Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[l_ouise]

Hello,

 

Yesterday my husband let the chickens out and he reported that they all seemed normal as in they all charged out but he didn't pay much attention.

 

Just before lunch time I saw one of my chickens standing over the water and there was just something weird about her posture and eyes and then I noticed she was flickering her eye lids which is never good.

 

As I approached she moved towards a step and fell right down it. When she tried jumping back up she couldn't make it.

 

I offered her a worm but she was pecking next to it, so I scooped her up without much resistance and took her to the vet.

 

While in the box she was limp and her head was rolling a little.

 

The vet looked her over but basically said there is no evidence of any cause, but her temperature was high. I suggested a genetic condition I'd read about online but she was doubtful it wouldn't show signs while the chicken was much younger.

 

The vet gave her an injection for her temperature and some vitamins and antibiotics and told me that if she was limp to keep her in the warm, but she was ok to go back outside if she picked up.

 

I left her in the box in the porch with some food that she ignored and offered her some water which she drank but when I came back after a few minutes she was standing at the back door, so I let her out.

 

She rejoined the chickens but was just standing with her head still limp, but she could clearly burst into action and think because she also went to the coop with them at bedtime.

 

This morning I went out to check on her and she didn't rush out with the other birds. She is just limp still and snoozing

 

Oh, my husband has just reported she seems to be out and pecking at food and drink!

 

What do I do?

 

Do I leave her to her fate in a familiar and just make sure she is comfortable?

Do I take her back to the vets and see if they can give me something to feed her up for a few days and perhaps it will pass?

Do I have her put down because she is just going to die slowly?

 

Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated xx

[mimi5]

Well I guess it's up to you, chickens are very good at masking just how unwell they are until they can't anymore!!!

 

You don't say how old she is? Or if she is laying? I would bring her in and try to encourage her to eat drink and rest, that way she has a chance and the things the vet has done will also have a chance to have an effect too!

 

If you have anything like nettex nutridrops give them as they are a great pick me up with vitamins and will help her appitite. Keep her warm and dark at night so she can recover if she is able. You could make a warm porridge with her regular pellets (just ada some warm water) and see if she will eat that.

 

If she is going down hill with NO imporvement I would have her PTS. Best wishes let us know how you get on?

[l_ouise]

Hiya, thanks for the reply and the suggestions.

 

She is just turning 3 and hasn't been laying over winter, but neither have the other chickens.

 

I went to the chicken supplies shop yesterday and bought new food and corn just in case and I asked about things for sick chickens and they didn't have anything, do I get those nutridrops online or should a chicken supplies place stock them? Maybe I can try a different one.

 

She didn't take food off me when I offered it to her just went limp in the box with her eyes closed, she seems to be more alert and active when outside but still clearly suffering from her symptoms.

 

I did try to open her beak to pipette some water in at one point but she really didn't like me touching her face. Is there a special way to do it? Is there a risk of it going down the wrong hole?

 

How do I know if she is going downhill? How can I check she is starving or in pain?

 

Thanks

[mimi5]

The nutridrops are available mail order, but I would see if you can get some asap. They are always a good standby to have in the cupbaord!!

 

When you pick her up is she lighter than the others? Can you feel her keel bone sharply or is is well covered? Check her crop, but if she is not eating it will be empty. Tempt her to eat anything is better than nothing!!! Also little and often if you can. Are her poos ok?

 

If you want to syringe liquids (nutridrops are a liquid and come with a dropper, but you can put it on/over food) best to wrap the hen in a towel (giives you more control) then I use my finger nails to open their beak. You do have to look out for their tongue being down or you might get fliud in to their lungs. Practice and you'll get more confident (I always get hubby to help me)

 

You'll be surprised at what TLC and rest can do sometimes, so if you fell able to give her a chance. Let us know how you go.

[Daphne]

Nutridrops are very good In addition, I find wet/soft food (eg grapes/middle of cucumber/boiled veg/mashed egg yolk) is a lot more palatable to sick birds. Try offering her small amounts of pellets made into a slop with water with whatever her favourite treat is on top. This will also get a bit of liquid into her, but you may need to give water by pipette as well. Little and often is certainly a good idea. I often hand feed if the bird is ill - they seem to take the food when it is held up to the beak more easily. Depending on your set up, this might be easier if she was inside.

 

I'd see how you go. If she is no better by/on Monday then perhaps take her back, either for more meds or to be PTS. Its a bit hard to give you any advice on a likely prognosis as we don't know what is wrong. Mind you, if she is a hybrid, maybe she is just coming to the end of her life, I know she's a bit young but the average seems to be 3-4.

