[silverteen]

one of my silkie hens has been acting a little unusual of late, and as the dark night draw in i was seeing less of her as i would get home and it would eb dark.

today i came home early to find her literally on deaths door, she was away from all the other hens in a corner and sleeping, pretty unresponsive, i picked her and noticed she had lost so much weight.

I immediately knew she was really sick and i noticed the last worming i did was in february, and had been meaning to do it for months. i went to put her in the coop so she could rest and she was completely off balance and could barely stand. it was a sorry sight and im so angry for not acting sooner or checking her more. i took her to the vet and they said it was likely she had a bad case of worms but said it may not be beneficial to treat her as she had become so weak and thin.

its the first hen ive lost and im gutted, these silkies have become like pets, and i'd never hurt any animal, and im completely gutted that i caused this animal pain.


if anything good can come of this, ive now checked and wormed all my oother hesn and prmoise not to let this happen again,

for those of you not sure, the signs that indicute your hcicken is really ill are, lose of balance, sleeping alot during day, wondering off on its own, stopping egg laying, poor vision, runny droppings.

[joyfull]

so sorry you lost you little silkie, they really do become a big part of the family xx

[CattinJ]

I'm so sorry Silverteen - it's so hard with our busy lives to keep on top of things, and hens do hide their symptoms for ages lulling us into a false sense of security.  I've just posted something on here myself as I had a hen put down yesterday for something i could have prevented and I feel the same - I was devastated last night when it happened but have acted to try and help the others and like you posted on here to warn others.
In sympathy.
Cat