Whats wrong with my hen?!?!? PLEASE HELP!!

[m00res]

Hello,

I'm sorry that your hen is sick. :-( From the pictures, it looks like your hens comb is turning purple. I'm having similar symptoms, but I think my hens have a respiratory infection. I'm isolating the sick birds, giving them electrolytes and vetrx under the wings and in the nostrils. Below is the standard list of questions that help people help you "diagnose" the problem. You've answered most, but maybe a little more information might encourage some of the more experienced chicken people to offer advice.

Also, I just started looking at the following websites from the emergency sticky to try and figure out what is going on with my birds. Maybe this will be helpful, too. Good luck!!

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1 ) http://www.birdcareco.com/USA/USAArticles_and_advice/USBreederArts/US_Chick_Problems/us_chick_problems.html

2) http://www.organic-vet.reading.ac.uk/Poultryweb/miscel/Default.htm


1) What type of bird , age and weight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

Quote:
She lays medium sized eggs, smaller than the rest of the hens, more pointy too. She never has that i know of. i got a "sack egg" yesterday BUT it was light brown, i have a hen that does this once in a blue moon, she's one of the older RIR's.

Her poo is WATER

She hasnt been wormed recently.

I just gave them APP yesterday because i ran out of layer mix and the feed store was closed sunday and today. I tossed them some scratch today but she didnt even bother with it. she just seems weak.

here is a picture of her vent area.

what am i checking the crop for?

her comb is naturally floppy, all the hens have been getting tormented by the extra roo i have (hes going!), thats what the black spots are from. the purplish at the tips of her comb have went away, she seems to be enjoying the warmth from the light.

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

She is in a carrier with pine shavings
water with vinegar in it
APP with cayenne pepper added

i am going to get the avia charge ina few minutes.

she is breathing soundly.

 

[sammi]

to check the crop..

the crop is a sac near the bottom of the neck, on top of the breast, slightly to the hen's right..
at roost time after they've been eating all day, it should feel full.
in the morning before they eat..it should feel empty or flat.
check for any lumps..or grainy feeling..or any sour odor.

if everything feels ok..and the crop is emptying properly..

do you have any cocci meds on hand?
Corid, Amprol, or liquid Sulmet 12.5%

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/store/index.php?cPath=21_29

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

I have sulmet but i dont wanna use it unless i have to, shes a little thin already and that stuff was horrid on all the other birds i have treated with it.

Her crop is Not full, she hasnt really been eating, she was drinking after i put her in the crate though.

her crop feels full of air..or liquidy? just soft and 'jiggly' feeling.

should i give her olive oil?

she's Trying to fight with me now when i pick her up but she is still 'wobbly'.

i didnt think anything of it because of the way i was holding her BUT she did throw up earlier. i had her on her back, kinda upside down when she did it. it was when i was checking her vent the first time.

 

[sammi]

you can try the oil..and massage..

see how the crop is in the morning

she's wobbly because she's weak from not eating.

Corid or Amprol is easier on them then Sulmet..
so..they've had cocci before?

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/store/index.php?cPath=21_29

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

these ones have never had cocci. we lost over 70 chickens last year to cocci. most were young chicks, thats why so many...and most all of my silkies.

all i really have left from those chickens are my 3 cochins.

the others that pulled through we rehomed so that we could start over.

we treated 7+ times along with moving & separating them all, it didn't help much at all.

i dont even remember how many eggs i had to toss

weird thing was, i had this silkie hen that got worms really bad shortly after they got cocci, she was one of the only silkies that pulled though. she went to a friend of ours when we decided to cut back & start over.

 

[emilyweck]

Do you think giving Chorid and losing eggs for 2 weeks vs. losing chickens is worth it. I am not judging, just asking since I'm in the same predicament????

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

well i ended up losing both.

i didnt mind losing the eggs really...actually i was hoping, everytime i threw more out, that a raccoon or possum would come eat them, lol....we had a lot of coons last year and from what i read it would have killed them if they ate enough.

too bad it didnt kill that ugly hawk before it killed my little Cooey bird

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

Her crop seems smaller today, but i had to use regular veggie oil, we ran out of olive oil yesterday

but she had actual POOP today!! it was kind of black and of course oily but it was poop and not just water!!

i am hoping she starts to eat soon so she can get her strength back up...we'll see...