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[libby22]

Hi

 

Polly hasn't laid an egg now for 4 days, she has never before missed a day. She was off colour on Sunday, tail down, puffed up, sleeping in the run but was still eating. She passed a huge amount of urine over night and today is much worse. She was at the vet at 9.00 am. He checked her internally to see if she was egg bound/had a broken egg, checked that she was able to poo properly, Weighed her, listened to her breathing, took her temperature, checked her crop and smelled her breath - nothing. I have Metacam and Nisamox to give her, however the vet has advised that he will need to see her first thing in the morning to check on her progress. He seemed very concerned but didn't say what was wrong.

 

When she came home she ate some grapes with her medicine and drank so much water, I thought she wouldn't stop. However, she is still passing urine/white fluid every half hour or so and it is all down her feathers. She has eaten a small amount maggots (her favourite) and again, had a lot of water throughout the day. I brought her into the house for her medicine and she perked up a bit each time but is quiet when she is back in the run. She is very sheltered in the run and I only have 3 chickens so she has lots of room, but she is happy sitting with the other two. They are very good with each other, no bullying and the other two aren't pecking at her etc so she is able to sit quiet.

 

She is 8 months old, fully vaccinated, was wormed a month ago with Flubenvet, has apple cider vinegar in her water one week in every four, eats greens as well as plenty of pellets and bokashi bran and her food has not recently been changed. She also willing takes grit. I am really stuck as to what could be wrong. She has always been so full of beans.

[staceychristie]

Sounds like your giving her the best care you can. Good luck for tommorrow.

 

Stacey x

[libby22]

Thank you, much appreciated. Fingers crossed for the morning.

[superkitty]

Hope everything goes well at the vet and they manage to get to the bottom of the problem

[libby22]

Just back from the vets. Polly a bit brighter today, eating well, walking around and even chasing the others for worms they had found. Still got a runny bottom which I have just cleaned (oh the glamour!). Not much response from the vet. He said the Metacam often makes them feel better very quickly as it removes any inflammation. Also, he would like to take an x-ray to see if she is egg bound but this would involve knocking her out. He said if I left it for perhaps a week, it would be more difficult to sort things out if there is a problem. I couldn't do it I am afraid. I said I would like to see how she gets on over the next few days. I coulldn't put her through all that. I will keep an eye and see how she goes.

[Tweety]

Glad to hear she is brighter today, I hope she continues to improve without needing an X-ray.

[libby22]

Polly has eaten really well today but does fall asleep every so often. As she has runny poo down her feathers, I cleaned her up only to find she was pushing, as if to lay an egg. There does look to be an egg shape present that is pressing on her vent. She pushes once or twice, sleeps for few minutes and then carries on pottering about or eating. I have bathed her back end in some warm water to clean her up but also bathed her vent. She wasn't too happy. I dried her off and then massaged a little olive oil around the area and put her back into her pen. Not sure what else to do.

[Egghead68]

Sounds like you are giving her very good care. Fingers crossed for her.

[libby22]

Well, on the advice of a chicken farm owner, I placed Polly over some gently steaming water yesterday, for about an hour, to see if we could move what looked like a stuck egg. She loved the steam and had a long nap, she even adjusted herself and placed her vent directly over the steam. She would wake up, have a drink, have a snack and then re-position herself again and nod off. This morning she has laid a huge soft shelled egg which promptly exploded when touched! She is much brighter, her eyes look better, she is scratching, preening and generally doing chickeny things again. I really thought I was going to lose her. Fingers crossed that she keeps up the good work now!

[shemybelle]

That's great news

[libby22]

Thank you. So great to have my girl back in good shape. She is busy digging at the moment so fingers crossed she continues to feel well.

[mollyripkim]

Oh that's really good news, you must be so relieved. The steam is a good tip to remember too.

[libby22]

I have been dreading letting them out each morning as I wasn't sure what I would find. The steam is brilliant and she really loved it. I made a make shift cage out of wire mesh shelving, put her roosting bar inside from the cube, popped the cage onto some bricks and put the tray of water underneath. I just kept testing the water to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable. She must be so relieved at passing the egg. I can really recommend the steam for treating an eggbound chicken - brilliant.

[Egghead68]

Great news!

[libby22]

Polly has been well for quite a while now however, has only laid two eggs in a month. I noticed recently that her feathers were messy again, but she was eating and drinking normally. She was a bit quiet though. She had very smelly green poos. The following day, there was a lot of poo in the litter tray, tubular in shape and egg yolk coloured - she picked right up and poos were normal. Few days later, green poo again, messy feathers, falling asleep a lot. Checked her crop, which was fine. Was starting to think it was peritonitis. She hasn't picked up 100% since then. She is eating and drinking, some days she has dust baths and preens etc but her interest in food is slowing and she has a very pale comb. Today she has slowed right down, standing sleeping, she looks uncomfortable. She ran slightly for a few grapes but then lost interest.

 

I caught her with ease, which is unheard of, and she does feel hot underneath and swollen a bit. Whilst I managed to catch her, I gave her an antibiotic (I had then for another chicken who turned out not to need them, as she was simply passing soft shelled eggs). This left Polly panting and holding her wings out slightly - I felt awful. I gather she was hot because of the temperature with peritonitis and the weather and of course, now stressed at being caught.

 

I am going to give her until Saturday and will just have to unfortunately put her through the stress of picking her up, giving her the medication and then leaving her quiet. If she continues to go down hill, I have a friend and chicken keeper who is able to put her to sleep as it were, as I don't want to prolong any discomfort.

 

Do you think I am giving her long enough? She has been ill on and off for a month now. Reading up on peritonitis, of which she has every symptom, is she likely to get better and do the antibiotics really do any good? She has ACV in her water and she is having Avipro and live bokashi bran in her food to try to boost her immune system but I don't think it is enough. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

[Egghead68]

If she has peritonitis her abdomen will be swollen with fluid. She won't necessarily seem that unwell. A vet should be able to diagnose it easily and I would take her along to one.

 

How about sending off a poo sample to Retfords so they can tell you what bugs are in it?

[Egluntyne]

You shouldn't be giving her antibiotics without the say so of a vet. The ones you have to hand may be totally inappropriate or unnecessary for whatever is ailing her.

 

When was she last wormed with Flubenvet?

[libby22]

Hi both. Thank you for your replies. I was given the antibiotics not long ago for my other chicken of the same age. The vet thought she was starting off with peritonitis however, she was just passing soft shelled eggs. He gave me antibiotics and metacam and she only had one dose and then of course it became self explanatory what was wrong.

 

She was wormed back in May with Flubenvet. She has picked up quite a lot today, has eaten well but is drinking a lot. Her underneath is hot and probably about an inch lower than normal, you can feel the liquid inside.

 

She seems to go up and down on a daily basis.

[libby22]

So sorry, meant to ask about Retfords? Just downloaded the testing form. Would you recommend any particular test? Thank you so much for your help - really appreciated.

[Egghead68]

Sorry for late reply. I just send them a note explaining the symptoms and history and giving the age and breed of the hen and they select the tests. Good luck.