Unsecure chicken perches

[kfc]

Hi all

 

I would really like some advice on Fanny my Goldline chicken who I'm worried about at the moment. My 3 girls (Kimberley, Fanny and Cornelia) are all around 14 months old and have been fine with a few minor hiccups/worries, but healthy and happy for the year they've been with us. They are part of the family and I'm worried.

 

Fanny has been a bit off for a few weeks now, I took her to the vets a couple of weeks ago as she laid 2 softies in one hour and the other 2 were pecking at her vent as she laid them so there was a bit of blood that I was worried about. The vet wasn't a chicken specialist but she was happy that she was healthy, a good weight, red comb etc. She checked her vent and pronounced her free to go without treatment.

 

I watched her closely over the next few days - knowing in myself that she wasn't quite right, and there was a little blood in a couple of her poos, but the rest have been runny/greenish coloured, but she seemed to perk up and be back to normal, although her vent feathers are still dirty whereas the others have clean bums.

 

This morning she was standing in the eglu while the other two were in the run eating etc, which is unusual, so I tempted her out and now she's behaving as though she has a softie on the way - standing still, eyes closing, fluffed up feathers, but some of her poos today are yellowy/white coloured and watery. She's drinking water and has had some pasta and sweetcorn as a treat this morning, but is sitting under a garden chair feeling a bit sorry for herself. She also seemed to be leaning on the chair a little earlier.

 

Background - they have Omlet organic layers feed, with poultry grit and fresh water always. Some corn as a treat. I wormed them all with flubenvet around 5 weeks ago and have given them pro-biotic yoghurt for the last 3 mornings mixed with their mash, on the advice of a nice guy at omlet who took my order this week and suggested it. She's normally the best layer, big eggs, she's the biggest chicken of the 3. Every morning I give them a mix of warm water/pellets with a little treat of pasta, rice, or sweetcorn etc. They have been free to roam around the garden a lot in the last week.

 

This last week I've been giving them some spinach and while searching the forum earlier I've read that this can prevent calcium being absorbed.

 

Lots of info for you, but I hope that helps you experts to guide me on what I could be doing wrong or what I can do to help my poor girl feel better. I've looked on forum recommended vets for my area but there aren't any (Derby).

 

Thanks in advance.

Jane

 

quick update - she seems to be not eating, not even sweetcorn - her favourite. Her crop feels empty and what there is in there seems to be water. I've put her in my conservatory to keep warmer and quiet but she won't stay in the box with the snugglesafe and I don't want to distress her.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

The first thing that I'd suggest is that you worm her with Flubenvet.

 

A hunched miserable appearance and mucky bum feathers are typical of a worm infestation.

[kfc]

thank you egluntyne for your quick reply, very much appreciated. I wormed them all with flubenvet about 4-5 weeks ago (the first time I'd ever wormed them), and as she doesn't seem to be eating now I don't quite know how I'd go about it.

[Egluntyne]

Have you examined her to see if she has any external parasite? Is she breathing OK? No ratty or wheezy chest? Have you felt her abdomen for signs of anything amiss??

[kfc]

when I picked her up to bring her inside for a while she did make a wheezy noise, yes.

 

I put all of them back in the run earlier and she went into the eglu and stood by herself, then half an hour ago she came out of the eglu, had a drink and stayed out, so I let them all out in the garden again and she's moving around with the others, seems a little bit perkier and had a small peck on some corn.

 

I've had a bit of a feel at her abdomen, there doesn't seem to be anything odd, but quite honestly I don't know what is right or wrong, sorry, not sure. I've felt her breast bone and she seems to have lost weight since the vet visit 2 weeks ago. Her crop is watery but not full (I had a feel of the others to compare and they have obvious food and grain).

 

thanks

Jane

[Egluntyne]

Because of the wheezing, if she hasn't perked up after the bank holiday weekend, I'd take her to the vet.

[chelsea]

I agree, she might just need some antibiotics to shift what she has got.

[Tutti Frutti]

I'd keep going with the treats (porridge made from her mash with grapes/raisins, spaghetti, mashed potato, tinned tuna, fish cat food) and bring her in to the conservatory again, at least for a sleepover at night if you can't bring her in before then. I'd say she needs fattening up if you can feel her breastbone so bringing her in and spoiling her with treats on her own might help - at least you can be sure she's getting a look-in. Also, the wheezing is a sign that she's not well and respiratory infections can take hold very quickly and become serious. Another reason to separate her from the rest of your girls. See how she goes over the weekend then take her to the vets on Tuesday if there's no improvement.

 

Good luck to you both!

[Chucky Mama]

You sound pretty thorough in your approach to caring for her. I did have a miserable looking chicken that wheezed and 'rattled' - I thought that she way on deaths door and then she laid a softee. This was over a period of 2 hours though and then she was back to normal immediately afterwards. I would agree that is nothing has changed pretty soon that she needs another trip to the vets. If the weather near you is anything like the awful wet and windy weather here I would advise you to ensure that she is kept dry, warm and out of any draughts. Keep us posted and good luck

[kfc]

no, correction, I've just been out to listen to her breathing and she seems fine, she must have just wheezed or squeeked a bit when I picked her up, we listened to another chicken to compare and they're the same, all sounds normal.

 

She's picked up quite a bit in the last hour and is scratching around the garden with the others so I'm going to cross fingers and toes and keep an eye on her.

 

Checked for red-mites and all clean on that front.

 

thank you, thank you. very reassuring to have others to ask.

[kfc]

thank you I've just read your replies, (I came straight in from the garden to report my findings and didn't check first).

