- Nov 28, 2011
- 273
- 26
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Hi everyone - awhile back I posted about my hen and her issues. I was told to treat her for coccidiosis, and worms, which I did. She rebounded amazingly well and has been doing GREAT! Eating, drinking, happy, running around, flapping wings, totally normal.
Then a few days ago she got very lethargic, droopy, eyes shut, breathing heavy, poopy feathers.
She continued to eat, and was eating a variety of foods. Then yesterday she wouldn't get out of her hay nest at all. Heavy breathing, eyes shut. I picked her up and she has a HUGE water type bag hanging between her hind legs. She tried to walk and she fell right down on her butt with legs splayed out. Her legs seem very weak and stiff.
She is at the vet now and he said that she is starving to death. She has no meat on her breast bone, and she can't stand up because she is so weak. He told me I need to feed her more varied foods, and a layer mash type crumble. BUT I DO! He said she's just not eating enough and she's emaciated. But she eats CONSTANTLY. I give her meal worms, and she eats tomatoes, sunflower seeds, oats, corn, safflower, spinach, she even gets a special conditioning show bird pellet, etc....
She has always been a small, thin wiry bird with no meat on her. She is a very small Buff Orpington that probably only weighs 5 pounds at her heaviest.
She has no fever. He said the bag between her legs was a "lipoma" or something - a normal fatty tissue deposit ??? That makes no sense because it popped up there literally over night. It is very squishy like a water balloon. I was thinking Ascities or however you spell it. I asked him about draining it and he said NO.
He gave her a shot of B Vitamins and an Antibiotic and if she's not better by this afternoon he is going to euthanize.
He said all he could do would be to give her a stomach tube and force her to eat. Well, I'm not going to do that to her.
I have been putting Sav-A-Chic electrolytes in her water.
She has ALWAYS laid eggs with no shells on them - just yolk oozes out. So I asked him of course about internal laying and he said NO. She would have a fever. He said I'm not feeding her enough calcium if she lays with no shells. She has oyster shell available but won't eat it. I just recently read about the TUMS in the water.
Is there anything else I can do, or should I just let her go? Advice needed, please. She is a great pet - so tame - and a member of our family.
THANK YOU!
Then a few days ago she got very lethargic, droopy, eyes shut, breathing heavy, poopy feathers.
She continued to eat, and was eating a variety of foods. Then yesterday she wouldn't get out of her hay nest at all. Heavy breathing, eyes shut. I picked her up and she has a HUGE water type bag hanging between her hind legs. She tried to walk and she fell right down on her butt with legs splayed out. Her legs seem very weak and stiff.
She is at the vet now and he said that she is starving to death. She has no meat on her breast bone, and she can't stand up because she is so weak. He told me I need to feed her more varied foods, and a layer mash type crumble. BUT I DO! He said she's just not eating enough and she's emaciated. But she eats CONSTANTLY. I give her meal worms, and she eats tomatoes, sunflower seeds, oats, corn, safflower, spinach, she even gets a special conditioning show bird pellet, etc....
She has always been a small, thin wiry bird with no meat on her. She is a very small Buff Orpington that probably only weighs 5 pounds at her heaviest.
She has no fever. He said the bag between her legs was a "lipoma" or something - a normal fatty tissue deposit ??? That makes no sense because it popped up there literally over night. It is very squishy like a water balloon. I was thinking Ascities or however you spell it. I asked him about draining it and he said NO.
He gave her a shot of B Vitamins and an Antibiotic and if she's not better by this afternoon he is going to euthanize.
He said all he could do would be to give her a stomach tube and force her to eat. Well, I'm not going to do that to her.
I have been putting Sav-A-Chic electrolytes in her water.
She has ALWAYS laid eggs with no shells on them - just yolk oozes out. So I asked him of course about internal laying and he said NO. She would have a fever. He said I'm not feeding her enough calcium if she lays with no shells. She has oyster shell available but won't eat it. I just recently read about the TUMS in the water.
Is there anything else I can do, or should I just let her go? Advice needed, please. She is a great pet - so tame - and a member of our family.
THANK YOU!
Her situation sounds complex and she may not have a curable condition.
