Vomiting hen recovered - now a new problem!

[Lellyjelly]

Well, in the end I took the vomiting hen to our local small animal vet, where I take the dogs, as they also do some farm animals. Vet examined her, stethoscoped her, took her temperature etc. Didn't think it was sour crop. Told me it could be a blockage (eg perhaps a tumour?) and to make sure she got plenty of water, gave her antibiotic injection including an anti-inflammatory and some more to give her over next few days. A week later, you'd think nothing was ever wrong with her! So although it cost me £20, I feel it was A Good Thing to have done.

However, now I have another hen with a totally different problem. This one (she has a name - Mabel) is also an ex commercial layer I have had for about two years. She arrived with very few feathers and still only has three tail feathers, so she is quite distinctive. She has had watery diarrhoea for a couple of days, very thin, not eating or drinking and just started apparently finding it difficult to walk - she loses her balance then just sits down. All her red bits are still nice and red and she looks quite aert when I go to her, although she seemed to be sleeping quite a lot today. I had to put her in to roost last night as she didn't follow the others into the coop. I lifted her out this morning and she has been just sitting all day. She is presently sitting on some bedlinen in a large box in our living room. She is not keen to take any food or water from me, but I have managed to syringe some water mixed with a little honey into her mouth and she has swallowed it. Also gave her .5ml of the antibiotic left over from the vomity hen.

I have a feeling she may not still be with us tomorrow, any ideas please?

 

[appps]

Sorry to hear. No ideas but I'm curious what breed she is exactly? I wonder if having been bred as a battery hen to lay till she drops if she has simply reached the end of her lifespan?

I read my faverolles who are bred for laying year round only have 5 yr lifespan so guess others could be short lived too, especially something bred for such high egg production as a battery hen

 

[Lellyjelly]

Sorry I missed your reply - yes I wondered too if she'd just got to the end of the road. Anyway, she spent the night in the kitchen in a large box, then I moved her to the dog basket because I was worried she would hurt her wings on the sides of the box with the flapping spasms she was getting. She looked bright and alert for most of the time, but closed her eyes periodically as if she felt tired. I thought she was beyond anything the vet could do for her, so sadly my neighbour despatched her for me. I haven't learned how to do it yet and hoped he would show me, but he told me to stay in the house till she was gone, and did it, only witnessed by the other 3 ladees, who didn't seem in the least perturbed by all the action. My daughter tells me her local commercial egg farm is "throwing out" in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we can get another half dozen ladees and give them a few years of lovely free range bliss in our garden.