 

you're all very kind for taking the time to read and advise. She's going to be sick of the sight of me this weekend, I'll be following her round watching closely! lol. If she's not right after the weekend I will definitely take her to the vets again. If she gets worse in the meantime we'll go straight away!

 

Thanks again all, have a great weekend. I will keep you posted.

[kfc]

An update on Fanny's progress...

 

Our lovely girl got perkier over recent days and seems so much more herself, scratching, dust-bathing etc, but with the odd quiet moment where she takes herself off and sits quietly under a chair while the other two scratch about. Over the last week I've watched her get better in herself but she keeps going into the Eglu to lay an egg but comes out without success every time. Her vent is contracting and she still has runny white poos and a dirty bum.

 

Today, I searched the forum again worried she might be egg bound: quiet moments, no eggs - not even softies, contracting vent - just knowing that she's still not quite right, so I took her to the vets again and he examined her and couldn't feel an egg, but said we was sore and a bit swollen and either loose or slack in the stomach area (can'[t remember the exact words he used), he said she was uncomfortable but not suffering and suggested we wait for a few days and take her back to the vets on Tuesday.

 

While we were in the waiting room a lady and her son with a huge German Shepherd came in and asked if we had a puppy in the box (our vets has two sides to the waiting room - one for dogs, one for cats - which is a great idea - I sat on the dog side because there isn't a chook side... yet), I told her we had a chicken and she told us she has 16,000 chickens, soon to be 24,000! We had a chat about hens and I'm sure she thought we were crazy bringing a chicken to the vets, but hey ho each to their own She did say they have a delivery over 27 tonnes of food that lasts 14 days

 

So, we're waiting and hoping that she gets better, fingers crossed that it's nothing serious. I'm typically an optimist but I am secretly worried that she has something amiss with her egg chute or tummy.

 

Fanny is a fighter and she was an absolute peach at the vets, everything is crossed.

 

Jane

[kfc]

... it's probably peritonitis isn't it? I don't know what to do that's best for her.

[S & S]

Hi Kfc

 

sorry one of your girls is poorly.

one of my hens has perotinitis (sp)? one of the signs is a swollan and puffed up look underneath and a waddle when they walk,my hen's combe has now gone a bit purple too she too looked like her vent was straining and i thought she was going to lay a softie.

 

she perked up a lot after a trip to the vets and a course of baytrill, and that was a few weeks ago she has bad days where she just sits and rests a lot and other days she looks much happier.

 

i dont quite understand how the baytrill made her feel better though as i dont think she was infected i think she has sterile perotinits because as i have read they go downhill very quickly if they are infected and she has had this for a while now, i also read on here somewhere that someones hen has had sterile perotinitits for 2 years!

 

any way sorry for waffling on, but maybe your girl may have the same as mine.

 

hope she is feeling better soon.

X

[kfc]

Hi S&S

 

thank you for your reply, I'm just on my way out to the vets with her again and thought I'd check for a reply and your message has given me such relief, I was dreading it.

 

I will be asking for Baytrill this time, although I'm not sure why it wasn't offered the last 2 visits, but I'm a bit more optimistic now I've read your post!

 

She's happy-ish in herself, eating and scratching about, but as you say - has quiet moments where she's uncomfortable.

 

So off to the vets now!

thanks again

kfc

[chelsea]

 

i also read on here somewhere that someones hen has had sterile perotinitits for 2 years!

 

 

 

That would be me. My Ella had sterile peritonitis and lived quite a normal chickeny life, she was my top chook.

 

Mrs Frugal's hen also lived 2-3 years with it also.

 

If it's sterile, Baytril will help a little during the "bad episodes" but will not cure it. This time of the year is the worst for hens that suffer from it as Spring brings on egg laying and therefore the build up of fluid.

[kfc]

Hi, sorry I haven't been able to come on the forum or post, has been a really tough time, Fanny did not come home with us from the vets and had to be p.t.s. I lost my first chicken.

 

Poor girl was very sick and the vet (who was really thorough this time) found she had a hole in her insides and horrid stuff going on (won't go into detail). He said he was surprised that she didn't show how ill she was. He said perhaps an egg had broken inside her and punctured a hole and Baytril would ease the pain but not make her better, we had to make a truly agonising decision.

 

She was a lovely chicken, one of my first 3 chooks, fanny houdini, the leader of the gang and the biggest of the 3. We do and will miss her a lot, but she's not suffering any more.

 

Still choking up typing this over a week later....

 

But thanks for all your messages and advice when we needed it.

[Plum]

So sorry to hear you lost her. It is very hard to cope with losing them, especially your first but in time you can look back and be really glad for the short life she had with you.

[staceychristie]

Oh that's sad to hear.

I'm sure that you did your best. They do hide how ill they really are (it's a flock - survival of the fittest thing).

I'm so glad that you've some fond memories.

 

((((Hugs )))))

 

Stacey

[S & S]

So sorry to hear this,

 

you did the best for her and im sure she had a good life with you.

 

My girl has deteriated over the weekend she just seems to stand in the corner of the run she dosnt event want to go out in to the garden, i feel its unfair to let her carry on as she just seems so miserable.

 

i will be ringing the vets tomorow to see what the say but i think i know where were heading

 

why do we do this to ourselves ??

 

XX

[cathybc]

so sorry to hear about Fanny; and hope your story has a happier ending, S&S xx

[kfc]

thank you everyone.

 

S&S sorry to read that your girl has taken a turn for the worse, I really hope things are ok, I will be thinking about you both, fingers crossed. x

[Seagazer]

Sorry to hear your sad news kfc, you tried so hard to save her.

[brambles]

So sorry to hear this, my first girl was pts this morning and I'm very upset.

[Seagazer]

So sorry brambles