chicks-with-chicks
Chirping
- Jul 14, 2022
- 12
- 17
- 54
Hi fellow chicken lovers - happy new year!
I’m hoping to get some guidance on a hen who is unable to walk. Has anyone had a hen recover from what seems to be neurological damage or some type of paralysis? I feel so torn between euthanizing her and holding out hope that she might heal. One day I'll convince myself it’s time to lay her to rest, but then she'll perks up and seems to be improving. Including her backstory and details below. Sorry in advance for the length or if I've failed to address everything.
Honey is our beloved Green Queen from our very first flock of 5 and she'll be 3 years old in March. We live in the southeastern US with a flock of 30 hens now (4 roos in a separate bachelor pad). Our girls have an 18x20 coop with about 1/4 acre of outdoor run space.
She is living inside now for warmth and safety due to bullying by the other girls. She was laying fairly regularly until about two months ago. Around that time, she started molting, which lined up with shorter days and less production across the flock, so I didn’t think much of it at first.
At the start of her molt, I noticed she was sleeping in the nest box at night and napping more during the day, much like some of her other "middle aged" flockmates. Temperatures were in the 20s and 30s then, so I assumed she was conserving energy because of the cold. She was still dust bathing and getting around well enough to eat and drink, so I kept her with the flock.
However, I also noticed our rooster being rough with her, and she started having trouble getting up after he jumped on her so moved him to the bachelor pad. Around this time, I switched the flock to Nutrena Feather Fixer feed (oyster shell provided separately) to support everyone's molts. They were on Kalmbach layer crumbles previously.
One day I walked into the coop and found Honey struggling to walk and being pecked by a flockmate. When I picked her up she had clearly lost a good amount of weight, so I moved her inside for protection. She was eating but not as much as usual, so I took her to the vet as soon as I could.
The vet found a tumor on her ovary but wasn't convinced it was causing her inability to walk. Her blood work, bone structure, and stool sample were all normal, with no signs of injury. "She is unlike most cases we see". The vet had planned to give her a hormone shot for the ovarian tumor but later called to inform us it was never given due to a mix-up on their part.
We were sent home with four medications: an antibiotic, a gas reducer, an anti-inflammatory (meloxicam), and a pain reliever (tramadol). However, we stopped the gas reducer due to diarrhea, per the vet's recommendation.
It’s been about a month since the vet visit. They wanted us to bring her back for a follow-up, but I can’t afford another appointment right now - embarrassed to say how much we spent on the first visit. I also wasn’t thrilled with their complacency the first time and the drive is an hour each way and didn't want to stress her more.
Honey has good days and bad days. She’s unable to walk properly but can stand to stretch— she sometimes falls and uses her wings to catch herself. She’s still on meloxicam every 12 hours and eats, drinks, and preens, but she’s starting to sleep more during the day. I feel like it may be time to consider letting her go - maybe it's passed the time, but I'm so torn.
Also should mention that we tried Poultry Cell for a vitamin boost, but she didn’t like the taste, and I struggled with administering liquids easily and worried I was causing more harm than good. I switched to Poultry Booster and have been mixing it into her feed. She seems like prefer some of the chick crumbles we have on hand and is currently eating that with some layer pellets on the side.
I wish I could return her to the flock to live out her days, but the weather has been colder than normal and now she's accustomed to the warmth indoors.
I realize we’ve invested a lot of time, energy, and money into one hen, but she is from our first flock and feels more like a pet than livestock. I’m so torn—I don’t want to give up on her, but I also don’t want her to suffer if she’ll never regain a normal life.
Has anyone experienced something similar? I've seen so much variation in other's stories. Sometimes it seems they recover and others they don't. Any advice is appreciated.
In case I missed anything:
1) What type of bird, age and weight
Green Queen hen, almost 3 yo, 3.4lbs
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
See above
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
~6 weeks
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Possible mating injury, fall, or ovarian tumor
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She prefers nutrena chick starter grower
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
See above
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment?
