Recent content by cate1124

  1. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Sprouting is underway! Although her appetite is small and deranged -- brown rice continues to be a favorite -- she is forming poops better. In observing her more closely and reviewing the video, I can see her ankle is not bending as it should; it will not accommodate the right angle with the...
  2. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thanks so much! As luck would have it, I bought lentils yesterday, and I have on hand broccoli and alfalfa seeds specifically for sprouting. So I'll get that operation underway today. Good ideas (and good thing I'm retired, so I can devote my life to my chicken :)). I've got very nice kale in...
  3. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Yet another update, only because folks were so kind to show interest and concern. This is a video of Charlotte a few days ago; this is as long and as successful walk as I have seen her make. You will see the curled toes on her historically deformed right foot and how she is using the affected...
  4. cate1124

    Black Australorp died unexpectedly please help me understand why

    You are most welcome. I think many of the difficulties these hens experience are due to intensive breeding to produce, produce, produce. Consider that wild birds have perhaps 2 or 3 clutches a year, and only during spring/summer. So perhaps a dozen or 18 eggs, total, in a given year. While we...
  5. cate1124

    Black Australorp died unexpectedly please help me understand why

    I'm responding very late to this, and you've already gotten answers from some of the best on BYC to your question. So, really what I want to say to you is: These things happen, and they're awful. Heartrending and heartbreaking. It is our nature in the aftermath to question what we did wrong...
  6. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thanks so much; the concern, companionship and encouragement of fellow chicken keepers means a lot to me, especially at such a time. I offered her the "torpedo" mix on a plate this morning; she demurred. I've added some garlic to it and left it in her cage along with electrolyte water while I...
  7. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thanks for this thorough and kind response, Jesse Lee. She was getting 3.75 mg meloxicam once a day, which was within dosing protocol of 1.6 mg/kg every 12 hours (my vet prefers once a day); one evening she got an additional 1/4 tab. During the six days she was on it, her appetite decreased...
  8. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thank you. I've offered both ND water and plain; will try electrolytes tomorrow. You would not believe the bounty of treats I have offered, including tomato, grapes, strawberries, brown rice, cornmeal mush, egg, hamburger, earthworm, sunflower chips. Dampened mash, of course. She will get up...
  9. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    I appreciate the suggestion, truly, but do not want to force feed her, and there is no popping anything into her beak without holding and forcing her, injured leg and all. I thought her appetite had improved yesterday, with time passing since her last dose of Meloxicam; today, it's again pretty...
  10. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thank you; that's a good idea. I'll dig around for some earthworms, as we've had quite a bit of rain. Yesterday, she seemed more interested in food; today, again not. This is a difficult rollercoaster, between the injury and inappetence. She's been off meloxicam for several days, and I...
  11. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thanks. She has never had chicks nor gone broody. Before this happened, the sweet old girl was getting on the nest occasionally; just no eggs left to deliver! I do intend to have her with her flock as much as I can.
  12. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    I had thought about a stroke, so thank you for also suggesting that. I don't see obvious neurological symptoms, but it's possible it's not just a leg injury -- which is why she is not improving -- and stroke might also account for depression and inappetence. She DOES benefit from being out in...
  13. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thank you. But she is not eating at all, resisting all treats, so nothing that requires food to deliver is going to work, and handling her to force fluids or meds of course aggravates her injury, as she struggles. She was off Meloxicam for more than 24 hours and seemed to do worse, though I had...
  14. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

  15. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    Thank you for your kind words and wishes. At such a time, all one has done right tends to recede, and all one's mistakes and inability to help come forward. I had taken her off the roost earlier that evening to trim messy vent feathers, and placed her back in the shavings so she could re-roost...
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