Good Morning Everyone.
Last month I had a serama hen hatch two chicks. I always bring them into the house in order to give them a good start. When the chicks were about a week old the hen, overnight, became unbalanced and wobbly when she walked. Her vertical tail was/is carried down. A few days later the chicks died. The hen is still in the house living in an 100 hundred gallon aquarium. All symptoms point to the problem being viral arthritis. Not good. A few weeks later the hen laid an egg. I have provided a nest bowl and she now has three eggs. When she has 5 to 8 eggs she is likely to go broody. The eggs are infertile and I am sure any chicks she should hatch would contract the disease and die. I am wondering about other specie eggs, possibly duck or quail that I could give her to brood. Thoughts? Will a hen with viral arthritis lay and brood? Or am I dealing with something else? It is highly unlikely she hurt herself in any fashion.
Last month I had a serama hen hatch two chicks. I always bring them into the house in order to give them a good start. When the chicks were about a week old the hen, overnight, became unbalanced and wobbly when she walked. Her vertical tail was/is carried down. A few days later the chicks died. The hen is still in the house living in an 100 hundred gallon aquarium. All symptoms point to the problem being viral arthritis. Not good. A few weeks later the hen laid an egg. I have provided a nest bowl and she now has three eggs. When she has 5 to 8 eggs she is likely to go broody. The eggs are infertile and I am sure any chicks she should hatch would contract the disease and die. I am wondering about other specie eggs, possibly duck or quail that I could give her to brood. Thoughts? Will a hen with viral arthritis lay and brood? Or am I dealing with something else? It is highly unlikely she hurt herself in any fashion.
