BuddingGardener
Songster
Hi, I have a two and a half year old black australorp hen who is suddenly lethargic today. Here's the information I have about her while I worry to death:
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a Black Australorp hen, hatched April 2022 and about two and a half years old. She is about five pounds and doesn't feel underweight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She is very suddenly lethargic and less interested in eating and drinking. She has not been foraging with the rest of the flock and seems to want to just sit and rest. I saw her poop once, it was mostly urates with a little tiny bit of solid stool (which confirms she hasn't been eating much). Her belly feels like everyone else's, her crop is not super full and not empty. She has been whining in a higher pitch than she normally clucks at. She doesn't have any unusual strong smells. I noticed one poop in the run yesterday that had some gelatinous red pieces and thought it might be some shed intestinal lining, no other blood seen since then and it was a very very small amount. Cannot confirm it was from her.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Started this morning!
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Nope.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nope. Vent is normal and healthy looking, no injuries whatsoever. She's middle-top of the pecking order.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I honestly don't have a clue. Could it be parasites? The last time we dewormed was March, and we also treated for cocci due to fecal exam result by a vet.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I haven't seen her drink recently and she's less interested in food. She pecked around a little bit at treats and ate some egg and fruit, but not as vigorously or happily as normal.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Lots of goopy urates, not much solids as of right now. I believe I saw her poop once earlier in the morning and it was normal with a thick urate cap.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Calcium Citrate tab so far in case she's going off lay for her molt and has a soft shell egg she's working on. She last laid an egg a couple of days ago.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I'm VERY worried. I do have access to a vet but don't want to go in blind, and would prefer to treat and help her out on my own due to finances. Today only an emergency vet is available but that's extremely expensive for something that I'm not really sure where to start.
My main questions about this is what everyone else would do in this situation. Is she merely preparing for her molt and feeling lethargic about it? We had one chicken do this last year before dropping all of her feathers at once, but she didn't act the same way when she initiated her molt this year. Should I wait and see and observe? Should I offer her vitamins? Could I wait and test her fecals during normal business hours (non-emergency) during the week, or should I go ahead and start treating with safe-guard goat dewormer? (I used Valbazen in March for a confirmed minor capillary worm count in droppings, the vet didn't even strongly recommend treating for it at that point.) I'm of course, worried, and would like to see her thriving again. Thanks!
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a Black Australorp hen, hatched April 2022 and about two and a half years old. She is about five pounds and doesn't feel underweight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She is very suddenly lethargic and less interested in eating and drinking. She has not been foraging with the rest of the flock and seems to want to just sit and rest. I saw her poop once, it was mostly urates with a little tiny bit of solid stool (which confirms she hasn't been eating much). Her belly feels like everyone else's, her crop is not super full and not empty. She has been whining in a higher pitch than she normally clucks at. She doesn't have any unusual strong smells. I noticed one poop in the run yesterday that had some gelatinous red pieces and thought it might be some shed intestinal lining, no other blood seen since then and it was a very very small amount. Cannot confirm it was from her.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Started this morning!
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Nope.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nope. Vent is normal and healthy looking, no injuries whatsoever. She's middle-top of the pecking order.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I honestly don't have a clue. Could it be parasites? The last time we dewormed was March, and we also treated for cocci due to fecal exam result by a vet.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I haven't seen her drink recently and she's less interested in food. She pecked around a little bit at treats and ate some egg and fruit, but not as vigorously or happily as normal.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Lots of goopy urates, not much solids as of right now. I believe I saw her poop once earlier in the morning and it was normal with a thick urate cap.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Calcium Citrate tab so far in case she's going off lay for her molt and has a soft shell egg she's working on. She last laid an egg a couple of days ago.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I'm VERY worried. I do have access to a vet but don't want to go in blind, and would prefer to treat and help her out on my own due to finances. Today only an emergency vet is available but that's extremely expensive for something that I'm not really sure where to start.
My main questions about this is what everyone else would do in this situation. Is she merely preparing for her molt and feeling lethargic about it? We had one chicken do this last year before dropping all of her feathers at once, but she didn't act the same way when she initiated her molt this year. Should I wait and see and observe? Should I offer her vitamins? Could I wait and test her fecals during normal business hours (non-emergency) during the week, or should I go ahead and start treating with safe-guard goat dewormer? (I used Valbazen in March for a confirmed minor capillary worm count in droppings, the vet didn't even strongly recommend treating for it at that point.) I'm of course, worried, and would like to see her thriving again. Thanks!
Gave her a first dose of meds and now she can rest.
