have 13 other girls who are all doing fine. She doesn’t like being picked up but seems to enjoy being settled in my lap when feeding. She can lift her head up and flap her wings but she cannot move her body much and she uses her beak to pull herself up in her box. I have brought her inside so she is safe and warm and I can feed her regularly but she will not take on any solid foods. I’ve tried mash with warm water, boiled egg, porridge, scrambled egg, sweetcorn, spagetti and grapes and nothing but the yogurt and egg yolk is doing it for her.
I have no clue why she has suddenly gone lame but I would say she is around 3/4 years old. I also don’t know why she won’t take water herself even though she clearly wants to drink and take on nutrients.
We don’t have any vets locally that deal with chickens but I also don’t want to travel far with her and stress her out.
I wondered if she could possibly be suffering from a vitamin deficiency and am hoping her electrolyte water will be helping with this but I really am at a loss.
Any advice or help would be massively appreciated!
Thank you so much!
Holly
