[Kazoo]

My 4 year old black rock started to be ill nearly three weeks ago, she was fluffed up and quiet.  I tried to get her to a vet  but no-one would see her.  She got worse and stopped eating. Her crop was fine, no sign of mites, lice or worms.  I tried again with vets as she had stopped eating and drinking, again the advice was to 'neck her' as they did not see chickens.  As she does not appear in pain and still managed to get out to the garden and back to the house every night we decided to leave nature to take its course.  I tried to syringe water down her but she kept her beak tight shut!  After a week she was very very weak and struggling to get out daily.  I was still offering food and last week after 8 days she ate and drank.  By this point she was unable to walk very well, she looked drunk staggering everywhere but still wanted to get out.  I have been feeding her every 2 hours by hand since Thursday and her appetite is improving and she is really perky now, chatting with the others and her comb has started to stand up again but she still can't balance.  My husband and I really don't know what to do with her, she is not in pain but if she can't get around we don't feel thats fair to her.  Do you think she will improve now she is eating or is it the end?  I can't find a vet willing to put her to sleep and don't feel we could cull her without any previous experience.  Any suggestions would be grateful.  Thanks

[compostqueen]

I'm sorry to hear your bird is poorly    There are details of vets on the forum so please have a look as there's bound to be one near you. I know there are folks in Lincs here who use poultry vets so I'm you'll find one that will see your hen.  It sounds as if that's needed

[D]

Where abouts in Licolnshire are you? Me and some other chicken keepers on here use Kirks Vets in Sleaford. If you are close enough they are helpful and happy to look at your hens. They've given me plenty of advice and treatments for my birds.

[saffibaby]

Why do the vet's turn away chooks? I cant believe they would recommend "necking" when they could give a quick painless jab with a syringe? That is really beyond me 

[orchardlady]

I'm afraid Saffibaby the reason they don't give the injection is because they have very little experience. Also have you ever had an animal put to sleep, it is distressing and very expensive. Chickens do awful flapping and convulsing once they have been killed be it humanely dispatched or given an injection by the vet it's just the nervous system closing down. It is very off putting even for the vets. Lastly a chicken costs anywhere between £6.50 - £30.00 to buy. Just walking into a vets cost's you a minimum of £20. The sums just don't add up.

[Casey76]

Hi saffibaby, it can be more humane to quickly and efficiently cull a bird at home than to stress a bird by travelling it to a vet.

If you have chickens you should know how to dispatch a chicken humanely in the event of an emergency (fox attack or similar), even if you never plan on doing it.

So called "necking" a bird will kill instantly (as the spinal cord is severed), though the aftermath of nervous convulsions are not pleasant.

[SusieB]

My vet gives a whif of anesthetic to put them out, before injecting them with an overdose of anesthetic.  I don't know which ways is better for the chick, but it's the best way for me.

[fenella]

I don't have direct experience but  a few customers have told me that the vets in the Birchwood Centre in Lincoln are pretty clued up on chooks, alternatively I have used Rase vets at Market Rasen (also in Caistor) for chickens when I was first starting out.

[Kazoo]

Thank you for your replies.  I live in a small village outside of Grantham on the border of Lincolnshire/Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire.  No vet near us will help.  Lola has continued to eat and drink well and she has started standing on her own for a few seconds and has tried to have a wash for the first time today.  I have noticed that when I help her stand she is stretching and flexing her legs and she is holding her tail up, not tucked down.  She has had a great day in the sun with her sisters. talking all day.  I am still hand feeding her but she is eating loads and drinking well.  She had a go at pecking the grass today too, so I am convinced that with more tlc she will pull through this.  I am so glad that I trusted my instincts and did not kill her off.  I am also convinced that she has had the strength to fight this because she has been fed good quality pellets, limited 'treats', wormed regularly and generally given the best care - advice that has always been the message of the experienced chicken keepers on this site - so thank you.

