Sadly we have lost two hens in the space of a few days, actually whilst I have been away (they are our family flock so we all take care of them). Emily had been sick for a few weeks, on and off. We had separated her and she started to look much better but went downhill again and died a few days ago. Symptoms: very puffed up with ruffled feathers, runny droppings, not interested in food, sometimes with her eyes shut and looking tired.
My mum messaged me just now to say that one of my rescue hens, Ingrid, has also died. Ingrid started to look a little under the weather maybe 10 days or so ago but I was worming them at the time (thinking maybe Emily had a worm problem originally, plus it was due to be done anyway) and I thought perhaps the wormer was just making her feel a bit poorly. She didn’t seem too bad last I saw her (Wednesday) and happily wolfed down some scrambled eggs that I gave her. She was just a bit slow and quiet, but she did have very runny/watery droppings. My mum said she had puffed herself up and gone very slow in the end, looking more like Emily.
I thought perhaps it was coccidiosis but my mum spoke with Emily’s breeder who said they are vaccinated against it. Ingrid was an ex-battery farm hen and I don’t know if they vaccinate those.
I thought about treating all the hens for coccidiosis just in case but it’s not easy to get the medicine without a prescription here in the U.K. and I don’t want to give them all a serious treatment if it’s not required. Does anybody have any ideas please?
I’m feeling very guilty for not having figured it out so as to treat it before it killed them, although I thought Ingrid would perk up.
My mum messaged me just now to say that one of my rescue hens, Ingrid, has also died. Ingrid started to look a little under the weather maybe 10 days or so ago but I was worming them at the time (thinking maybe Emily had a worm problem originally, plus it was due to be done anyway) and I thought perhaps the wormer was just making her feel a bit poorly. She didn’t seem too bad last I saw her (Wednesday) and happily wolfed down some scrambled eggs that I gave her. She was just a bit slow and quiet, but she did have very runny/watery droppings. My mum said she had puffed herself up and gone very slow in the end, looking more like Emily.
I thought perhaps it was coccidiosis but my mum spoke with Emily’s breeder who said they are vaccinated against it. Ingrid was an ex-battery farm hen and I don’t know if they vaccinate those.
I thought about treating all the hens for coccidiosis just in case but it’s not easy to get the medicine without a prescription here in the U.K. and I don’t want to give them all a serious treatment if it’s not required. Does anybody have any ideas please?
I’m feeling very guilty for not having figured it out so as to treat it before it killed them, although I thought Ingrid would perk up.