Eglu Go With 2m Run For Sale

[Stedic]

Hello,

 

I will say at the start of this post that I already have a vets appointment booked, for about 30 minutes time, but as they're not avian vets I'm looking for some advice to go with it.

 

We have 8 chickens, 2 hybrid (2 years old), 3 ex old bats (2 years also) and three new ex-bats who we rescued 2 months ago. They were the three worst of the rescue - two bald and one feathered by emaciated. They've been reasonably well since rescue and had integrated with the flock nicely. Yesterday the feathered but emaciated one was dead in the run, our first chicken loss. She hadn't been ill, and there were no signs of trauma, mites or lice (had a good look). I assumed it was just that she was a weak ex-batt and her time in the cages had taken its toll.

 

I noticed that afternoon that both the baldies were a bit off colour. This morning one is absolutely fine and back to her usual self, but the other was terrible. I put her in a dog cage in the warmth, with food, water and straw and expected the worst. I was convinced she was breathing her last as I had to leave the house. But when I got back in, she'd improved massively!!

 

I've managed to get her to eat and she has scoffed about 75g of food. I managed to get some of the herbal pellets in there too for a bit of a boost. She's acting like a healthy chicken again.....except that she is making a horrendous rattling noise and doing snotty little coughs. If she was a human I'd say she had a chest infection or heart failure.

 

So I'm poppoing her to the vets - I assume it'll either be anti-biotics or PTS.

 

My concern is: Is Twiggy's death and Tatty's illness just a coincidence, or could they be linked? The other girls all now seem absolutely fine and are acting normally, wth normal poo, laying well etc.

 

Would you give them all a week of anti-biotics to be on the safe side?

 

I really cannot believe how well she's bounced back - I hope it lasts!

[scarlettohara]

Sounds like a respiratory infection and no reason she won't fully recover - don't be fobbed off try the antibiotics first. good luck

[Stedic]

A sad update I'm afraid.

 

Despite rallying while I was out of the house, Tatty went down hill again just before going to the vets. She was lying in the carrier, head on the floor, just lifting it slightly each time she took a breath. A little brighter at the vets, but scratching at her eyes and sneezing constantly.

 

The vet said she had an upper respiratory infection, conjunctivitis and some lower respiratory or cardiac problems. We had to decide to try antibiotics, if she'd eat and drink, or have her PTS. The vet thought that she probably had a 30% chance of survival. We went with the latter, which was horrible, but she was clearly suffering hugely and intensely distressed by the conjunctivitis. If she had been out of the battery farm a little longer, and was stronger, we might have tried the antibiotics but it just wasn't fair on the poor thing.

 

We've now got antibiotics for the other girls water, and we're keeping a close eye on them in case it has spread.

 

While we're sad that we've lost two of the girls, we knew they were the weakest of all the birds from that rescue. They both had two months of sunshine, sunbathing and chasing worms and slugs - a lot more than they would have had.

[sage]

Poor little things, at least they had a chance to see the sun and feel the wind in thier faces. They may not have had long free but they were FREE and loved.

 

Sending hugs

 

Sage

[Bramble]

Very sad, but well done for taking them on, at least they knew there's MUCH more to life than the inside of a battery cage. Sleep tight little ones.