[l_ouise]

Hiya, thanks again.

 

Well I went out to check on her and I noticed one of her nostrils had green snot around it which wasn't there yesterday and also her eyes seemed very watery, so I took her back to the vet.

 

She was more limp too, regardless of her pecking around when hubby saw her.

 

The vet asked about her poo and I told her I'd seen some normal ones, but much smaller than usual. She had also left a yellow smear on a towel in her box which the vet jumped at. She had to go and read up because they don't get many chickens in but she came back implying worms or internal parasites or something from other birds.

 

I did heavily worm them before winter though.

 

She gave her another couple of injections but I don't honestly know what they were for because she said she wasn't giving her any more vitamins or fluid under the skin.

 

She sent me away with a sachet of rehydration powder and some oral antibiotics, but she seemed fairly confident that it was likely that she is going to die.

 

Since being home I've managed to get 6ml of antibiotics and 2.5ml of rehydration fluid and about 5 mashed up waxworms and I'm going to keep her inside. I'm about to get another 5ml fluid down her and then bed... Maybe I should try some more bugs?

 

Do I have to worry about the dogs or my reptiles catching something?

[l_ouise]

I forgot to mention her temp is 42 and her weight is the same as yesterday.

 

I've got some more fluids down her but ill be surprised if she is still alive in the morning. I can feel the heat coming off her even though the vet must had given her some more temp control stuff and she seems to be gasping a little. She is practically unconscious

[Daphne]

Poor girl and poor you Its really difficult to know what to say as we really don't have a clue whats wrong, and neither does your vet by the sound of it. It could be any number of things which we'll never know about, although nasal gunk suggests some sort of respiratory problem. Have you noticed raspy/gurgling breathing? I don't suppose you've noticed bubbly eyes as well as watery eyes. If so, thats myco which needs antibiotics - injections of tylan. Normally it works, but not always and unfortunately your girl is already very poorly by the sounds of it.

 

I would carry on doing whatever the vet told you to, and offering very mushy food and water. With the benefit of experience, it is easier to make decisions about possible outcomes and some of us will cull. I don't suggest that to you, instead I'd have the girl indoors tomorrow (if she is already tucked up outdoors now then leave her), keep her in a cool, quiet, unstressed place (remember chooks don't need central heating, but make sure she isn't in a draft) and monitor her closely offering food/water regularly, but don't expect miracles. I'm afraid you may have the painful judgement about whether to take her to the vet to be PTS if there is no improvement, and I'd do it before close of play tomorrow, otherwise it will be an emergency callout. Of course, she may turn the corner, but it seems that she has deteriorated in the last 24 hours and I have to say it sounds to me like she may well pass away quietly, which will be the best way.

 

I'm sure you don't need to worry about your dogs/reptiles but it goes without saying - scrupulous hygiene for you and anywhere else the chook has been.

[Egluntyne]

Good advice from Daphne. A temperature of 42 degrees C is not massively high for a chicken tbh.

[mimi5]

Well I'm sorry to hear that. You've done all you can do for now. I'd put her somewhere dark and quiet and see how she is in the morning. You may have your answer then.

 

Let us know how she gets on?

[l_ouise]

Thanks Daphne, Egluntyne and mimi.

 

There wasn't any gunk around her eyes. They were very watery and a bit sunken looking... Her pupils are both looking down and forwards as if she'd be cross eyed.

 

The vet thought perhaps the snot was a secondary symptom seeing that she is already very ill, but to us she just turned overnight.

 

I've got her in the back porch on a nest of towels in a box and I'll just check on her in the morning. I just hope she either dies quickly or starts improving quickly. They are my first chickens and I've not lost one yet and she was the personality, the friendly cheeky one

 

I have two other chickens and they are acting fine but maybe a bit pale in the face so I don't know if that's how it all started and I don't know what I could do about them without knowing what it is. I might have thought they'd take some blood and run some tests like with other animals.

 

I'll let you know how it goes xx

[Daphne]

Keep your chin up. What you can do is check your other girls over for lice/mites tomorrow and also check the house for red mite (unlikely at this time of year but you never know; take a white tissue and rub it into crevices/under perches, if they come up red you have mite) just to make sure you don't have any nasties lurking which might bring your girls down. Its quite normal to see pale combs at this time of year because of the moult and getting over it, on the other hand some girls are just getting ready to lay again and they start to look red and healthy.

[l_ouise]

Thanks, I did google about the pale faces and found out about moulting which they have all done recently.