[hillfooter]

Thank you for your replies.  I live in a small village outside of Grantham on the border of Lincolnshire/Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire.  No vet near us will help.  Lola has continued to eat and drink well and she has started standing on her own for a few seconds and has tried to have a wash for the first time today.  I have noticed that when I help her stand she is stretching and flexing her legs and she is holding her tail up, not tucked down.  She has had a great day in the sun with her sisters. talking all day.  I am still hand feeding her but she is eating loads and drinking well.  She had a go at pecking the grass today too, so I am convinced that with more tlc she will pull through this.  I am so glad that I trusted my instincts and did not kill her off.  I am also convinced that she has had the strength to fight this because she has been fed good quality pellets, limited 'treats', wormed regularly and generally given the best care - advice that has always been the message of the experienced chicken keepers on this site - so thank you.

I hope your chx pulls through Kazoo and often good nursing is a great help rather than stressing them so well done for having the patience.  Four years old isn't a bad age though and it's possible she may eventually go as long as she's not suffering and doesn't deteriorate further you can probably carry on.  It might help if you can identify what's ailing her.  Egg binding assuming she was laying is a likely candidate however at this time of year they are going into moult and they can look very low and out of condition so possibly she's stressed with a moult which always is a potential trigger for an infection.  A broad spectrum a/b such as Baytril would be an option worth trying.  You will need a prescription so finding a decent vet is still worthwhile.  Make sure she's getting plenty to drink and a multivit should help too.

Finally culling a chicken is unfortunately the not so pleasant side of chicken keeping but none the less a vital one as Casey says.  Even if you don't do it in this case you need to know how as one day you will.  When it's necessary it's as well you can do it well.  There's a vdeo post on the site which shows you how.  It's not difficult and provided you approach it with determination and a sense you are doing your chicken a service you can do it and afterwards you will feel much better about it.  I always feel I would rather do it as the person who has cared for her with with affection than let a stranger do it.
best wishes
HF

[joyfull]

Kirks vets also have a surgery in Londonthorpe just outside Grantham so they may be close enough for you.

[Kazoo]

Thanks I will try that Vets.  She has got a bit more strength back today and is really trying to regain her balance.  I am giving her Battles Tonic in her water. She isn't going into moult yet - she has always moulted in December so I am not sure what has caused this.  I have now found a neighbour whos parents had a chicken farm who has offered his services should I need them in the future .... hopefully not for a while!

[Kazoo]

Thought you might want to have an up-date on my poorly girl and possibly give hope to others in a similar situation.

Into week 5 now and over the weekend I noticed that Lola seemed to be getting stronger on her legs, she was still not able to stand un-aided but she was really trying.  I have been giving her 'physio' by making her stand and stretch her legs with help, and walking her around the garden.  Hubbie been making 'stabilisers' for her all weekend to help her balance issue.  By Monday she was definately making headway - she has been pulling herself along the ground to food and water and trying to stand up using the fence for support.  By Tuesday I had to go to work (self employed and couldn't hold off clients any longer), left Lola in the garden and when I got back she had got herself back in the pen - no mean feat - through a tunnel to the back of the pond, along the wooded area behind the pond, then over two huge boulders, followed by three boulders to hop down to get to the greenhouse area, up a slope, into the greenhouse up on to the open window, onto the floor in the pen.  She must have been exhausted as she couldn't manage the ladder to bed!  Wednesday I got up and out to get Lola out of the house and there she was standing up in the garden!  Today I have been working all day but Hubbie has been chicken sitting and he says she has been wobbly but walking/running all day and made her own way to bed.

For a chicken who went a whole week without food and about three without being able to walk and who every vet I spoke to told me to have her put down she is my miracle girl.  I knew that she had fighting spirit in her and thank god I went with my instinct that she was not ready to go and gave her a chance to fight.  She is not out of the woods but seeing her comb slowly standing up day by day, her food intake increasing and now her walking  - still wobbly-it was worth the hours of nursing it took.  My message is that if you feel your chicken can make it go for it - as long as they do not appear to be in distress or pain they are worthy of a chance to prove themselves.  Lola lives another day!

[joyfull]

wow thats fantastic news, so pleased for you and Lola

[hillfooter]

Excellent!  Hope things continue to improve. 

Have you read  Martin Gurdon's - "HEN AND THE ART OF CHICKEN MAINTENANCE"  which describes the authors experiences as a new chicken keeper?  A very amusing book and anyone who keeps chickens will identify with these stories and very much in line with your experience here.  I'd recommend it to any chicken keeper.

Best wishes
HF