[shetan]

my favourite hen has been losing weight for some time now and the vet has given her some antibiotics.

i've wormed her (about a month ago) and she doesn't have lice but she has steadily lost weight and last week her comb was white (along with the rest of her face).

it hasn't helped that the man down the road had mycro and now some of my birds are sneezing (they are on tylan, this is day 4). the vet seems to think there is something going around, maybe through wild birds.

anyway, i've seperated. been giving her electrolytes and warm mashed up growers pellets. i changed from layers because she kept trying to lay eggs that weren't there

normally i'd have put a bird out of its misery by now. but she doesn't seem miserable - just very, very, tired. her comb is a light pink now. and the vet thinks she is def. fighting whatever she has and should be given a chance.

what can i do to help her put on weight - slowly but also steadily and give her an energy boost? she doesn't seem to want anything solid. even sweetcorn was ignored until i blitzed it.

any help would be gratefully appreciated. she is only one of two hens with a name. she's just THAT special. she is just over a year old.

[bantam novice]

No advice, I'm afraid.  I just wanted to wish you luck with your hen and keep us posted.

[Helenaj]

Sorry to hear she's not well. In your message you mention that you have taken her off the layers pellets as "she kept trying to lay eggs that weren't there" - what do you mean by that exactly? Could she have an egg in her that she can't pass? That would certainly bring her right down and your vet may have missed it if they are not familiar with poultry.

[shetan]

helenaj - she was squatting(?) and sqwaking for a couple of days without laying so i put her in a tub of warm tub of water for half an hour but nothing happened. i tried again a couple of days later and still nothing. that was over a week ago.

i mentioned it to the vet, who had a feel and asked the locum to do so too. there isn't anything stuck up there.

so they gave her a shot to kick start her immune system and to be fair she has picked up.

i did the switch over with pellets over a few days but she is still only really picking at her food. i'm now feeding her mashed up food with a piping bag. she had a tiny amount of pellets and i have given her mashed banana,sweetcorn and carrots for lunch (about 3 tbsp).

now she's napping. she stands for a little while but soon puts her beak under her wing and dozes off before sinking down and settling herself.

on the positive side - she is  preening once in a while. pooping (although its small and more white than brown its not runny) and drinks when she wants too. i put a tiny, tiny amount of tylan in her water today and the day before yesterday.

my concern is helping her bulk up. her keel is painfully visable. she did enjoy a chip on sunday....but i'm not too keen on giving her fried food too often. it might be too heavy for her system.

thanks for the wishes bantam novice. we never name our hens, only our boys, as there are over 20 of them but there has always been something about these speckled sisters, so i don't want anything to happen to her.

[Helenaj]

Oh bless, she sounds really poorly. Try her with a little bit of tuna or cheap catfood, the protein would bulk her up quicker than vegetables and fruit.

Good luck and keep us posted as to how she gets on.

[ANHBUC]

Growers pellets made into a mash should be better than layers for her to re gain weight.

Good Luck

[shetan]

thanks guys. thats what i thought. we keep our boys on growers a lot longer and they bulk up very nicely.

i haven't got any tuna or cat food to hand. i'll go out and get some. but i do have some white crab meat. would that do for now?

i was just feeding her and i saw a couple of very small lice on her..so i'm gonna spot on her again today and one on me!!!!! i'm gonna jump in the shower again as soon as i post this. damn things just don't die

she's still tired but a little fiestier. i had a slightly tougher job feeding her this morning compared to yesterday so i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

come on little miss salty..you can do it now to the shower...i scratching like mad.

[shetan]

little miss salty is still ill. i'm still feeding her through a piping bag and making sure she gets electrolytes.

she was picking at growers and sweetcorn yesterday but while sitting down. she doesn't seem to have any strength in her legs. when i pick her up and put her down, she wobbles. sometimes she rectifies herself and stand and sometimes she flops to her side.

also, she is beginning to smell (excuse the pun) foul.

BUT she's still alive.

after i found lice i frontlined her but  i found one on me after feeding her again this morning. she isn't infested. just the odd one here or there but i can't seem to kill them off. this is her 2nd treatment in 2 weeks!

should i persevere? i'm feeling so depressed  after 4 years of chicken keeping - this year seems to be one problem after the next.

[bantam novice]

It is horrid when things just seem to go wrong one after the other.  You must make your own decision about whether to persevere with hens but probably better to decide when you are not feeling depressed as that will skew your thinking.  Good luck whatever you decide.  Keep us posted. 

[CattinJ]

When my fav hen was very ill, the vet gave her a shot but also some fortified dog food they give to under-nourished animals.  That definitely seemed to help.  Could you ask the vets if they have any special dog food like this?
C

[ANHBUC]

Any update Shetan?

Hoping it is good news.

[shetan]

thanks for the replies guys. unfortunately she died in the night. i put it on a new topic in chicken chat.

hopefully the others are on the turn for recovery. from getting 12/13 a day from hybrids and pure breds, eggs had dropped to zero and we had softies from the orps for a couple of days but yesterday there were 6 in total and today there was even 1 in the hybrid house - which hasn't seen any eggs for almost 3 weeks.

fingers crossed...everything just seems cursed to fail since my dad passed away last august. hopefully things are on the up.

[ANHBUC]

Wishing you good luck.