Want to help her recover
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
https://ibb.co/W0fpktP
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Currently cardboard box indoors with pine shavings changed 2x daily
I’m hoping to get some guidance on a hen who is unable to walk. Has anyone had a hen recover from what seems to be neurological damage or some type of paralysis? I feel so torn between euthanizing her and holding out hope that she might heal. One day I'll convince myself it’s time to lay her to rest, but then she'll perks up and seems to be improving. Including her backstory and details below. Sorry in advance for the length or if I've failed to address everything.
Honey is our beloved Green Queen from our very first flock of 5 and she'll be 3 years old in March. We live in the southeastern US with a flock of 30 hens now (4 roos in a separate bachelor pad). Our girls have an 18x20 coop with about 1/4 acre of outdoor run space.
She is living inside now for warmth and safety due to bullying by the other girls. She was laying fairly regularly until about two months ago. Around that time, she started molting, which lined up with shorter days and less production across the flock, so I didn’t think much of it at first.
At the start of her molt, I noticed she was sleeping in the nest box at night and napping more during the day, much like some of her other "middle aged" flockmates. Temperatures were in the 20s and 30s then, so I assumed she was conserving energy because of the cold. She was still dust bathing and getting around well enough to eat and drink, so I kept her with the flock.
However, I also noticed our rooster being rough with her, and she started having trouble getting up after he jumped on her so moved him to the bachelor pad. Around this time, I switched the flock to Nutrena Feather Fixer feed (oyster shell provided separately) to support everyone's molts. They were on Kalmbach layer crumbles previously.
One day I walked into the coop and found Honey struggling to walk and being pecked by a flockmate. When I picked her up she had clearly lost a good amount of weight, so I moved her inside for protection. She was eating but not as much as usual, so I took her to the vet as soon as I could.
The vet found a tumor on her ovary but wasn't convinced it was causing her inability to walk. Her blood work, bone structure, and stool sample were all normal, with no signs of injury. "She is unlike most cases we see". The vet had planned to give her a hormone shot for the ovarian tumor but later called to inform us it was never given due to a mix-up on their part.
We were sent home with four medications: an antibiotic, a gas reducer, an anti-inflammatory (meloxicam), and a pain reliever (tramadol). However, we stopped the gas reducer due to diarrhea, per the vet's recommendation.
It’s been about a month since the vet visit. They wanted us to bring her back for a follow-up, but I can’t afford another appointment right now - embarrassed to say how much we spent on the first visit. I also wasn’t thrilled with their complacency the first time and the drive is an hour each way and didn't want to stress her more.
Honey has good days and bad days. She’s unable to walk properly but can stand to stretch— she sometimes falls and uses her wings to catch herself. She’s still on meloxicam every 12 hours and eats, drinks, and preens, but she’s starting to sleep more during the day. I feel like it may be time to consider letting her go - maybe it's passed the time, but I'm so torn.
Also should mention that we tried Poultry Cell for a vitamin boost, but she didn’t like the taste, and I struggled with administering liquids easily and worried I was causing more harm than good. I switched to Poultry Booster and have been mixing it into her feed. She seems like prefer some of the chick crumbles we have on hand and is currently eating that with some layer pellets on the side.
I wish I could return her to the flock to live out her days, but the weather has been colder than normal and now she's accustomed to the warmth indoors.
I realize we’ve invested a lot of time, energy, and money into one hen, but she is from our first flock and feels more like a pet than livestock. I’m so torn—I don’t want to give up on her, but I also don’t want her to suffer if she’ll never regain a normal life.
Has anyone experienced something similar? I've seen so much variation in other's stories. Sometimes it seems they recover and others they don't. Any advice is appreciated.
In case I missed anything:
1) What type of bird, age and weight
Green Queen hen, almost 3 yo, 3.4lbs
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
See above
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
~6 weeks
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Possible mating injury, fall, or ovarian tumor
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She prefers nutrena chick starter grower
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
See above
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment?
Want to help her recover
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
https://ibb.co/W0fpktP
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Currently cardboard box indoors with pine shavings changed 2x daily
