What do I do with my sick chicken?

[dreamteas]

One of my lovely barred plymouth Rocks is really sick. I noticed her a couple days ago being extra dopy and I thought it was the heat, I gave her plenty of fresh water. The next morning she didnt coming barging out the coop in the morning when I opened the door. Within one day she would not even stand up! She has always had a crooked foot, but now its like her legs don't work!
I took her out of the coop immediately, changed the shavings and washed the inside of the coop. She has downgraded so quickly the only thing I can think of is putting her down.
When we got our chickens 3-4 months ago we suspected they were older, out of 4 hens only 1 lays an egg. Does this sound like old age? maricks? I never noticed her droppings. When I separated her she was only peeing.
She hasn't eaten and was drinking lots of water but has stopped.
I am pretty certain I will have to end her suffering......but my question is what do i do with her body?
i grew up in a farm and when chickens got sick we buried them, I assume you can't do that in the city.....even though we have big backyard.
Any suggestions? comments? advice?

 

[threehorses]

First off, let's see what's goin on with their diets. What are you feeding the girls exactly? Example answers; mostly scratch with some laying pellets.
Also, pick them all up and feel them, particularly her. You'll want to feel her underside very gently. Tell us whether or not you feel any lumpiness at her abdomen (the lower part of the tummy - between her legs, and back towards her vent). Feel her keel bone, the' breast bone". The way it feels, if you were looking at her from the front, would you say her bone sticks out like the way the bottom of the letter Y does, or has more flesh at both sides of the bone like the point of the letter V does, or is she really fatty and no real evidence of the breast bone like the letter U would indicate.

Did the previous owners say anything about worming them ever? Are you offering any oyster shell?

First thing I would do is not give up yet. Add vitamins/electrolytes to her water if she'll still drink. try to tempt her to eat some pellets (made into "crumbles" in the blender - they like them better that way) by dampening them with water. If you have yogurt, consider giving her a teaspoon full. She might eat it plain. If she doesn't, you could mix it in some dampened crumbles or with a boiled mashed egg. They love that. The yogurt is for the living bacteria within it (which regular milk products don't have).

You can even mix a little cooked oatmeal in with that 'glop' or save a bit of each ingredient aside to see if she likes any of them jsut alone.

It could be that she's weak from something else - like not laying eggs, internal laying, an infection, malnutrition because of a new area, etc. I'd suspect that your hens might not have the right ingredients to continue laying which is one thing I want to help you with. We'll rule that out or fix it, either way. People aren't born knowing exactly how to feed laying hens, and there's a lot of "this is how you do it" out there that unfortunately sometimes falls short for some hens. So we'll get you some good information to help production.

All of the hens can have the yogurt and a little extra egg. All of them should be receiving free-choice oyster shell in a little separate container from their feed. You can put their granite grit in the other side of the same container; they know which is which.

In the mean time, separate her (as you have I believe) so that you can monitor her droppings, her feed intake, etc. Check her at night for mites and lice - make sure she doesn't have any of these little things on her. Look particularly carefully under the wings, around the vent, and at the back of the neck. Sometimes you will find the lice eggs (nits - white clusters on the feathers or feather shafts) before you find lice. Mites are tricky - you may not find them except on random nights as they stay off the bird except when feeding. You want to rule both out as they can cause anemia that can result in these same symptoms.

Also check her vent. If it's dry, puckered, and scaley (versus damp, dilated/open) then she's not in laying form. If it's open and she's not layaing there might be calcium issues (which we will address after I hear more about their diet).

In the mean time, try to trick her into eating the above in any combination particularly the yogurt and either eggs or dampened crumbles. Offer her dry crumbles throughout the day.

On dead chickens, it depends on the city. We do bury - and it's good to put a cover of lime on top. Alternately you could have a necropsy done by a local exension agent to get a for-sure answer. They're usually inexpensive depending on your state. You'd want to have their numbers anyway in case you ever need them. That way you can call ahead and know exactly what they'd need from you. (I like the idea of calling ahead in hopes that being prepared for something will make it NEVER happen! Silly me!)

Let me know if you need help with extensions or local vets. Or anything. I'll be subscribed to this post, but I'm also available via PM or email.

Take care!

 

[Mahonri]

Sorry for your loss. My last three that died were double bagged in plastic and put into the garbage cans.