jak Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 we have returned from hols yesterday to find 2 out of 3 of our girls poorly. They are the older two that we have had since August 07. Neither has laid a proper egg for some time. One doesn't lay at all and the other mostly lays softies (the third hen is younger and lays daily). They are showing the usual signs - looking tired, not wanting to come out of run, disinterested in food. Where do you get wormer from? Could this be their issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Have bought some wormer but only pellets were available - will try and crush some down with water and hand feed. Have spoken to farmer who has 20 hens and he says it sounds like coccidiosis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Did he say why he thought it was cocci? do they have any problems withtheir poo (sorry) strange colour etc..? Could they have been fed anything while you were away that might have made them poorly? You can get a liquid for cocci off the internet, its on ebay but only the large size, the small size is about £5 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-LARGE-COXOID-COCCIDIOSIS-FOR-CHICKEN-PIGEONS-HENS_W0QQitemZ380108204120QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry?hash=item380108204120&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1686%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 This won't do them any harm if you want to try it but perhaps giving something like probiotic yogurt may help if it is a problem with digestion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Thank you very much Redwing - am worried that they may not last long enough to pay the £20 for the treatment - it says allow up to 5 working days. Not sure what to do. One is now inside and looks very poorly. The other is outside with the healthy hen. Crushed some Novoclor antibiotic and put it in the outside water but the grains sank to the bottom! The lad who has been feeding them has not been doing anything different to our instructions and hadn't noticed any difference in them yesterday morning. The farmer I spoke to asked about droppings and I commented that the very poorly one had produced some white liquid poo when we picked her up this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 have they been wormed recently? are you worming them now? Its a bit hard to tell whats wrong from your description, but cocci isn't the first thing I'd think of - it usually affects youngsters. Is there any rattle in their breathing? Are their eyes OK? What breed are they? How old are they? Do they have swollen abdomens - either taut or spongy? Any sign of lice/mites (you really have to peer at the end of the feather shaft where it meets the flesh)? Are they eating/drinking - this is obviously essential and poorly girls don't usually have much of an appetite so you might want to syringe water into them and moistening food/feeding 'treats' can help - at times like this any nourishment is better than none. Depending on your answers to the above, TBH - if there is no improvement I'd take them to the vet on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 All our hens are brown layers Daphne. They haven't been wormed recently so I gave them some last night. No rattle in breathing but laboured. Keeps closing eyes but they seem normal when open. Good news is that the not-quite-so poorly (ie still drinking water) hen that we left in the Eglu last night now seems to be fine. Bad news is that the one we kept in and have been giving water on a medicine spoon still looks terrible. I tried picking her up and putting her on the grass so she could see the others in the garden but she can't stand now as she is so fluid swollen. So i picked her up again to bring her back in and some watery (bit brown) fluid came out of her vent all over the patio. i am worried as I read somewhere else that you can end up filling their lungs with fluid if you help them drink ... Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 OK - when you say she is so fluid swollen do you mean her abdomen? If so is it taut or spongy? And when she walks (I presume not much) does she waddle. If its taut and she waddles I'd be thinking sterile peritonitis or egg peritonitis. The former is treatable (vet drains fluid) but obviously not brilliant, second is not good news I'm afraid. If its spongy its poss she is egg bound. Treatment here can be holding her over hot warm water so steam rises to help loosen (there are threads on this on here but I know the search function is hopelessly slow). Some people have also vaselined the vent, but obviously care is needed. The last thing anyone wants is a broken egg - as it equals infection. Your vet could also get the egg out. Re brownish fluid from vent - not sure what that signifies. Re helping her drink - yes you do have to be careful, but if a hen isn't drinking its more essential to get the fluid into her than worry about doing it wrong. In all the times I've done it never been a problem. Rather stupidly I can't think how to advise you to do it - we have syringes from vet, but you could use a pipette, you only have to get it between her beak really not anywhere down her throat. Sometimes they just sort of take drops from the syringe rather than drink. A medicine spoon is better than nothing! And think about giving grapes/cucumber - watery food - sloppy pellets mashed with water. Re worming - I'm not totally sure on this, but I think I might hold off worming the very ill girl. Although they may have worms (who knows) I'm not sure her body is quite up to it (I don't know how 'strong' wormers are, but I would tend to be a bit cautious with such an ill bird). My real advice would be to take the ill girl to the vet tomorrow. I'd take the less ill girl for company and to be looked at as well. If the vet says worm then you've only lost a day. Fingers crossed for you. Good Luck. Daph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Article on egg binding **here** It sounds more like peritonitis to me, from what you say. As she can't stand because of the swelling, I would try to get her seen by a vet today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 More spongy I would say. Hasn't moved all day. She doesn't lay proper eggs anyway - have had very few from her in a long time - just soft shelled ones. Other girl is having a lovely time out in garden now so she seems to be OK. Weird that they both got ill at same time though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 How is the poorly girl now Jak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 In a bad way I'm afraid - friend who is a vet is coming with the 'blue juice' to end her suffering. Thank you for asking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I'm sorry to hear that. My thoughts are with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 She tried so hard and you tried so hard to save her I am so sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
