[AmandaH]

Mornin' all.

Just been out to bother my girls.  Well, hey, they are my pets so I can!  

Giving Mavis a cuddle, I noticed that she feels very hot, especially under her wings.  The others are warm but she is definitely hot.  Can chooks get a fever?  Is feeling hot like that an indicator that she's fighting an infection, like it is in humans?  Or something else entirely?

She is the one that has been a bit excluded, like the other three are in a club that she's not a member of, poor little thing, and she often stands separately from the other three on her own and get pecked by the top bird, Queenie.  I mention this just in case it's relevant.

Any thoughts, anyone?

Many thanks, A x

[poultrygeist]

Hi Amanda. Yes, that is a sign of infection (or at least potential).
You'll need to see a vet or antibiotics asap.

If you chec her abdomen carefully, she could have a retained broen egg or her crop may be bloated and smelly, or it could be some other infection.

Isolate her from the others, in case it's transmittable and put he somewhere dar and quiet so she feels safe and comfortable. Mae sure has water and a bit of food.

Is her behaviour normal otherwise ?

Rob

[AmandaH]

Hello Rob, thanks for your reply.

I've given her a good feel all over but the trouble is I am not exactly sure what I am feeling for, not being that well acquainted yet with chicken's bits.  However, I couldn't feel anything at all in the way of lumps - I think her crop is empty and I can feel nothing around her vent (which is nice and pink and clean) except bones.

She is very quiet and was standing separately from the others, but then she normally is both of those things because she is the picked on one and keeps her distance.

I have now separated her from the others.  It's not the best but I have shut her in the run and the others are free-ranging the garden (as they usually do all day).  Now I have shut her in there, without the others to bother her, she is just eating and eating and eating (ex-batts crumbs) which I am hoping is a good sign that she is not feeling too awful.

I have an enormous Amazon cardboard box (size of a suitcase but half as tall as me) that I thought I could put in either the shed or the conservatory tonight for her.  If I line it with newspaper, put down some Cozy Coop (which is what they usually have in their house), and a little food and water, will she be ok in there overnight?

It being Bank Holiday Monday, our vet is closed but I can get her there tomorrow morning.  Will she be ok until then, do you think?  Or do I need an emergency vet?  I am baulking at the thought of that, partly because of the cost but mostly because I know what'll happen - I'll pay a fortune for a vet to come out who'll then puff out his (or her) cheeks and say "Well... chickens aren't my area of expertise but..." and I'll just have the urge to kick them in the shins  

What do you think?
 

[AmandaH]

Decided to get Mavis to my vet (she's very nice, she does know chooks although admits that she doesn't like them much) as hens do seem to to go downhill so fast and she might be so much worse by tomorrow.

Have an appointment at 11.

[poultrygeist]

Let us know how she gets on.

I wish I could have given more advice but they can hide symptoms so well and all i know is, if they have an elevated temperature under their wing, it's normally a sign of infection.

I hope she doesn't charge you a fortune. But then again, pigs might fly 

Good luck with her.
Rob

[AmandaH]

By some stroke of good fortune, it was actually my usual vet and she was brilliant.  Checked Mavis all over (turned her over to look at her tummy - and that was no mean feat), says there is no broken egg (my worst fear), that there is no inflammation anywhere that she can find (and being a skinny ex-batt she says she would be able to feel it), that her crop is fine so not sour crop, and that her breathing is fine so nothing respiratory.  

The vet says that there is obviously something going on but it isn't obvious what so she's given me Baytril (she says it's a good broad spectrum anti-b) and told me not to eat her eggs for a week after she finishes the course (Mavis's, not the vet's!).  She's also given me some Flubenvet as I haven't wormed them since I got them at the beginning of the month (she says I should worm them about every three months).

Vet's bill was a bit scary but, hey, I took on responsibility for them and vet's bills are all part of that.  Besides, I wouldn't have hesitated if it had been the cat so it should be no different with the chooks.  And I was with the vet for three quarters of an hour so got my money's worth!  

