Sick hen. Help!

quizzy_rascal

This spring I had a hen so poorly she couldn't hold her head up, I was sure she was going to die and took her to a farmer friend to put her out of her misery. Just as he came out of the house she seemed to look up at me and I didn't have the heart to go through with it, so I brought her home to die. I made her a comfortable isolation ward in an old dog cage, I read that I should avoid feeding her protein food so I fed her on chickweed and garlic and soaked bread with a poultry vitamin suppliment in her water. It took a while and my husband was sure she would not recover. However after about a fortnight she started to buck up and now she is back in the coop with her mates and is laying again. So unless it is too late, do persevere. I always thought hens had no great will to live and gave up easily, but I have been proven very wrong. They can be little fighters. Good luck

pickledtink

Her comb IS a bit paler than it should be but I've seen that in all of them before when in moult or when we had all that snow which they didn't like. She's not missing feathers. 2 of the others are in moult but one is laying well even so. I can't see any of the signs of lice on her and checked the house for mites too and dusted for good measure. No blood spots on any eggs. They all lay a distinctive different recognisable egg. Hers are blue/green and are absolutely normal.
The problem is she doesn't seem to want to eat or drink 'anything'. I've just had a struggle to pour a little sugar water into her but she wasn't happy with that although she took a bit.
She either just stands and blinks or sits and dozes. She's been listless and disinterested for about a week or so but looked fine and appeared to be eating and drinking and was laying daily right up until yesterday.It sort of seemed like she'd got a bit depressed and I thought maybe she was broody. I found one of her eggs in the box at the same time as I found her lying on her side on the floor. No sign of injury and she doesn't seem in pain just weak and dozy.

Maitane

I can't actually offer any real help - my knowledge only extends to humans, cats and dogs - but just wanted to say that I hope your little hen gets better soon.

tiredwithtwins

is there not an rspca or pdsa locally you could ring for advice? surely a they could offer some advice, even if its just to say take it to the nearest vet?

hope she pulls through

pickledtink

Had a friend who is a very experienced chicken keeper here. He said no mites, worms, injuries but her crop is empty but also puffed up with air which is wrong and he's never seen it before.He also said there are no vets around here who will look at hens or know anything about them but at least I now know her crop has a problem and she is weak from lack of nourishment probably. Have got a syringe now and will try and keep her hydrated and get some vitamins/sugar into her.
If anyone has heard of this and knows what it means I'd be grateful for info'?
Thanks.

pickledtink

Oh no. Have found some answers and not good. Only hope is to get antibiotics into her and try to massage the crop to get some air expelled as she can't eat. It's caused by food which has rotted in the crop and producing gas.
well at least I know I can try and not feel so helpless.....

dandy-candy

I have a copy of pictorial poultry keeping by Dr J Batty that says you need to hold the bird upside down and try to massage the sour contents out of the crop, and afterwards give the bird a small dose of bicarbonate of soda or Milk of Magnesia. It does say that if this is a recurring problem then the bird should be killed. I'm really sorry for you going through this - I hope this method resolves the problem.

pickledtink

dandy-candy wrote: »

I have a copy of pictorial poultry keeping by Dr J Batty that says you need to hold the bird upside down and try to massage the sour contents out of the crop, and afterwards give the bird a small dose of bicarbonate of soda or Milk of Magnesia. It does say that if this is a recurring problem then the bird should be killed. I'm really sorry for you going through this - I hope this method resolves the problem.

I know. The more I'm discovering about this the less hope I have for her. The method you mention is also very likely to kill her cruelly if not done by a specialist which I'm definitely not and there are none around here.
I can try twice daily massage, antibiotics, no food but it also sounds as if she's gone beyond help. I'll speak to the farm where I got her as they are pretty helpful and go with whatever they say. This has been a really rotten 24 hours.

skintbint_2

just had to pop back and see how the wee hen is doing, hope she pulls through and will be popping back for updates

take care

skint x

MrsCrafty

Gigervamp wrote: »

That's a bit of a heartless post.

Even if the hen wasn't a dearly loved pet, eating a chicken that was sick wouldn't be advisable.

OP, I hope she pulls through. I know the heartache when a much loved hen is sick and dies, it's happened to 3 of our girls.

Oh, if you can't get her to drink, use a teaspoon to trickle some water into her beak as you hold it open.

Apologies to both of you, I thought that's what you did with hens when they died.