help really sick chook!!!

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hi can anyone help!!

One of my girls is really poorly, i noticed this morning that she was wheezing and would not leave the house i had to carry her outside for the morning porridge, she did stay out. when i went back to check on them this afternoon she was gasping and wheezing worse and looking really poorly.

symptoms:

wheezing
feels hot to the touch
really stinky brown liquid droppings ( it done one in the kitchen and cleared the room)
it's eye's look werid, like the corner of the eye is really big on both sides.
it seems to have lost weight and suddenly looks half the size of the others
feathers feels really rough and some look greasy
beak was really dirty.

this chook also is rumpless and has always had problems has she has no feathers around her bottom and always looks cold.

it has also just started laying and is laying at least every other day.

my neighbour who has kept chicken for years said he thought it had croup and i should have it put down.

any ideas i have brought her in.
kat
 
TBH not much really. Sorry. She sounds really ill. It could be any number of things but usually the first we know that a chook is ill is when they are almost at deaths door. They have an ability to hide mild illness well, so severe illness often means they are too far gone to do anything or save.

If she is still alive in the same condition in the morning I'd cull her to end her suffering. If it were me, I'd probably have done so already. She sounds in a bad way and I really don't know treating her with anything will help at this point.

Maybe someone will come along with some suggestions but all the things I think of take too long to work and she'd be suffering for a while before anything kicks in. And she sounds every bad now so I'd not like to leave her that long to see if she improves. And even then its not certain those things might work.
 
Sorry she's so ill.Can't offer any suggestions I'm afraid.

By croup is that the same croup that babies can suffer with?
 
I think Coup is really just another name for an infection in the respiratory tract? Not sure but Infectious Bronchitus (IB) is the 'general' sort of name people use for respiratory problems in chickens. I believe it is a secondary infection that is usually treated with antibiotics such as Tylan or Baytril.

Chickens get a disease and their immune system weakens and then they pick up lots of other problems. It's usually only these secondary problems that we notice and by then it's often too late.

What disease is causing the secondary infection, the runs and the other symptoms is the difficult bit. Looking through my book, there are hundreds of possibilities, most of which are not good news.. IMHO unless she has improved over night which is unlikely, I think it is best to dispatch her as there is possibly some underlying problem(s).

Sorry :(
 
she is still with us this morning. she is making a constant snoring noise when she breaths. although she looks all right she is definatly not.

i would have dispatched her myself yesterday but having never seen it done before and not having anyone to help me who did know, i thought it best to wait until my husband got home today to do it, the guy he works with has 40 chickens and has kept them for years so he said he will do it and show us incase we have to do it agian.

it's really sad but looking closely at her i would say she probably hasn't been well since we had her and hasn't grown, i think that she was just surviving but the cold weather and starting laying just push her over the edge.

i'll let you all know if there's any changes. thanks for your help.
kat
 
I think there is a good chance of it being Myco, in which case she will need antibiotics from a vet if there is any chance of getting her well again. Best antibiotic for this type of infection is, as already been suggested, Tylan injectable, although if it is to far advanced prognosis is not good and may be kinder to cull.
So sorry you have this to deal with, always an awful experience when a chook is ill because they are so difficult to treat.
 
Unfortunatly i think she is too poorly - she has always been a sickly chook and she is so thin and just laying there panting- so i think we will put her out of her misery.

my main problem is none of the local vets will not see chickens and the nearest one,that does, is in north yorkshire probably a three hour drive. our own vets saw ours before then last time i phoned refused to see them - this is probably due to the increase in poultry keepers in general - they would see us as a favour but they can't do it any more coz there are to many people to see.

sorry rambling.
 
So sorry Kat :cry: ,not a nice desicion to make.
Also sorry that you don't have a decent vet closer,can only assume that 'by seeing one of your chooks once-as a favour' the vets only really see them when they've been cooked and are not very experienced with chickens.So,they probably are not the best vet's for you.
Makes me realise how lucky I am,I have a poultry vet 20 mins drive away and a zoo vet 40 mins drive away.
For an emergency,my local vets will treat any animal,bird,or reptile I take in.

Where are you based again?Maybe there is one closer than 3 hrs that someone will be able to track down for you.
 
oops,I just re-read your posts.I got the wrong end of the stick and sent you a list of yorkshire poultry vets.
Is Ilkeston in Derbyshire closer to you in Durham?
I have been to your neck of the woods a few times but can't remember geography well........ :oops:
 
well derbshire is even further than north yorks, north yorks is on of thoose places where a 80 mile trip takes 3 hour coz of the twisty country roads.

well i had my chook put to sleep by my own vet after phoning and demanding that even if they wouldn't treat the chook they could at least put it out of it misery for me the amount of money they have out of us.

apparently she had pneumonia, probably as a secondary infection.

the friend of my husbands who said he would pull it's neck for me, turned out to be evil and said that he just hits them on the head with a hammer to which he was told to f off in no uncertain terms.

my second blow is two of the others are looking really thin although there breathing is ok.

how do i fatten them, they have porridge most mornings with a mixture of treats mixed in, the free range all day in a massive garden, constant access to layers pellets and corn in the afternoon.

help
 
Sorry you lost your girl , if 2 others are a bit off I would worry that they also have Myco/a respirarory infection as it can spread so fast , if it were me Id get them checked or onto the correct antibiotic ASAP -many people treat all contact chickens as it can affect them all so quickly . Hope this may help , Ros
 
Hi Kat.pink,
So sorry to hear about your chook, keep an eye on the others to make sure they haven't picked it up.

On the subject of fattening them up, on another thread someone mentioned feeding dried cat food mixed with water to give them a good boost. Its got a lot of protein in it. Maybe your chooks that are a bit under par would benefit. Don't know if it fattens them up but does them good, full of protein! I've been giving it to one of mine who had been attacked by the others, she had lost a lot of weight (probably shock/stress) & she gobbles it up!
 
i have tried them with imas cat biscuits and they would not eat them, i'll try them with a different kind.

i'm tring to feed them lots of things that are not corn during the day and then give them corn kate on and see if that helps, i think there getting full up on corn and then not eating anything else.

also giving them ACV and garlic to give them a boost.

friendly chook still missing with the alpha chook and the bottom chook gone the girls are a bit off colour at the moment.

thanks everyone
 
I think Iams cat biscuits are all one colour,that might be off putting.Mine don't like cat biscuits,so I buy a tin of cat food(chunks in gravy)they woof that down.I don't feed it daily though,a small amount after corn 2x a week when moulting.

Do hope the missing ones turn up soon safe and well.
 
Chickens are creatures of habbit and for them, life is safe that way. They can find it hard to switch foods. I find it best to mix a little crushed / dried cat kibble with their normal food, or mix it in with their occassional scraps / mash that I give them. When wet, it soon breaks up.

Changing their food suddenly can cause stress to a bird - as strange as it seems to us, they do like routine and a different type of food can upset them. Gradual change is not a problem. Chickens do not have a very good tase, but are very sensitive to texture so I would try to give them the cat food in the same way as their existing food.
 
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