Poorly chicken

[SeramaSilly]

Ok Vi my serama, has been poorly I think for about two weeks.  At first she was dozing in the run but eating normally and so I would bring her indoors in the day and started her on antibiotics - unfortunately I now think she wasn't drinking although continued to eat.  Last week I noticed that she was unsteady on her feet so immediately brought her indoors full-time.  I took her to the vet who could find nothing obviously wrong although thought she was a little dehydrated and had a few crackles on her chest.  I started her on antibiotics but this time syringing to her beak.  She continues to eat meal worms (turning her nose up at everything else).  She is still very wobbly but has eaten lots of mealworms today!  I've done lots of research about this online and this does seem to tie in with moulting - she's had new head feathers growing in for about the last four months at least!  The advice was that she needed vitamin B but for the life of me I cannot find my nutri-drops but there were also an awful lot of suggestions of marmite so I have been diluting some in water and giving her that.  I am loathe to have her put to sleep yet because she doesn't actually look ill - she's not dozing, her eyes don't look funny.  She does have the runs but I think that may be down to the fluids that I keep giving her.  I have had this before with a large fowl hen every time she moulted but she seemed to pick up quite quickly once I'd brought her inside.  Does anyone please have some suggestions?  Am I being cruel carrying on with this or do you think there's still some hope?  I did read online that someone's hen took a month to recover so that keeps giving me hope but then I question myself again.

[Lewis]

If she doesn't look all and the vet could find nothing obviously wrong then I don't think you're being cruel. TLC can go a long way with the little ones, if she's eating then put her on high energy feed to get her through the moult and keep your fingers crossed.

What antibiotics are you using? I'm sure you know there are many different ones for different ailments so I'd be careful about starting her on them yourself, you must seek a vets advice.

[SeramaSilly]

Hi Lewis, thanks for getting back to me

I've just spoken to a lovely vet in the past ten minutes who only works Mondays and has some experience with chickens.  She thinks that because I am having to syringe to her beak she is not getting enough antibiotic so my husband is going to take the bottle (of Tylan) and the little measuring scoop down to them after work (I currently have a chest infection!) and they are going to work out a high dose for her (I've recently changed vets).  So I'm a little more hopeful  x

 

 

[The Dogmother]

Chickens are very good at hiding ailments' it's often hard even for a chicken-savvy vet to work out what's wrong. Check all the usual vital sings and listen to her chest. It could be that a heavy moult is putting her immune system under stress. I would dose with either NutriDrops, or a strongish dilution of Vit Boost if you don;t have any NutriDrops at hand. Please don't give Marmite as it's very salty and they can't excrete salt efficiently. Keeping her warm will help to conserve her energy, and just treat what you can see.

As Lewis has said, it is best to check with the vet to make sure that you are using the correct antibiotic before dosing her yourself. If you are using antibs, then it is best to follow through with a probiotic like Gut Conditioner to get her gut flora back up.

[SeramaSilly]

Thanks Dogmother, I will stop adding marmite, I still can't find the nutridrops at the moment but am still looking.  To clear up any misunderstanding I did get permission from the vet to use the Tylan I already had.  She is in an indoor rabbit cage in a spare bedroom next to the radiator and I'm keeping the heating on just for her.  I will get a probiotic for her if she pulls through.  Thank you for your help x

[The Dogmother]

I wouldn't worry about the heating - just being indoors will be warm enough. They can overheat quite easily. A shed or utility room is fine.

[SeramaSilly]

I don't have a utility room so the spare room's just easier for me - I will move her away from the radiator though!  She seems a lot brighter but still having to syringe water to her beak and she won't eat anything other than mealworms which I know are REALLY high in fat but what else can I do?!

[mullethunter]

I have had a pekin come back from so poorly she’ll only eat mealworms and syringing water to being healthy again. I also dipped the mealworms in nutridrops.

It is possible - fingers crossed for you 🤞🏻

[SeramaSilly]

2 hours ago, mullethunter said:

I have had a pekin come back from so poorly she’ll only eat mealworms and syringing water to being healthy again. I also dipped the mealworms in nutridrops.

It is possible - fingers crossed for you 🤞🏻

Oh that's reassuring to hear!!  She is soooo much better today - she ate a little raw egg along with the mealworms so we shall carry on persevering!

[The Dogmother]

NutriDrops will usually resurrect anything that isn't already 6 feet under! 

[Natspringy]

Fingers crossed for you! Xx

[SeramaSilly]

2 hours ago, Natspringy said:

Fingers crossed for you! Xx

Aw thank you!   She's doing a lot better..... no longer wobbly but still really only eating mealworms - I know they're really fattening but I worry she won't eat anything otherwise.  I think she'll be staying in the indoor rabbit cage in my spare bedroom (with the radio on) until the spring now - luckily she's only the size of a pigeon!  xx

[Natspringy]

Oh bless her. Glad she's doing well now- at least she's eating something.  Fingers crossed to more foods soon although anything is good I'm sure. Hoping she continues to get better and better fast for you. 

We use the spare room as our chicken room sick bay too!

Edited October 19, 2018 by Natspringy