1 yr. old hen - lethargic, runny green poop, xrays show pieces of something

[LeslieBerckes]

Cautiously optimistic here. Yesterday, I pushed a lot of electrolyte water and did the crop massage. By the evening, Etta was a menace...in a good chicken way! Tipping everything over and making a total mess. Our cat, who she seemed mildly worried about the past few days, got absolutely YELLED at last night with full chicken warning noises. (The cat is not allowed near her, but passes through the room occasionally on the way to his litter box. He has not been that interested in her, so he's not there causing stress on an ongoing basis.)

This morning, crop is empty, she had firmer poops all day yesterday and overnight (still pretty green, but maybe that is from her lack of food the past few days?). I have straw in her dog kennel and she's chickening - scratching around looking for food. I still have not seen her drink on her own, so that will be a big step forward if/when that happens.

Do you have any advice on how long to keep her quarantined? I think she's pretty bored in her kennel (the straw and peeking is helping this morning). I was thinking if she stays as active as she is today (and messy!), maybe she needs to go back with her flock soon.

From your experience, and what I described about her symptoms, do you have any advice if this turnaround is real?

I assume egg laying will be delayed due to her illness. Should I expect her to lay at a certain time and, if she does not, be concerned?

I'm going to call the vet today, but really appreciate your advice too!

 

[FattyChickens]

How is she doing?

 

[LeslieBerckes]

I had been meaning to loop back to this for others who might read this thread. Etta is still here and seems to be just fine - thank goodness! She started showing symptoms on Sunday (or at least when I noticed) and by Thursday, she was back to her chicken-self. We reintroduced her to flock on Friday. That was a little rough with major peeking order business getting reestablished - I hated watching it! It's been several weeks since the sickness and the reintroduction and they all seem to be getting along again. In the future, I may read more about the "see don't touch" method of quarantining if the sickness doesn't seem to be something contagious. It was really sad seeing them go after Etta after she'd been sick (I know, I know, it's regular chicken behavior, and all was well in the end, but still hard to see how their little family unit had been interrupted).

It took her a week+ to lay again, which was fine because we weren't supposed to eat her eggs after she'd been on the antibiotic. I still don't know what was wrong with her - maybe just a "bug" like humans get? None of the typical chicken sickness symptoms I read during that time really seemed to align with what she had.

I know the meds were key, but the electrolyte water seemed to be something that really helped. The vet did not tell me to use them nor did he tell me to push water via the syringe. I think she was majorly dehydrated by the time it dawned on me (and I read these threads) that I should be pushing water and not just hoping she'd drink on her own. Depending on your chicken sickness situation, it seems like this is something to make sure you do to help sick chickens.

 

[FattyChickens]

Happy to hear she's doing better! I was terrified that the lack of response meant that something bad happened </3