[poultrygeist]

Well done Amanda

baytril is the norm and flubenvet is something most of us use. At least you can rest a bit easier knowing she's on some meds.
It may a good idea to give her the run while the others are out, if they can still have access to water, etc just to give her a chance to bulk up a bit and gain some confidence. As long as they can still see her and interact, they may get on a bit better.
They are terrible bullies though.

Hopefully, you'll get a variety of advice once it starts raining and people switch their computers on 

Rob

[AmandaH]

Thanks Rob.  I did shut her in the run all afternoon on her own, with food and water.  The others were outside with their own food and water.  She did seem to perk up a bit by this evening but I know the anti-b's can take a while to kick in so we'll see what she's like tomorrow.

The vet didn't see any need to keep her separate at night from the others so they've all gone to bed as usual.  I think I will continue to keep them separate in the day - if only so I can separate Mavis's eggs from the others.

Poor little thing, so want her to have a happy retirement!

[poultrygeist]

Didn't realise they were ex-batts.

Not that it should make any difference but they can end up quite tired I think. Who can blame them ?

As long as they can all see each other in the day, they'll snuggle up at night. No food to compete for when you're asleep !

Rob

[AmandaH]

Mavis put herself to bed last night and the others followed on in so all was quiet.

I've had to reverse my thinking on shutting Mavis in as I need to be able to differentiate between her eggs and the others but shutting the others out of the run would mean they have no access to the house and therefore the nest box.  They have been so good about laying in the nest box (and being ex-batts I was told they could lay anywhere as they're not used to having the privacy of a nest box) that I don't want to get them out of the habit!

I have been letting them all out of the run first thing (c. 6.30am) but I am worried that they just rush straight out and start scratching around in the grass and not eating their crumbs so I have been toying with the idea of keeping them in until lunchtime, so that they fill up on crumbs, and then letting them out.  Would that work?  They can then scratch about all afternoon, I give them some mixed corn about four and The Husband goes out about 7 and they chase him round for some mealworms...

As for poor old Mavis - she is stood on one leg, by the run, with her eyes shut and looking really sorry for herself.  I am about to p her off even more as I need to give her the Baytril.  Wish I knew what was wrong with her.  There is obviously something wrong but no obvious indication as to what.  Perhaps she's just worn out, poor thing.  

I am not sure how I am going to do the Baytril, with only one pair of hands.  Will let you know!

[poultrygeist]

Best of luck Amanda.

I do exactly that routine. Out at 6.30 into run. Then lunchtime onwards onto grass (slightly green haze on dirt ).

If you wrap her up tightly (not too tight) in a towel, tuck her under your arm, it leaves you with 1 and a half arms to tend to her with. One can hold the beak, while the other throws the baytril all over your lap.

Rob

[AmandaH]

I must have read your mind Rob because wrapping her in a towel was exactly what I did!    Although I knelt on the ground and held her between my knees so I had two hands free - one for beak, one for syringe.  Got the Baytril down her, anyway...

I am so worried about her - she's been through so much and all I want is for her to be well and start to enjoy her life, scratching around the garden, eating worms (yuk!  ) and scaring the cat.  It breaks my heart to see her look so sad.

I guess all I can do is give her the Baytril, try to give her some peace and quiet and keep my fingers crossed  

Sorry to hear about your (lack of) lawn - guess mine will go that way in time!



 

[poultrygeist]

They do apparently sometimes just curl up and give up.

As you say, they have had a hard life and not all are strong enough to cope with the stress of retirement, strange though it seems.

Well done for doing all you can, and hopefully she'll reward you by running out of the house in a couple of days and pushing the others aside to get to the food !

Rob

[AmandaH]

I do hope so, I don't want her to just give up, not now when life is just getting interesting...

Thanks for your help Rob.

Very sad