Urgent.

[tiffanyh]

Based on what you explained, she might even have arthritis or some type of injury in her neck. I would say it is in her neck more than anywhere else. Is she eating??? Does she bend over to each comfortably??

This is what I would do, (keep in mind though all the other advice). Raise her food to eat. Place the feed tray at a level she doesn't have to bend over to eat from. Lots of protein, like scrambled eggs. See if she becomes more comfortable after time with a good diet that she can get at comfortably to heal herself.

If she is eating and drinking and seems generally happy, I would tend NOT to put her down. I have in injured hen that has trouble hopping around, but she is happy as can be. Animals don't pity themselves, they deal with the situation they are in and live.

She does look good otherwise, you can tell her feathers are clean and new, if it weren't for her stance she would look great, so you are obviously doing a great job with them.

 

[karanleaf]

Scottlee ,, I agree with tiffany.

Put her on a high protein diet. Give her some table scraps once in a while, like leftover veggies and as suggested scrambled eggs. You might think of getting some vitamin drops to add to the water. Give her a soft bed of straw or shavings. If you raise her food & water to a higher level where she doesn't have to bend down so far she will be able to feel her balance maintained and she may be able to start to straighten out some over time..
I have seen this with dogs kept in the same small carrier since they were puppies to adult size. After some time of being out where they could actually move and stretch they regained some of their flexability. Sometimes not all but they were much more comfortable.

Just keep up with your care I think you are doing a wonderful job.
As far as your local rscpa I can't think of why,

maybe you got a hold of a volunteer that answers the phone and they didn't really know? Most of those groups are good to work with, but they do run on using a lot of volunteer workers. If you decide to call them again just ask for some one in investigations or animal care and then maybe you can talk with someone for advise at least.
Again Just keep up with your care I think you are doing a wonderful job. As I said before people like you make this world a better place for human & animal.. THANK YOU

 

[ScottLee]

a rspca officer phoned me and said i could try asking the guy who i get my feed from as he sell;'s alot of chiken food, also theres a farmer that keeps alot of chickens enarby so im going to see him aswell.

it just kills me to see the poor girl struggling to even stand up and falling over, soemtimes spreading her wings to catch herself falling.

EDIT - im goin to try force feeding it some oil, erm castor oil i think my mother said. might make it pass the egg/s if thts wjhat it is, im gna give her 7 days if she doesnt show any improvement im going to put her down.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Except for her neck being puffy, that stance just screams I have a stuck egg...If her tummy doesn't feel like a water balloon, it's probably that she's eggbound, or is having trouble laying a soft shelled egg.

Thanks so much for taking in her and her sisters.

 

[go-veggie]

Quote:
Just a thought, but it's worth checking out maybe...
Wildlife rehabbers would be very knowledgeable about birds...maybe you could call one. Hopefully you find a good one nearby. Good luck!

 

[karanleaf]

Thanks for the update Scott let us know how she does. Poor thing is lucky that you care enough to try to help her.

Be carefull on the oil as a little may go a long way for a chicken and she is already in a weakened state. I have never heard of giving castor oil to chicken, but I don't know all about chickens either so... If others that have had them longer think it's ok, then by all means...

Good luck to you and that little hen

 

[dlhunicorn]

I would not jump to any conclusions about an egg though I would indeed be on the lookout for signs (straining as if she is trying to lay>if you see this then place her in a warm bath). You can give her a crushed TUM (mix it in with some COOKED human oatmeal and make a little "pill" of that to feed her. The TUM will deal with any immediate calcium deficiency (Give just once)

Be CAREFUL trying to "force" feed her as birds have two "holes">one leading to the crop (where they store and move the feed on through to the intestines) and one leading to the lungs. In mammals this hole closes to keep the feed or water out of the lungs >>>BIRDS DO NOT HAVE THIS CAPABILITY which means if they are not "ready" to swallow (on their own) the forced in feed or fluid then it will get into their lungs and this is extremely dangerous and often deadly. So watch out trying to "force" her to drink/eat >>>she MUST be able to swallow it on her own.

In my opinion, she may be coming out of a molt and in addition to that severely undernourished and possibly wormy. Deal with that and you will be on your way to enable her to recovery.

She needs a good quality layer feed ... you can mix in just enough cooked (in water not milk) human oatmeal with this feed to make it clump together (this is helpful as she will take in more feed with each bite). Also offer her (free choice) a good quality live-culture plain yogurt (no flavorings) >Danone or such.

If you can possibly get some baby parrot hand-feeding formula (this is a powder you mix up with water>most major pet sotres will have this)) and add this to her feed as well it will concentrate the nutrition.
In addition to the above I strongly urge you to get some POLYVISOL Enfamil vitmains (this is a childrens liquid A-B-D vitamin) and give her 3-4 drops of that into her beak (along side her beak if she is unwilling to work with you or mixed into a little ball of oatmeal) once a day for a week then taper off the next... This will deal with the most commonly occuring deficiencies (which when sever can be deadly)
Good luck.

 

[ScottLee]

Quote:
Her belly is like a big water balloon tho :\\

cooked her some scrambled egg tonite and a bowl of water and put her to bed in my spare shed.

 

[Matt A NC]

Quote:
By belly I am assuming you mean her abdomen, which is the area under her from her legs back. If this area is the water filled area then you should do a search for ascites or water belly. Like I posted before, this is an outward sign of a failing heart.

If you have a syringe, you can carefully draw off some of the fluid to temperarily relieve the pressure that is being placed on her insides.

Matt

 

[ScottLee]

Quote:
By belly I am assuming you mean her abdomen, which is the area under her from her legs back. If this area is the water filled area then you should do a search for ascites or water belly. Like I posted before, this is an outward sign of a failing heart.

If you have a syringe, you can carefully draw off some of the fluid to temperarily relieve the pressure that is being placed on her insides.

Matt

Would the problem come back? shes worse today, she fell in the food bowl and couldnt get out without my help.

im praying its eggbound and some oil will help her pass it because im getting some tonight for her. if the oil doesnt work then im going to ask my uncle to put her out her suffering.