Audrey247 Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 I’m having a really tough time with my ex battery hens and feel everything is going wrong and I can’t help them one of my girls has been diagnosed with heart failure another an ovarian tumour (although with medication she’s managed to keep going for a year post diagnosis) another I suspect has EYP but will be confirmed by vet tomorrow, some of my girls are now 6 and elderly. I feel I must be doing something wrong.one of my girls however is seriously unwell and I have no idea why nor does my vet. She’s back tomorrow and I feel at the moment if I can’t find out what’s wrong and treat her the kindest thing to do will be to put her to sleep so she doesn’t suffer.she had a big squishy crop Sunday so I took her to the vets Monday who admitted her with sour crop. They managed to treat the yeast infection and the crop went down fully. On Wednesday they gave her a small amount of food which she tucked into no problem. Wednesday night they phoned me and said she’s stopped eating by Thursday she’s eaten nothing at all. Thursday night she’s stopped drinking. I said perhaps she is distressed from being away from home. Vets said they could find absolutely no reason why she was not eating. They said she had started to sway her head.on Friday I took her home to see if I could encourage her to eat, she started to peck at a few things but didn’t eat much. I also noticed she’s very wobbly and leaning forward and she occasionally looks up to the sky sways her head and looks like she’s totally glazed over.she stopped eating and drinking all together Friday night. Ive been syringing water every hour (1ml at a time not sure if this is enough). And I’ve tried absolutely everything to get her to eat to no avail. However yesterday I put her in the garden for some air and she started to gobble grass, this seems to be the only thing I can get her to eat. This morning she was pecking but about 3 inches above the grass so she was pecking the air, this has made me wondered if she’s lost her eyesight and could she have had a stroke? She’s passing a few stools and I’ve attached a photo. I love her so much but I do not want her to suffer I just have no idea what her symptoms mean and not does my vet. Any advice would be so much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonFamily Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Sorry I cannot help - but if they are 6 and ex battery hens that is a really good age and by the sound of it you are doing everything you can and so there is no way you are doing anything wrong. I have found ex battery have such a tough start to life they don't live that long and none of mine have ever reached 6. Hopefully someone else may offer advice but I think your doing a great job. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Sorry I can’t help either but I just wanted to echo what’s been said above. 6 is a really good age for ex-batts. The poor things are only bred to live and lay eggs for a couple of years - beyond that they do tend to get all sorts of horrid things wrong with them. I’d say it’s quite likely that your poor girl is just packing up. It sounds like you’re doing the absolute best for her and all of them and that you’ve given them the best retirement a hen could wish for. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
