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Post by cowgirlup on Nov 17, 2014 16:07:43 GMT -7
I went out this morning to feed and check on the chickens and one of our favorite girls is not doing too well. She usually runs out to eat out of your hand but she was sitting under the coop in a little ring of straw and not moving. I crawled under and she was really cold. I can usually feel some heat coming off of them. I picked her up and brought her in the house. She didn't even squirm or make a sound. I know she laid an egg this morning or possibly late yesterday so she's not egg bound. Felt around and checked her vent and can't feel anything. She didn't seem like she was breathing right when I brought her in. I also checked her over. The only thing is she does have mites. I have powdered her with little improvement.
I got her to eat a few bites of yogurt and a couple bites of oatmeal. I gave her some water with a syringe and she eventually passed a little bit of poop. I thought that was a good sign. I also washed off her back and butt with a flea and tick bath to get rid of the mites. Sprayed her with a poultry mite solution too. She was caked with dirt and seemed to like the mini bath.
Now she's under a heat lamp in a cage in the kitchen. Seems to be breathing better. I also gave her some ORS for poultry with the syringe. Now she's asleep and breathing better but really lethargic. I can't figure out what could be wrong with her. She was fine yesterday.
I suppose if she makes it through the night she might have a decent chance if I can get her to eat on her own.
Any ideas on what it could be?
I guess she could have eaten something in the yard yesterday. The other possibility is that the rooster injured her. I can tell he was on her a lot this morning and she had a bloody spot on her comb.
Other than that I'm stumped.
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Post by cajunlady87 on Nov 17, 2014 16:17:23 GMT -7
Roosters can inflict great bodily harm to the girls. Hope that by keeping her isolated she may have a fighting chance to recuperate.
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Post by cowgirlup on Nov 17, 2014 20:29:09 GMT -7
She didn't make it. I wish I knew what happened. That is the most frustrating part of it. Plus she was our favorite chicken. Very friendly, always ran to greet you and always wanted to eat out of your hand. if you didn't get a handful of grain down quick enough she would try to fly up and get it. She would always look right at you and talk to you. Funny little thing.
We had 2 friendly chickens and 3 others that weren't that interesting. One of those three we don't really like and would never get another of her breed. It figures that the best one would die. We made it a year and 2 months with no successful predator attacks and one just dies.
Totally sucks.
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Post by thywar on Nov 17, 2014 21:09:14 GMT -7
That really does suck. Strange. Maybe ask your vet and watch the other chickens.
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Post by solargeek1 on Nov 17, 2014 22:09:21 GMT -7
PM DINK about this. She is busy right now having just gone to St. Louis again with Amber, but she is the queen of chickens.
So sorry for you.
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Post by Redneckidokie on Nov 18, 2014 1:01:14 GMT -7
Well...at chicken fights I saw them blow up the chickens butt..n brought it back to life long enough to win occasionally. I would really have to like that chicken though..?  |
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Post by angelhelp on Nov 18, 2014 4:18:31 GMT -7
Awwww.  I don't know if you've ever been to backyardchickens.com but they might have an answer. |
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Post by insaneh on Nov 18, 2014 4:34:55 GMT -7
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Post by cajunlady87 on Nov 18, 2014 4:59:15 GMT -7
Well shoots, that sucks. |
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Post by cowgirlup on Nov 18, 2014 6:10:20 GMT -7
Awwww. I don't know if you've ever been to backyardchickens.com but they might have an answer. I checked that site and a few others yesterday while trying to figure out what to do. It said when they get to that point it's hard for them to bounce back. DH called some clients who are vets that also have chickens. He said it's really hard to know what's wrong and it could be a lot of things and to keep her warm and try to get her to eat and drink and hope for the best. I'm thinking it was something internal. She had taken a break from egg laying and had just started up in the past few days. She could have been trying to form a really big egg. Or she got injured, either got pushed off the roost pole and landed badly or the rooster did a number on her or maybe both. Dh is bummed because he thought she would be better this morning. I told him I didn't think so because she would only drink a little water and wouldn't really eat. I told him at least it was a more comfortable death than being eaten alive by a hawk so if she had to go at least it wasn't such a gruesome death. We'll miss having her around. She was a lot of fun to have and did a lot of cute things. Most of the others are just boring chickens. We aren't sad to lose a chicken but bummed to lose that one. Hope the ground isn't too frozen so I can dig a hole. |
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Post by geron on Nov 18, 2014 6:46:26 GMT -7
Chickens can become very beloved pets. Losing them is difficult.
My wife has had a fear of chickens since early childhood. Had to work past her fears just to get a half dozen. She finally relented. After about 9 months she now admits to having developed an affection for "her" chickens. They are much like the one you lost. They follow you around and beg for a handout. They come running when they hear the door open. Yes, they make special pets that are difficult to give up.
Sorry you lost her.
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Post by angelhelp on Nov 18, 2014 11:00:15 GMT -7
Having chickens in this town is illegal (just about everything is illegal), but I know of some folks who've kept theirs in the (well-heated & ventilated) basement. They too are very fond of them.
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Post by offtrail on Nov 18, 2014 17:53:25 GMT -7
Sorry your favorite chicken passed away you never think of a chicken as a pet but, my dad had a pet chicken when he was very young. He was in the yard one day playing with the chicken when a chicken hawk swooped down and tried to eat it. Dad was no more then 5 or 6 but was able to fight off the mean old hawk and save the chicken. I'm sure one day it ended up on the kitchen table as back then they had little food.
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Post by cowgirlup on Dec 1, 2014 20:27:10 GMT -7
And now the rooster has some kind of upper respiratory illness. Nothing like the one that died. Now he's in quarantine. DH's client who is a vet and has chickens is sending over something tomorrow. It could also be some type of worm that gets in their throat. it's less common than a UR situation but the symptoms are the same. We had no issues last winter at all. This is very frustrating.
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Post by insaneh on Dec 2, 2014 3:09:13 GMT -7
I read about that one while researching raising pheasant. They use a piece of horsehair in a loop to try to hook it and pull it out.
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