UPDATE - Golden Comet Tammy is sick and sad - what could be wrong?

[redwa]

BlueMoon - I think the food you are feeding her might be hard to digest when her system is stressed. How about some scrambled eggs, chick mash, baby food. I have given my chickens what I give my kids when they get sick (which thank God is rarely). I make a pot of "jook". I throw into the pot rice, onion (cut in half, skin and all) carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, parsley and a pinch of sea salt. I cover it all with water and cook it all until it is a mash (adding water if necessary). The chickens love it. You can throw in a little egg for protein and they have a very nutritous and easily digested meal. I hope she pulls through.

 

[BlueMoon]

Thank you. I'm worried that she's lost weight, but am more worried about why and her other symptoms (like this morning she was dragging one leg). Her appetite is ok - she's had steak, hamburger (cooked and raw), sour cream, wet catfood, her own layer, lots of egg yolks and is tearing up fresh corn (steamed) now. She gobbles things up for a few minutes and then rests. I don't think most of these are hard to digest, she doesn't have diarrhea.
Her weight is down, but I think that's a result, not the cause of these other problems.

About to give her a warm bath again - I think that helps because she doesn't need to put her full weight on her legs to stand. Also, she's getting a bit stinky.

By chick mash, do you mean grower or the tasty sounding recipe you wrote? Should I just make her some warm cereal, like oatmeal?

Oh - I am thinking about bringing her to the vet, especially as whatever she has could have been passed on to all.

Thank you all so much for your help and concerns!

 

[dlhunicorn]

onions are toxic to birds... you can mix some cooked (in water) human oats into her feed (no grains) ...if you use (unmedicated) chick starter this will usually have a higher percantage protein (so you will not need to give her catfood> the correct ratios of nutrients are very important and catfood will not provide this) Taking her to vet is a good idea I think.

 

[BlueMoon]

What I dound giving her a bath were:
some lice
severe emaciation
she has pasty white doo under her tail.

Husband veteo'd the $40 vet visit for the $8 hen and he does have a point.

So, I'm now considering, since I think she's going to die anyhow, giving her a subcutaneous injection. She needs fluids and I'm wondering what to give her. I have a Damerow recipe for a homemade in a pinch electrolyte solution too.

Any thoughts? I want to get this into her ASAP.

THANKS!

 

[dlhunicorn]

Lactated Ringers solution...
here is a handy site ...might send them off an email:
http://www.ronsvetsupply.com/firsup.html

if you do not have time to wait:
From "Practical Wildlife Care" by Les Stocker:
It is possible to mix your own equivalent oral rehydrating salts by using the following ingredients:

7g sodium chloride (NaCl, common salt)
5g sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
3g potassium chloride (commonly called "Muriate of Potash". Salt substitutes contain mostly potassium chloride)
40g glucose (a common source is corn syrup)
2 litres water

The solution must be mixed thoroughly and discarded after 24 hours.

and here are my collected articles on REHYDRATION:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies&action=display&num=1162030046

 

[redwa]

Yes, I was referring to unmedicated chicken mash. I didn't know onions were toxic to birds - even cooked? Thanks for that. Hope she turns around. Let us know how she is doing.

 

[BlueMoon]

Thanks - she's not well, but still hanging on and still eating, albeit selectively. Tonight, she would eat mashed butternut squash.

Did I mention she whines?

I've seen this done with other animals that were severely malnourished and want to try it, but don't have a clue what to use. Have you ever done a subcutaneous injection, a shot under the skin just to get fluids and electrolytes/vitamins/medicine into a dehydrated critter? I understand how and I think where to inject, just not sure what to use. I think the extra liquid would make a world of difference.

 

[arlee453]

Here's a link with info on subQ fluids in birds. It's on the bottom of the first column

http://books.google.com/books?id=WI...YEU&sig=NC1iZWsisqsSmTp10_uEVGIlAcE#PPA102,M1

 

[BlueMoon]

Thank you so much. I was just reading about your poor sweetie and I'm so sorry.
I think what Tammy is going thru is similar, so we'll do the cloaca exploration this evening (with Mom, the nurse practioner who's used to doing some form of this to women). Penguin pose sounds very much like what she does - drags her poor tail, can barely stand today.
DLHUnicorn is right - we're not vets and there's only so much we can do. It's just hard when you try everything you can think of and they still get worse.