Sick Chick

[southern softie]

I bought 6 pullets a few months ago from a local lady (all innoculated) and a chicken run from a local company The Poultry Pad - Chicken Houses home (very nice).

All was going well as they started to lay eggs but recently the smallest one (Hench) has had a few problems. It started with what looked like a cold and a vet friend (not too familiar with chickens) gave her an antibiotic injection and then provided a course of antibiotics that we gave orally. All seemed well and she perked up but it seems to have come back with a vengance. Now the poor little thing has trouble breathing and is struggling to eat.

Should I seperate her?
Does anyone know what could be wrong?
All the others seem fine and I think it might be time for her to visit the Great Coop in the Sky

[Bramble-Poultry]

Obviously the antibiotics didn;t get it properly the first time.

You can try more antibiotics - baytril is used in poultry for respitritory infections. she will need at least a week preferably 2.

If she is struggling to eat then you really need to isolate her - cardboard box on the dining room table, make sure she is warm and has access to water - at this stage it is not really important what she eats as long as she eats - so anything that will encourage her - cooked pasta, sweetcorn, apple - try to aviod poultry corn and even pellet as they are not easily digestible when they are feeling down - the best and most easily digestable thing for a chicken is actually baby rice - powdered dry made up with a little water, if you are going to try to treat her and make her better then as shes not having formulate feed she will lose vits and mins - you can buy a suppliment from any pet shop - a bird formula is a bird formula and the budgie one is usually the cheapest.

This is the cheapest and easiest option - I do have a recipie for a critical care feed, its expensive to make up and if she won't eat it you will have to tube feed it - so best just try any of the above first

What bedding etc do you keep them on - I have known choock get respiratory infections from dusty bedding or ever an allergy to bedding. Another option if she got better with anti-b's and then went downhill again could be that something is lodged like a grass seed - irritates the membranes causing swelling and mucus which then gets infected. But just treat the infection first.

if she doesn't improve after 24 - 48 hours with injection then she probably isn;t going to.

[southern softie]

Wow - Thanks for all that, very impressed.

The bedding is straw and the roost has wood shavings (dustless).
She does have snot so perhaps it is an alergy. I'll seperate her.
Can I use newspaper for bedding?
I'll get her another injection, which worked last time and try to nurse he back. She looks so sad.

[Bramble-Poultry]

they do - poor thing

bedding sounds fine, pretty standard

Yes whilst shes poorly use newspaper - it works fine - just needs changing a lot!!!

Get her a jab and see if she perks up - if she does you know it will respond to antibiotics if given long enough. How long was it since her last lot?

I also forgot to ask if her crop was full or empty and if she had lost weight!

Seperating them is always a nightmare because you have teh rintergration issues when they are better - but not seperating them is required to be able to give them teh care they need and to ensure that they are getting food and water - which they may be prevented from doing by the others!

[southern softie]

Crop is empty, she is worryingly thin.
I will seperate her tonight if she is still alive! Vet popping over with antibiotics (luckily he doesn't charge me).
I will then force feed her.
Last time she was better overnight with the injection then has 2 week course of oral antibiotic. Will up the dosage of oral antibiotic this time.

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate you help.

[Bramble-Poultry]

no probs - force feeding advice for you;-

the chickens airway is a hole at the base of the tounge - they do no have a gag refelx so if you get food down this hole it is instant death.

Fill a pippet or childs dosing syringe, or even use a small peice of tubing - place it as far down the throat as possible to avoid the hole and then gently and gradually release the food. I have in the past passed a length of tube down into the crop and syrynge fed though it, but I usually just insert the syringe as far down as I can get it and use that technique.

Obviously using this method whatever you feed needs to be liquid enough to pass through a syringe - try really runny baby rice or porridge (made up with water) with added bird vits, shes also getting sufficient water this way too. You can also add the yolk of a boiled egg to this sloppy manky mix. The baby food is great because you can make it as runny as needed, its easily digestible and usually is not got lots off added crap, when she feels better she should eat again - the baby food can then be made more solid and given to her in a bowl with extras in it (i'll explain this one later) and then back onto normal food!

best of luck!

[southern softie]

Sadly the poor girl clucked her last cluck before I could help her any more.
Vet sent her on a peaceful journey to that distant nesting box in the sky.
Took her away in a John Lewis bag, so at least she went in style.

[Nicos]

Aww...hat's a shame- you tried really hard with her didn't you?
Did the vet say what they thought might have caused it?? ( just thinking about the others)

[di]

Sorry to hear that!xx

[southern softie]

I believe he is going to do a post mortum.

[Bramble-Poultry]

aww - sorry softie - you tried your best - thats all she could have asked

[southern softie]

I picked up some ex-batts this weekend and I found out something very important that made me feel very guilty.

I had lined the pick-up boxes with straw from my shed. When I handed the box to the rescuer he immediately said that he hoped I didn't use it for my other hens. He said he could smell that it was too damp and was a breeding ground for spores that could affect the hen breathing or even kill them.


Am amazed the vet didn't tell me about that.

As soon as he said that I realised that it was my own stupidity that had caused the recent death of one of my poor pullets.

THE LESSON: Only use very dry straw/hay. I hang my head in shame

[di]

Don't beat yourself up about it!Instead feel just a little pride that you've had the courage to share your experience with the rest of us!{{{x}}}
If you have a flick through the pages/threads on here you'll see that many of us have had problems doing things the "wrong" way,but it's how we all learn,that and by sharing our experiences so that hopefully one day we might all get it right.
So sorry that the lesson for you had to involve losing a chook.xxxx