[bexybeck]

Hello chaps,
one of our ex-batts, Lucy, is just sitting around the coop and not eating much. For the last few days we have been bringing her in for a couple of hours in the morning and again in the afternoon to make sure she eats something. She wont touch pellets or even corn (their usual treat) but she's fairly happy eating scrambled egg mixed with softened pellets, or softened pellets with natural yoghurt mixed in. We're also adding hen vitamins and minerals to her food and water to try and keep her strength up - can't remember what it's called but it's pink. She's not eating loads though but she's drinking fine. Her crop definitely isn't obstructed.

Her comb is red and standing proud but it's a bit warm to the touch. Her tail and wings are up and she's alert, the main problem is that she seems very lethargic and won't stand up unless we prod her or lift her. When I pick her up she kicks like billy-o so she's not lame! She's not sneezing (unless the mush we're feeding her gets in her nose!) or wheezing, her eyes aren't runny or cloudy but she is losing a few feathers.

When we first noticed she was off-colour her poo was very watery with white and green flecks, although if she hadn't eaten much (or anything) the day before this would surely be bile and water? After bringing her in and making sure she ate, her poo went back to normal. They were also all wormed recently. Our other two hens are fine.

I have absolutely no idea what is wrong with her. I've had hens with sour crop, impacted crop, egg bound, worms (NEVER rely on verm-x!) and plain old unexplained instant death. I even once did a successful operation on one hen to remove a severely impacted crop!

I hope I'm making a big fuss over nothing and you're all going to tell me she's just moulting but I've never seen one react like this!

Bex

[joyfull]

When did she last lay? Perhaps she is getting ready to lay a soft shelled egg.

[bexybeck]

Thanks for the reply!
To be honest I don't know. We've always had 2 eggs a day from 3 ex-batts and we've been putting her back at night to try and stop her moving down the pecking order. I don't think she's ever been a particularly regular layer though.

I forgot to mention, she's quite wobbly when she walks (IF she walks). When I put her down she rocks front to back. Her legs seem fine though, when I pick her up she can strongly push against my hand and grip my finger.

[bexybeck]

Update: She just did a huge neon green and white poo, quite loose but not runny. Still giving her the mushy food and poultry drink and she's eating/drinking ok (but only the stuf she really likes). She's now pretty wobbly and spending most of her time sitting down. When she stands up she falls over but regains her balance and sinks down to sitting again. She's rosey and her comb is still nice and pink but warm. Tail and wings are still up but she's fluffed up in the box. Her feathers are coming out randomly but I can see new growth. Have checked for mites but can't see any.

Please help!

[Missie]

Hi Bexybeck,
Are you sure she is not eggbound? Only I have had one with very similar symptoms.I brought her in,thought she was going to die,I put her into a warm bath as did feel something inside,it was a huge egg and I had to help her ease it out,bless,she was staggering all over the place until she-gave birth to this huge egg. you know,she has been fine ever since.

Like Joyfull said,it may even be a soft shelled egg,I hope she is ok,I have also had one with this and had to pull the shell remnants out and give her a wash. For some reason,they always seem disorientated on their legs when it is an eggy thing.

[bexybeck]

Thanks missie,
I'll give her a try with a warm bath/calcium/aspirin and see if anything happens. Anything's worth a try at this point because she's not getting any better (then again, she's not getting any worse). We've been giving her high protein, high calcium foods for a couple of days with poultry drink in everything just in case she is deficient in anything. No miraculous recovery so far

Bex

[bexybeck]

Gave her a bath but no luck. I felt inside her vent and couldn't find anything so I'm not sure it is a soft-shell or anything egg-based.

She's definitely not picking up and is sitting down all the time now. She keeps trying to get up and just tips forward - every so often I hear her wings flapping against the side of the box when she rights herself. It's a bit sad

[bexybeck]

Now I'm confused. We collected 2 eggs yesterday, and there were three eggs today from 3 hens. That means she must be laying. However, she's not walking and the eggs were all clustered together in another corner of the house? She was still where I had put her myself last night.

She's still not walking at all but occasionally she lifts herself up, resting on her elbows (so to speak) She's eating ok, not loads but not wasting away either. She's drinking. Her comb has flopped over but it's still pink and normal looking. She often tries to stand up and loses her balance, flapping like mad.

A few of the scales on her legs have lifted slightly but not alarmingly so I've applied vaseline.

