[geordiechick]

Hi

We have 3 ex batts.  One of them is not well and we are waiting for the result of a poo test from The Chicken Vet. 

The poorly one has lost loads of weight, but we are in the porcess of worming them all with Flubenvet so have had to restrict their diets to their pellets (which none of them love - preferring scrapping around the garden for titbits).  Does anyone have any advice for getting more food into her - but ensuring she still gets her drugs?

I have read that people syringe food into their chickens - but I have no idea how to do this as their mouths seem so small.  Also where do you get the sysringes from and what size should I be looking at?

Thanks for any advice.

[Casey76]

While they are being treated with flubenvet, you need to restrict thie movement.  no free ranging in the garden until at least after lunch.  This will ensure that they eat enough of the pellets to be medicated

[Lindeggs]

The technique you are describing is "crop feeding" and personally I wouldn't try it unless absolutely necessary.  It is too easy to get it wrong and do more harm than good.

To tempt her to eat the pellets, try mixing some (just a very small amount) with some warm water.  Mine seem to think that a damp mash is much more delicious than dry pellets.    Do just small quantities though, as any that aren't eaten within a couple of hours should be thrown away to prevent bacteria growing in the damp feed.

Also does she eat from your hand?  Mine will eat pellets offered by hand in preference to those in a feeder.

Another option is to scatter some pellets around her feet and let her pick them up to eat.

Good luck.

[geordiechick]

Thank you for the replies.  We stopped them all going out until later in the day (much to their annoyance!).  And tried the porridge - the poorly one loved it to begin with now it is only the healthy ones that wolf it down like gannets.

The poorly chicken (Maureen) is still really skinny.  We have had poo results back from the Chicken Vet and the results show no coccidiosis or worms.  The Flubenvet course has now finished.  However she is still not right.  She will run around for a while with the other girls but then justs looses interest for 10-15 minutes and she hunches down.  Then she is back to running around normally. 

She is eating some pellet, what ever she can pick up in the garden, sunflower hearts.  She has gone off meal worms, porridge, pellet porridge.  We seem to have tried her on everything.

She still has bad diarrhoea most of the time.  The picture below is of her poo/water.  Does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong with her and what I can do to treat her.  I have not found a vet in my area (Whitley Bay / Newcastle)  that treats chickens.

Thanks for your help.

[joyfull]

looking at that poo she may have a kidney problem  . Quite a lot of ex batts have kidney problems owing to them being on lower rations of water and often no feed for a short while before they are disposed off. It is a common practise to stop feeding birds before culling so that their crop and guts are empty.

[geordiechick]

Hi Joyfull
Is there anything I can do for a kidney problem? 

I'm happy to clean the nest box out every morning where she sleeps (none of them have managed to get the concept of perching to sleep).  Like I said above I don't have a local vet I can get to. 

Thanks  Jackie

[gibbo]

Hi Jackie, 
I noticed your photo of your hens dropping.  All my four hens since going into a moult have all stoped laying, gone of their food and are producing droppings like your girly.  Surly its real bad luck that they all have a kidney problem??   I read some info on here that wet droppings can be due to not eating enough. So how to get them eating normal again???

[Lindeggs]

From everything I have read, there is not much you can do aboput a kidney problem.  All you can do is to keep them well hydrated - so make sure you have plenty of fresh water available at all times.  But you can only treat the symptoms and try to keep the birds in overall good health.

[helens-hens]

Hi there. Just found this chicken friendly vet on the Omlet website:

Robson and Prescott The Veterinary Centre 44 Staithes Lane Morpeth Northumberland NE61 1TD Tel 01670 512275

Not sure how far away they are from you but thought it was worth mentioning.

How is Maureen doing now?

[geordiechick]

Hi Gibbo
Fingers crossed this is just a "moult" thing.  Maureen does have a lot of new feathers coming through.  She hasn't laid an egg in ages and she didn't drop any feathers.  But as she was relatively new from the battery she didn't have many to drop.

She still seems happy and is eating when we put something in front of her she fancies.

Hi Helen - thank you for the address.  Morpeth isn't too far from me so at least I have someone nearby when needed.

[gibbo]

Hi Jackie, ive been trying all sorts to get my girls eating again.  I wanted to worm them as well so i made up some sloppy oats and pellets and put some flubenvet in.  This seems to be going down well and im beginging to see some more solid droppings in the pen.  In fact the hen that is most over her moult is eating really well now.  As you say must just be a moult thing.  Ill know not to panic next year!!  I also gave them a little live yogurt which they LOVED and drank it really quick! (it did give them a fizzing poo straight after but only one!!)    Thanks for your encouragment.  Somtimes it is all to easy to diagnose the worst, when in actual fact the hens are just doing thier normal thing and looking after themselves well enough.

[geordiechick]

Hi Gibbo

How're your girls? Maureen is still improving.  Her poo's are very slowly getting a bit more solid.  On the real plus side she is getting some beautiful new feathers in - especially towards the base of her tail and bottom of her back.  Still no eggs from her but we are still getting 1 a day from the other 2.  They are all going MAD for porridge so at least they are getting some good food.

It looks like Maureen is on the up.

[gibbo]

Hi Jackie, glad to hear your girls are improving.  Mine are proving to be interseting as usual.  I went to a different farm supplies to see if i could find a more interesting food for them.  I was using Farmgate layers pellets but the man in the new place told me there was as much goodness in the plastic bag as there was in the pellets!!  So he gave me a bag of different layers pellets to try from a local suppliers and also gave me some free meal worm things as a treat for the girls.  They love it, so thankfully they are getting back on track, and yes slowly im begining to find more solid droppings now.  The hen who has most new feathers and is looking tidy again is eating a lot , however she has a bad leg now so yet another set back.  I also treated another girl for compact crop, but that seems ok now.  If it is not one thing its another isnt it!!! See my post titled 'swollen leg with pic' See what you make of the lump on lucy's leg.  Again someone has come up with a fancy condition however im not so sure. I cant afford another trip to the vet plus they dont seem any more clued up than my self!!