I have a 3 year old peahen that lives in the aviary with a 5 year old male. The first indication that I had that anything was wrong was on Sunday, 2 days ago. She was lying in her nest box inside the coop which she never does. She is always sitting on the perch. I went in and encouraged her to get up. She popped up and ran outside to the pen just fine, but when she tried to fly up to the perch, she couldn't make it. The perch is about 4 feet high, she flapped up about halfway and came back down. She tried a couple of times and did not have the energy to get to the perch. She did peck at the scratch feed that I had scattered on the ground. Then she went back inside and lay in the next box again.
When I checked on her later in the afternoon, she could not stand or walk without tumbling over. She doesn't want to get up, but if I get too close, she will make the effort, but falls down. She was the same yesterday. I waited down there until I could collect a fresh stool sample from each of them and took the samples to a vet. (We don't have a qualified avian vet in the area. There is one vet in a town an hour away that treats parrots and lizards, but he admits he knows nothing about poultry. He can read a fecal, though). But both samples came back clean. I didn't really expect to see any parasites, as I do a regular worming program on the birds, and they had just been wormed two weeks ago. The hen's stool yesterday was yellowish and mucus, but today it looked pretty normal, just a little softer that usual.
I don't think there is any foot or leg injury, as she was able to walk just fine 2 days ago, just seemed too weak to fly at that time. I don't know if she is eating or drinking, as I suspect it is too much effort for her to get outside to the feeder. I sprinkled some food and scratch on the floor of the pen this morning and set a dish of water in there for her.
Frankly, I was surprised to find her still alive this morning, but she was actually standing on the floor when I went in. Still flopped and fell down when she tried to walk.
If I know what medicine she needs, I can get it down her throat.
Any ideas? I hope that someone out there can help, as we have no vet to turn to here.
Donna
When I checked on her later in the afternoon, she could not stand or walk without tumbling over. She doesn't want to get up, but if I get too close, she will make the effort, but falls down. She was the same yesterday. I waited down there until I could collect a fresh stool sample from each of them and took the samples to a vet. (We don't have a qualified avian vet in the area. There is one vet in a town an hour away that treats parrots and lizards, but he admits he knows nothing about poultry. He can read a fecal, though). But both samples came back clean. I didn't really expect to see any parasites, as I do a regular worming program on the birds, and they had just been wormed two weeks ago. The hen's stool yesterday was yellowish and mucus, but today it looked pretty normal, just a little softer that usual.
I don't think there is any foot or leg injury, as she was able to walk just fine 2 days ago, just seemed too weak to fly at that time. I don't know if she is eating or drinking, as I suspect it is too much effort for her to get outside to the feeder. I sprinkled some food and scratch on the floor of the pen this morning and set a dish of water in there for her.
Frankly, I was surprised to find her still alive this morning, but she was actually standing on the floor when I went in. Still flopped and fell down when she tried to walk.
If I know what medicine she needs, I can get it down her throat.
Any ideas? I hope that someone out there can help, as we have no vet to turn to here.
Donna