We're still putting her in a box in the house during the day but back in the hen house at night, and she's getting all her favourites mixed with nutritious food and a little poultry drink.

Her poo is still a little watery (but she's eating a lot of mush) lots of white and not green anymore. Like a normal poo watered down.

Has anyone had any ideas? Will she recover? Has anyone seen this before?

Thanks

[joyfull]

if she has scaly leg mite (and it doesn't have to be bad) this can make them wobbly on their legs and not want to move around because if the others see them wobbly then can attack them  . Treat her for this for a couple of days and fingers crossed she shows a great improvement in her walking. The raised scales will still be there until she moults.

[bexybeck]

Thanks joyfull!

[bexybeck]

I now have a horrible feeling it could be lead poisoning! I found this on fowlfacts (http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1654)

"7.2 mg/kg is lethal


Symptoms:
Blindness
Moping
Drowsiness
Weakness
Depression
Ruffling of feathers
Abnormal wing carriage
Thirst
Emaciation
Loss of appetite, total lack of desire to even try to eat
Diarrhoea
Bright green droppings
Convulsions
Loss of mobility
Paralysis
Sudden death
Reluctance to fly


Treatment:
Flush out the crop
Give Electrolytes and Glucose
Isolate
Keep the area clean
Give fresh water and feed
Keep warm and out of the elements
If blind…. Remove any obstacles. … put feeders and Waterers up off the ground or make them large enough the bird will find them easily
Don’t move things around, as it will confuse the bird"

We haven't got any lead paint anywhere near the coop but we have just had our sash windows refurbished and the chap (read useless idiot) who did the work added extra lead to the weights. This involved shaving bits of lead off a block until it weighed the right amount and he did it right on the paving in front of the run while we were out. Of course he didn't bother containing the lead shavings or even tidying up  - I had to do that myself and although I thought I got it all it's not beyond the realms of possibility that I missed a bit or that a bit flew off into the run while he was working. Apparently lead is sweet and so animals will eat it

A lot of the symptoms fit quite well - the green diarrhoea, weakness, loss of mobility, moping, depression, ruffling feathers, loss of appetite, emaciation. I know they fit most hen illnesses but it's a bit of a coincidence!

I couldn't find electrolytes here and tesco's doesn't have corn syrup (which was in the only recipe I found to make your own) Also gatorade is hard to come by so she's had some powerade which is the only thing I could find at 5pm on a Saturday. She hadn't drunk much all day but she seemed to like the powerade.

She's a lot more alert today and trying to stand a lot. She seems stronger but dehydrated (I pinched some exposed skin and it took ages to relax - I assume that test is the same in hens as it is in humans?!) If it is lead poisoning it must be very mild because she's not showing any of the really bad symptoms like blindness, thank god.

What do you guys think? Ever seen lead poisoning in hens?

[gingerplant]

Poor you. Never heard of lead poisoning in chooks, only in kids in the past from eating lead-containing paint 
It should be easy to find dioralyte though at any chemist or supermarket - that should contain a good balance of electrolytes and glucose (though can't guarantee it'd be transferable to human beans......)
Good luck

[joyfull]

swans and other wild birds get lead poisoning from when anglers leave their lead on their lines and the birds swallow them so no reason to think your birds wouldn't do the same 

[Lindeggs]

How is your girl today?

Lead poisoning is entirely possible.  I've heard of it happening here during duck shooting season when lots of lead shotgun pellets get eaten by ducks and other water fowl.  The pellets are held in their gizzard and used as grit, so the poisoning can accumulate over a long time.

Is there any way you can get her to a vet for an X-Ray?

[bexybeck]

Hi Lindeggs,
She's showing some improvement! She's managing to stand much more without becoming a flappy tippy mess and she's lifting herself up off her elbows too which is good Still only eating the things she really likes though (I think she's taking advantage of the situation!). I've taken to keeping her in the house until a bit later than her bedtime because that's when she gets quite hungry and drinks a lot. Her comb is still a good colour and tail and wings are up so I'm taking all that as a good sign!

We do have a poultry vet nearby who's very good for giving over the phone diagnosis with no charge (and then leaving any drugs for you to pick up) but it's very hard to get an appointment because he's always out and about. I think poultry vets must be few and far between around here!

She's not out of the woods but I'm feeling much happier about her now, I'll keep you posted