4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Space Chick]

Deleted as not relevant anymore!

Edited May 12, 2009 by Guest

[Space Chick]

bumping me back up, any ideas?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Have you checked her for lice?

 

It does sound a bit like she just has a quiet personality (and as you say, bottom of the pecking order).

 

If she's eating & drinking well, I suppose you'll just have to keep an eye on her. Maybe the fact she's not laying means she's a bit under the weather.

 

How old is Donna? They can take ages to start laying so I wouldn't worry unduly about that yet.

[Space Chick]

Yes, I've checked their feathers and can't see any lice, and I have dusted the cube with red mite powder just in case.

 

I don't know exactly how old Donna is, I got her as POL 3 weeks ago.

 

Is Martha likely to start laying again? Do they sometimes take long breaks when they first start laying?

[Budgies]

From your description she probably is a bit under the weather. Some chickens rest naturally much more than others, but hunching is normally a sign that something isn't quite right.

 

She may have stopped laying as a result of feeling unwell with something else, but it's equally possible that she's got some sort of problem with her egg laying gear which is causing her to feel rough.

 

Can you feel her abdomen and see how it compares to your other chickens? If it feels hot or fluid filled at all I'd recommend that she sees a vet.

[Space Chick]

Ok I'm going to have to make a difficult decision.

 

Have now felt Marthas abdomen and it does feel hot and a bit fluidy (definitely feels different to Donnas and Sarah-Janes), also today I can't get her to eat or drink anything, not even grapes.

 

For the difficult decision. When we got chickens, I made an agreement with my OH thats we would not endure big vets bills for the chickens. I know if I take her to the vets he'll go ballistic with me.

 

What could be wrong with her, is there anything I can do at home?

[Peaches]

Debs, I'm going through something similar at the moment. My girl is hunched up, eyes shut, not eating or drinking, very obviously not well.

 

At the vets they had no idea what is the matter with her, so I have put Samosa in a wicker basket on her own, in the dark, in the quiet room. As she isn't drinking, I got a pipette thing from the vets and I have tried to prise open her beak to get some fluid in her. I feel if she doesn't drink then she has no hope at all.

 

Good luck with your girl. It's horrid, isn't it?

 

Fiona

[Space Chick]

It is so upsetting because you get so attached to them.

 

Its knowing what to do for the best.

 

I hope your Samosa will be OK.

[Budgies]

I'm sorry Debs but it sounds to me as though she probably has egg peritonitis. This is where she's having egg yolks ripen internally, but instead of dropping into the hen's equivalent of her fallopian tube, it's going astray. This can happen for a whole host of reasons, including infection, the hen being a bit overweight etc.

 

The fluid building in her abdomen is the body's response to the foreign body in her system and is called ascites.

 

Sad to say that there's no cure for it.

 

We had our hen implanted with an hormonal implant when she developed this, but she was building up the fluid again too quickly for us to see if it worked for her. That is a very new treatment and is not very proven in hens so far.

 

I'm not a vet or anything and I hope that I'm wrong, but it does sound horribly familiar from just two weeks ago.

 

Home remedies just don't work on chickens with ascites, and the fluid makes it difficult for them to breathe comfortably when they are at rest as their air sacs (they have 9 around their bodies) are compressed. It's apparently a very painful condition for a bird to endure. Sorry it's not happier news.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm so sorry if it does turn out to be egg peritonitis . At least you know that if there is no cure, a trip to the vet wouldn't have helped anyway. Although it wouldn't be fair to let her suffer - would your OH agree to a vet if she had to be PTS?

 

As for Donna, she is still young so I wouldn't worry yet. One of mine was 40 weeks before she laid properly .

[Space Chick]

On re-inspection (they aren't easy to feel around), the fluid is not in her abdomen but her crop. I have turned her upside down and hideous green liquid came out.

 

I am now fairly confident its Sour Crop. I have some pro-biotic yoghurt here so I can feed her that, if she'll eat it. I notice that some of you have mentioned Daktarin gel. Where do you get it from, I've looked in my local supermarket and they don't have it. Is it something you have to get from a Pharmacy or on Prescription?

 

Any advice on how best to treat her gratefully received. She's had a bit of the runs tonight aswell, but that could be all the stress I've put her through by prodding and poking her, poor girl.

 

Although she has appeared slightly more lively since the liquid has come out. Also would this be why she has stopped laying? As no egg for 10 days, and two softies before her last egg.

[AnnieP]

Well, sour crop is treatable!

I gave my little Izzy a few turns upside down and reverse massages to empty her (yukky yuk, watch your feet) and fed her white maggots last year to help clear out the remains (even more yuk). She started to do well, but it wasn't quite enough to get her over it, so a trip to the vets and an injection sufficed and she was soon as right as rain.

I know probiotic yogurt helped some people, but I couldn't get my Izzy to eat it.

 

Good luck!

[Space Chick]

Update, she wouldn't eat the yoghurt, but loved the daktarin gel, so hopefully she'll turn a corner soon.

 

Any further tips would be appreciated.

[sandyhas3chucks]

Apples pureed. Avipro in the water,

I think someone treated with just water and pureed apples, but I expect our resident expert will pop in with a link or the relevent info.

Other than that a treip to the vet for Nystatin and to see why, my girl had a blockage t'other end and thats why nothing was moving and went sour! theres a reason for it , as its a seconday condition.

[Space Chick]

Sandyhas3chooks, you were right. Went to give her daktarin this morning, and she had what I can only describe as straw/hair like matted poo hanging down from her vent, but worse still it had caused her to have a prolapse.

 

I gentle pulled out the poo matter which must have been about 6 inches long, and gently pushed back the prolapse. I didn't know what else to do - we could do with a helpline really.

 

I've brought her indoors in a cat carrier, and left her with some water and some softened layers pellets with some probiotic yoghurt, but she's just lying on the floor of the carrier all lifeless.

 

I have a hospital appointment this morning but OH has gone into work quickly and then is going to come home. However, I really don't think she is going to make it

 

I can't stop crying, I have tried my very best for her but it looks like its not enough.

 

I'll update later.

Debs

[Space Chick]

My husband got home and found her dead in the cat carrier.

 

I just wish I could have done more for her.

 

RIP Martha, sleep well in the flock in the sky.

[Cinnamon]

I am sorry.

[Budgies]

So sorry that Martha didn't make it Debs. You did everything you could for your wee girl.

 

Take care, and RIP Martha.

[Lewis]

I'm sorry

[Peaches]

Debs, I'm so sorry. It's absolutely heartbreaking - I can't stop crying about Samosa, so I know exactly how you feel. Reading through this thread, it's clear you did what you could, but I know it still hurts. Martha was given the best chance you possibly could give her.

 

Big hugs and thank you for thinking about me and Samosa when you were going through a bad time yourself worrying about Martha.

 

Run free, Martha .....

[Egluntyne]

Sorry to hear it DebsL.

[AnnieP]

so sorry to hear your news.

Best wishes

xx

[FoxFighters]

Oh my goodness, that is really sad .

 

And such a long story too . Let her go to sleep in chicken heaven .

Holly x