Single hen

[Rona]

Haven't been here much lately as computer playing up but thought I'd tell you about Cava being poorly a few weeks ago in case it helps anyone else. Sorry its such a long post but it does have a happy ending.

 

She hadn't been laying for a couple of weeks, then started getting quiet and slow to come out of the eglu in the morning and was very subdued. I thought she might have a softy on the way but after a couple of days her undercarriage seemed quite swollen although I couldn't feel anything like an egg stuck but she wasn't pooing much and when she did it was just watery. Anyway after a few days, she could only sit upright and waddle like a penquin, but would still eat if I put her next to the grub. She couldn't get up or down the ramp to the eglu and if I didn't go up early enough to put her to bed she would waddle up into the corner of the run under the mezzanine floor. Luckily, she was still interested in food so a few mealworms tempted her out, otherwise I would have had to crawl in after her, but she had to waddle around their log as she couldn't hop over even the lowest part. She looked so like a penquin at times I thought she might fall over backwards.

 

I didn't want to take her to the vet as I felt it would be a one-way trip like Shiraz as her symptoms were very similar but OH said he would take her if she didn't start to show signs of improving as she obviously wasn't comfortable and didn't seem to be getting any better. I'd had a read up on here and thought it might be sterile peritonitis, but as we were now at the weekend, she had a couple of days before the vets visit.

 

I wasn't sure if she was drinking enough so I got a syringe out to give her some water, then I thought perhaps a little olive oil would help to slide things along a bit, then maybe some garlic powder to help fight any infection, some poultry spice to perk her up a bit and finally some limestone flour for good measure.

 

After about 4 days of having 2 to 3 tsps of this mixture at least twice a day, she started showing some signs of improvement. After about a week she seemed more or less back to normal and then last week she started moulting and has now got lots of stubbly feathers on the top of her head where she has always been bald.

 

I thought she probably wouldn't lay again and certainly wasn't expecting anything while she was still growing feathers but this morning the egg in the nest looked more like Cava's than Merlot's but I didn't want to get too excited but then at lunchtime there was a Merlot egg in the nest.

 

I wonder now if Shiraz would have got better if I'd given her the same treatment. Maybe if the vet isn't very knowledgeable about chickens, or if they are more used to dealing with them commercially, they will say there is nothing can be done.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That is good news . Testament to your nursing skills . Don't beat yourself up about Shiraz, it could have been any number of things and certainly wouldn't have been your fault.

[Egluntyne]

Well done.

[Plum]

Hello, glad to hear you nursed Cava back to health. Wonder what it was? Well done