Tinkerbell Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Took Gwen to the vet today as there was still no improvement in her this morning. Comb was drooping, runny poo, sleepy and listless, Her temperature was 108 and has started having a nasal discharge. After a few minutes with the vet, discussing her general symptoms the vet asked me if her wattles were more swollen than normal. I had to admit that I had not seen any change but really couldn’t tell. The vet then said she would need to consult another member of the team, one who was more familiar with chickens as he keeps some himself. You can imagine my surprise when he came in and said to her “no…. that’s nothing much to worry about, with avian flu the wattles are much more swollen” He smiled and left. My jaw hit the floor and for a very brief moment I had images of DEFRA descending on our cottage, white boiler suit clad men setting up road blocks, yellow and black tape wrapped around the cottage, a disinfectant foot bath at the top of the drive and a TV crew buzzing overhead in a helicopter. Amazing how much fits in a few seconds of flash images! I can only guess what the first vet had thought to herself, don’t panic but sitting in my surgery is the first case of avian flu in the country. Right what’s first… phone DEFRA an get them to set of a protection zone. Think I’ll get a second opinion first. I am so relieved she did! Gwen is now on Baytril for the next few days after having an antibiotic jab to start with. Seems like they don’t actually know what the problem is, the best they can do is treat the symptoms. Baytril apparently has a pretty good effect on many conditions, the down side being Gwen’s eggs for the next 30 days can’t be eaten. What a great first week of chicken keeping, I think it’s called baptism by fire! Let the good time roll! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazela Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Wow - you're right - a try baptism of fire - well if this hasn't put you off chicken keeping then nothing will!!!! Fingers crossed Gwen will improve and things will settle down for you. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 That would be a bit of a shock! Hope gwen picks up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 I hope she is recovering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Tilytinkle Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Oh dear bless hope all is okay with anti biotics, 30 days wow must be a powerful dosage. Bless, hope youre recovering from the worry & shock too! MsTilytrieshardbutneverquitemanagesbutdoeswishyoutheverybestofhealth forafullandspeedyrecovery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinkerbell Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 With no improvement and after trying Baytrill for the last few days, I took Gwen back to the vet. If anything she was worse than ever although on occasions would seem ok for a half hour or so. The Vet told me that if she was not responding to treatment then there was very little hope for her. She was spreading her wings to make breathing easier and clearly was having problems breathing generally. Knowing that she was clearly unwell I reluctantly agreed the best action was to put her to sleep. Without knowing what was wrong with her I am trying to understand what went wrong. My other two are 100% fit and well and all three came from the same farm on the same day. If anything Gwen was the strongest one being slightly older than the other two. Just three weeks later Gwen is no longer here. I need to try and find out possible causes as i am concerned for the other two. Is it something I did wrong, is it something she ate in the garden. If I knew what the cause was then hopefully I would be able to prevent the same happening again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Hi Tinkerbell. I'm so sorry you have lost Gwen. What a difficult and painful start for your introduction to chicken keeping. I can't imagine how difficult that was for you. I can't offer any advice I'm afraid, as I'm a fairly new chicken keeper too. I'm sure somebody will be along before too long with some more practical suggestions. I hope you and your other girls are okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Hi I am really sorry to read about Gwen and you really did the best for her. Sometimes you never know why a chicken gets ill but I would have thought if what she had was infectious you would be seeing symptoms in the other but if you do you should isolate that hen straight away. My little princess has a respiratory illness and was on Baytril (?sp) and recovered and the others didn't develop any symptoms even though I didn't isolate her. Sorry for your loss and as the vet said to me chickens are great pets but a bit flaky. Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Tinkerbell, I;m so sorry to hear about Gwen. I can empathise with how you feel about not knowing what the cause was, and not understanding why one should be ill and the other two are fine. I had the same thing (same end result I mean, not the same sickness symptoms) as Lydia died on Monday. We had been through our entire husbandry routine, and there was nothing to point the finger at. I don't know if it'l'be any comfort, but I'll try and share some of what my chicken Vet told me. Firstly, regarding vaccinations. Although hens from reputable places are vaccinated, this doesn't necessarily mean that the chook you have has actually been vaccinated. This can be for a number of reasons. because the chicks are vaccinated en masse, often through water or feed, it's quite possible for a few chicks to be missed. Even if they are not missed, sometimes the vaccine doesn't "take". If you are a large producer, then you expect to lose a few chickens per thousand; but if you're a garden poultry keeper and one of those chickens happens to be your pet, then it's a lot more noticeable. Secondly, Some chicks grow into chickens and may seem fine, but are still "weak". One of the things the Vet commened on was that Lydia was not holding her tail properly, and this indicated an underlying problem. When I looked back at all our photos of Lydia, right back to day1, her tail had always been the same. And when I compared it to other examples of her breed, it wasn't right. Thirdly, he told me that lots of chickens do die. It's people like me who are most likely to present their poorly chooks to the Vet, because we care so much we notice that something isn't right and we take them to the Vets. I think what he means is "it happens". All you can do is go through your routine and check that there is nothing you are doing that is obviously wrong. As you have two healthy chickens, it's unlikely. it is a little comfort to me to know that she was probably just not right from the beginning. But I still wonder, and am watching the others closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