 

We did a heavy mite treatment just before winter as well as the worming, but I'll have a look. I keep lizards too and I remember being told once that you don't want them carrying infestations from the summer into the winter months because they are more vulnerable so I thought it might apply to chickens too.

 

I'll give everything a good disinfecting tomorrow.

 

Do you think I have to keep her separate from the other chickens? I keep thinking that if she is going to die and she wants to use what strength she has to go outside that I should let her, but I don't know if that would be a bit foolish. I keep thinking that they'd all be sick already if its contagious

[Goosey Lucy]

You're doing everything you can for her. I wouldn't put her back with the others, they can turn on a sick hen and become really vicious.

[l_ouise]

Thanks.

 

Checked on her this morning and she's still alive but worse.

 

The worms I gave her are undigested in a liquid yellow/clear poo.

 

She's got a thick clear mucus oozing out of her mouth and she sounds like she's struggling to breath.

 

I tried dunking her beak to get her to drink but it no longer works, she just leaves it there.

 

I was going to take her to the vet to put her to sleep but my hubby suggested maybe its just the antibiotics working?

 

I then tried giving her some more antibiotics and got 2ml down her until she stopped attempting to swallow.

 

We've put her in a warmer spot because her temp has now dropped but she just put her head forward and seemed to be oozing out more mucus and maybe some of the antibiotics...

 

Now I'm worrying about bird flu! Could it be that? What do I do?

 

Oh and it feels like there might be a small amount of food in her crop, is that ok? It's not that making her sick?

[Goosey Lucy]

Oh dear

Losing your first hen is really hard.

I hope you don't mind me saying this but if it was me I think I'd now have her pts.

It's a hard, emotional decision but for me it comes down to quality of life.

Lucy x

[Egluntyne]

I agree with Lucy. If she was mine I'd have her pts, as she is suffering.

[mimi5]

Yes it's a hard decision (I had to make it myself a few weeks back) but it sounds beyond hope now, I would have her PTS to end her suffering. Sorry.

[l_ouise]

Thanks, I don't mind you saying. I think we're going to give her until Monday though (vets closed Sunday).

 

We just think that once your dead, you're dead and she might just get better with the medication - even if the odds are remote. She doesn't seem like she's in pain and suffering as in being alive is torture, she's out of it but comfortable and her body is on auto-pilot.

 

Either way she isn't going to be like this for long so not really a quality of life issue, everything has to endure to survive so we're just hoping it pays off.

 

Does anyone know if it might be bird flu? I'm wondering if I need a vaccination and contact DEFRA but maybe I'm over reacting... I really wish I knew what it was. Would a PM find out the cause for definite?

[Egluntyne]

I think you are over reacting tbh. There is no notifcation of an outbreak of bird flu at the moment, and if it was that, your whole flock would succumb. She is three years old and has picked something that has overwhelmed her, which happens when they age.

 

If she was mine, I'd cull her if I'm honest. I always ask myself if I'm prolonging a life or prolonging a death when a chicken is at this stage.

[coco]

Not what you want to hear but I agree that it would be best to have her PTS. I have recently had several poorly girls and have lost 8 in the last few months. What I did find that once a hen is as poorly as your girl they don't tend to come back from it. I had two young hens PTS as they had the mystery illness and I knew what the outcome would be. Its a horrible decision to make but best for your girl.

[l_ouise]

Well, she died

 

Thanks for all the help and support.

[mollyripkim]

So sorry to hear that, it's so hard to lose them but you did your very best for her and gave her every chance but it just wasn't to be. Sending hugs.

[Grandmashazzie]

So sorry to hear,I am new to keeping chickens so couldn't offer any help.By reading your posts you did everything and more to give your girl a chance I am dreading having a sick chicken but its good to know there are so many who are willing and able to help.

[The Dogmother]

I think you are over reacting. There is no notifcation of an outbreak of bird flu at the moment, and if it was that, your whole flock would succumb. She is three years old and has picked something that has overwhelmed her, which happens when they age.

 

If she was mine, I'd cull her if I'm honest. I always ask myself if I'm prolonging a life or prolonging a death when a chicken is at this stage.

 

Couldn't agree more; I have had two very elderly chickens go this winter, both in a similar manner. Although I culled them before it got to that stage and they started to suffer.

 

Some excellent advice above, for future reference when trying to feed up a poorly hen scrambled egg, Nutridrops, pureed baby food, Critical Care formula, live meal worms and a mash made of pellets with some Life-Guard in it are all good ones to entice them to eat. While a chicken can go without food for a couple or three days, it is critical that they get enough fluid; 5ml every 2 hours being a good amount to aim for.