poorly hen

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June24
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poorly hen

Post by June24 »

Looking for some advice, I have two hens that are 7 years old,for the last week one of them has been limping and cannot weight bear, she was still managing to eat and drink, this morning she would not come out of the hen house. I checked up on her at lunchtime and she seem's to be mouth breathing/gaping.

What to do?. Do I put her out of her misery or let nature take it's course?

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manda
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Re: poorly hen

Post by manda »

It could be she's got bumblefoot and the mouth gaping is from pain. Honestly she needs to see a vet because a staph infection will become systemic without being treated with antibiotics.
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kitla
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Re: poorly hen

Post by kitla »

have you checked her over? she may have bumblefoot or an injury & her breathing could be because she's in pain. Or it may be something inside like a tumour - she is a good age, or something like mareks. I would say the first thing is to have a good look at her feet, if she's hard to handle try wrapping a towel around her so she cant flap. (but dont hold her upside down or she wont be able to breath)
...........sorry manda I didnt notice you'd posted, ha ha great minds!
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manda
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Re: poorly hen

Post by manda »

)like(
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)✰
(¸.✰´¨(¸.✰ Manda

Living our version of the Good Life with 4 dogs, 6 cats, a cow, a few sheep, Angora Goats and ???? chooks.
Don't get your knickers in a knot..it solves nothing ~ just makes you walk funny
June24
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Re: poorly hen

Post by June24 »

manda wrote:It could be she's got bumblefoot and the mouth gaping is from pain. Honestly she needs to see a vet because a staph infection will become systemic without being treated with antibiotics.


I looked for bumblefoot, but could see no evidence of this, both feet looked
normal with no evidence of any swelling etc. I live in Scotland and the nearest poultry vet is 40 miles away.
June24
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Re: poorly hen

Post by June24 »

kitla wrote:have you checked her over? she may have bumblefoot or an injury & her breathing could be because she's in pain. Or it may be something inside like a tumour - she is a good age, or something like mareks. I would say the first thing is to have a good look at her feet, if she's hard to handle try wrapping a towel around her so she cant flap. (but dont hold her upside down or she wont be able to breath)
...........sorry manda I didnt notice you'd posted, ha ha great minds!
of her feet

Hi Kitla,
Thank's for the advice, already had a good look at both of her feet and could not see any evidence of bumblefoot,there's no swelling or any signs of infection, nearest poultry vet is 40 miles away, I have been really lucky as both hens have been really healthy up till now.
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KarenE
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Re: poorly hen

Post by KarenE »

Hi

If there's no sign of bumblefoot, maybe she's sprained or even broken her leg or a claw. See if you can feel any heat along her leg, and up into where it joins her body. Is it just 1 leg or is she off both now? Obviously feel for a break very very carefully. She needs painkiller - metacam is best, if you can get it from your nearest vet doesn't have to be a poultry one, and in fact it's usually the cat version prescribed. If you can't get to a vet soon try a tiny bit of dissolved aspirin but really she needs metacam as its antiinflamatory too. Give her some sugar water, might help as the chicken equivalent of sweet tea.

Is she laying? Is she eating?

Let us know how she is tomorrow
Karen
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jaxhen
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Re: poorly hen

Post by jaxhen »

Had a similar problem with one of my 5 year olds last Autumn. Her lack of mobility seemed to come on gradually, which we put down to old age. Checked for bumblefoot, but no sign of that. She was hobbling around so she was given a course of aspirin as she wasn't laying. Gail Damerow in the Chicken Health Handbook, recommends 25mg/per lb (0.5kg) of body weight per day, for 7 days maximum. You need dispersible/soluble aspirin. The aspirin was disolved in a very small amount of water, and small cubes of bread were soaked in the solution. We noticed some improvement for a month or so.

One morning, a month ago, she came halfway down the ramp and then 'nose-dived' the rest of the way although she could go up the ramp at night. The following morning she wouldn't come down and accepted being lifted down. Eating and drinking perfectly normally. Could bear her own weight but was shuffling/hobbling around and was starting to become withdrawn.

Took her to a poultry-friendly vet. She was checked for internal or neurological problems, breakage or heat in joints: none found. Vet stood her up and pulled her one leg gently backwards. Hen objected to that.

Metacam was prescribed for 7 days, administered in the same way as the aspirin. Vet said we shouldn't be alarmed to see that she had been prescribed a Metcam dose for the equivalent of a 20kg dog as she's a big hen!

We thought there was a little improvement and made a follow-up visit to vet. Vet thought there was improvement when the leg was manipulated. Another 7 days metacam was prescribed, but vet reluctant to give it for longer than that. Hen eating and drinking normally, but droppings seemed to be more watery, and more urates noticed.

Vet's advice was to monitor and return if she got worse. Although the weather has been damp and cold, hen is much improved and she has started laying again.

Hope this is some help either to you or someone who has a old hen with mobility problems.

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