Virus, Peritonitis, kidney damage?

[Anonymous]

In June 2009 we took in four hens from an intensive (caged) egg producer, in the hope of giving them a happy 'retirement'. Earlier this year we lost one of our hens to an unknown condition, the symptoms were that she became lethargic, and tended to stand hunched in a ball with her neck sunk into her body, she went off lay and her droppings were liquid only. Her feathers around the vent became very matted and dirty, and she lost her appetite. We consulted a specialist poultry vet at the time, and they prescribed anti-biotics (clamoxyl) and we brought her into the house to keep her warm (very hard winter here). Despite my best efforts hand feeding her I couldn't halt the decline, she lost a lot of weight and condition and finally I had to concede that I was probably prolonging her suffering, and the vet 'put her to sleep'.

Within a few weeks we had very similar symptoms in another bird! She is a much bigger hen and so far doesn't seem to have lost her appetite, but the lethargy, runny droppings, dirty condition around the vent and the hunched stance are all uncannily similar. The vet again prescribed clamoxyl but her decline seemed to accelerate, so mid course he switched her on to Baytril (another anti-biotic which attacks the bacteria directly rather than stopping them from multiplying as I gather most ab's do) which seemed to arrest her decline. After 5 days of Baytril she had stabilised but a few days after the course still wasn't passing any solid droppings, so the vet suggested another 5 days on Baytril. It is now ten days after the end of the second course and she has been going down hill again for two or three days. The vet has now suggested peritonitis and offered no further treatment, but the symptoms don't seem consistent with the descriptions I see here and on other sites. Another suggestion has been a virus which has left some kidney damage.

If anyone has managed to read that rather long description, thank you. If having got this far you have any suggestions at all as to what might be wrong, how it might be treated etc. I would be very grateful. I really want her to have every opportunity to get better.

Many thanks, and kind regards,

Steve

 

[snifter]

Sorry to hear your chook is poorly. I don't mean to sound harsh but please know that often former battery hens do have a tendancy to become ill and die like this. I've kept them in the past and have lost any number of them to sudden illnesses or longer ones where they slowly fade away. In most cases I do attempt to treat them but often the best thing is to dispatch them as it very rarely improves (at least in my experience).

I really cannot say what could be the problem with your hen. I think in many former battery hens they are simply worn out from constant egg production and they are not bred to be longer lived. Some rescued hens do of course live years after being rescued but others can lose condition and become ill and die.

In my experience its often a respitory illnesses or some other internal thing that antibiotics cannot treat.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for your reply, I appreciate that they are not the most robust having been bred to produce the maximum eggs in a short period. Having taken them in, however, I don't want my lack of experience and knowledge of poultry to contribute to their decline. So if there is anything I can try to give her a chance of recovery I would like to.

Regards,

Steve

 

[snifter]

I think you are doing all you can. Its very hit and miss when giving antibiotics to chooks. Often its something else entirely and the antibiotics don't help anyway.

If they have not worked within 5 days I doubt they are going to. Changing the meds may then be worth a shot but if the bird has not improved she will of course be getting weaker and her chances of recovering lessen with each passing day. I think then you have to consider putting her down rather than letting her linger.

Her symptoms sound very non specific and I'd think there was something going on internally.

 

[Tim]

Yes, I agree with Snifter on the antibiotics. Chickens will usually get all sorts of secondary infections if they come down with a disease - anything that happens to be passing by will be picked up. The antibiotics are usually prescribed to kill secondary infection but often, the underlying disease has not been treated and the bird will look like they are on the mend for a while but continue to fade.

It sounds like you are doing everything you can for her, however I am sorry to say I have no idea about the underlying problem, the symptoms are too vague I'm afraid, it could be a number of (serious) things.

I am a great believer in keeping the immune system strong. I give ACV, and also crushed Garlic in their water from time to time and have found this to help the Ex-Bats over the time I have kept them but as Snifter says, they have been 'created' genetically to be high producers earlier on in life and there can be high losses compared to other birds as they get older.

Good Luck. Tim.