I found my nearly two-year-old Brahma hen, Tuffet, on the floor of the coop looking very sick this evening. We didn't notice anything abnormal with her yesterday. I separated her from the flock and brought her inside for treatment and observation.
Her symptoms are:
I made her vomit to empty her crop (it was so full I thought I might as well take the risk) and she perked up very slightly afterwards (walked around a little bit and moved her head more).
According to THIS ARTICLE: "Generally when a bird is near death, the Intestinal Tract has shut down and liquid is filling these cavities. The Crop will become so full it is pouring out of the beak. These types of birds are sometimes easily diagnosed as they are sitting in the corner of the coop, eyes close and barely conscious, very dark red or cherry colored comb and not responsive. In this case, the best thing you can do is move the bird to a warm soft place, heat lamp if needed and make the bird as comfortable as possible so it can gently pass away or humanly put her down."
From this it sounds to me like she might have a major internal organ/reproductive problem and she is done for. BUT she doesn't have water belly (yet).
The same article states: "Sour Crops can be caused by many things not only from the list of possibilities that I listed above, but also from simple things as feed changes, some new food that gave the bird indigestion, feed that has gone bad, moldy or buggy, and sometimes certain birds just cannot digest certain feeds."
I did very recently switch to a new feed I've never tried before AND it is certainly possible she got into something moldy.
So...do you think it's worth treating her (miconazole and antibiotics) or is it time to let her go?
Thank you.
Her symptoms are:
- Crop overflowing with stinky brown liquid and spilling out of mouth
- Poop is milky white
- Tail is down
- Not moving much/lethargic
- Wheezing/gurgling
- Comb is turning purplish
I made her vomit to empty her crop (it was so full I thought I might as well take the risk) and she perked up very slightly afterwards (walked around a little bit and moved her head more).
According to THIS ARTICLE: "Generally when a bird is near death, the Intestinal Tract has shut down and liquid is filling these cavities. The Crop will become so full it is pouring out of the beak. These types of birds are sometimes easily diagnosed as they are sitting in the corner of the coop, eyes close and barely conscious, very dark red or cherry colored comb and not responsive. In this case, the best thing you can do is move the bird to a warm soft place, heat lamp if needed and make the bird as comfortable as possible so it can gently pass away or humanly put her down."
From this it sounds to me like she might have a major internal organ/reproductive problem and she is done for. BUT she doesn't have water belly (yet).
The same article states: "Sour Crops can be caused by many things not only from the list of possibilities that I listed above, but also from simple things as feed changes, some new food that gave the bird indigestion, feed that has gone bad, moldy or buggy, and sometimes certain birds just cannot digest certain feeds."
I did very recently switch to a new feed I've never tried before AND it is certainly possible she got into something moldy.
So...do you think it's worth treating her (miconazole and antibiotics) or is it time to let her go?
Thank you.
