# help with sick bird



## daisymay (Feb 13, 2017)

so i am down to three hens. well my favorite girl who is two years old is sick. 
when she first started to lay she laid a few times with no shell. then laid normally. well a month ago she started laying without a shell again, looked ill, but got over it and started laying again.
fast forward to a few days ago, she quit eating, hasnt been grooming, loosing balance probably due to lack of food and hasnt laid an egg over a week or so. i dont see any egg stuck... but thinking there is some stuck in her and she has an infection.?
so i know she wont make it but have to try....
she drinks water and she drinks yogurt, giving her nutri drench, going to try oatmeal really liquid to see if she would take it. she eats two or three pellets of food then looks like she wants more but doesnt eat... but that wont keep her going. I began giving her nuflor sq very little on thursday, since i didnt know what else to do and she is getting a pill of cod oil. going to soak her today since its supposed to be 70 degrees outside.
please any suggestions?


----------



## Iluvlilly! (Apr 6, 2019)

Sorry I don't have any suggestions for. @MadHouse ?


----------



## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

I don’t know if you have any oregano essential oil on hand, but there’s been studies that indicate it works like an antibiotic in chickens. It’s also a natural immune support and anti-inflammatory. I don’t know if it will help at this point because it sounds like the poor girl is really struggling, but if you have it and want to try it, it wouldn’t hurt. 

Is she still pooping? Is it runny or anything off about it? How is her crop? In the morning, is it pretty empty and flat? If it’s full or mushy, she may be having crop issues. 

Sorry, I just lost two hens within a week of each other to two totally different issues. I know it’s difficult. I hope your girl pulls through.


----------



## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

So sorry your girl is ill. I can only add to FizzyGoats’ advice that it may be a genetic issue of the reproductive system. Several of mine that were likely sisters had this, that they layed thin shelled eggs, then no shelled eggs, then “lash eggs” and then nothing, and looking ill. I have one now who is at that stage. For my first bird who showed these symptoms it went over a year, the others took a little longer.
I hope yours either gets over this quickly now, or at least does not suffer long.


----------



## Tanya (Mar 31, 2020)

Sounds like a genetic defect. I agree with all above.


----------



## Tanya (Mar 31, 2020)

Something I dont see any bird owners mention. You must feed your birds egg shells. It helps reabsorb the much needed calcium to strengthen their eggs.


----------



## daisymay (Feb 13, 2017)

thank you, my mom is thinking genetic issue, she is such a sweet bird that I raised since a chick. last year I had a bird just randomly die, looked healthy no mites, laying, running around...they were tested for basic NPIP and MG which was negative,
she hated the soak so not doing that again. she just poops liquid since she really isn't eating. I manage to make her eat in the evenings after work with a slury which she likes but she wont eat it herself. I felt for any hard eggs but didn't feel anything abnormal. putting atum in the mixture. I am going a week for the antibiotic since I really am not sure how long I can give. she is still trying so im not giving up yet, she runs from me now. but I didn't think they can go this long without laying in the summer.
I was planning on getting a few more chickens this fall, but maybe I will try a different breed or just rehome the remaining two hens and take a break


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Are your chickens eating lawn grass? Fescue causes this problem.


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

What breed is she? Production hybrids are only meant to live about 2 years.


----------



## daisymay (Feb 13, 2017)

she is a creamlegbar but an opal so i figured her genetics would be a bit better since they had to breed out to get that color. i have her mom which seems to have a hernia but still trucking along(soft round spot under her) and her dad was killed by my dog(i still dislike my dog for it even though i didnt like the rooster). she didnt lay until she was 1. 
so far she is still alive, she looks alert ,wants to eat, takes a few pecks then stops, she also wants to scratch but then gives up. her comb is still red, i am feeding her once a day as that is all the time i have(she is at my moms house now) stopped giving antibiotics yesterday. her slurry is layer feed, seeds,nutri drench and yogurt with some egg shell. i feed her until she gets too hard to handle and her croup seems to be half filled. she is let out all day since i figured she might eat better. she stays with the other two birds for half the day then gets to tired and stays in the yard. if she wasnt alert then i would of pts but it seems like she is trying.


----------



## Tanya (Mar 31, 2020)

She is fighting. Keep fighting for her too.


----------



## daisymay (Feb 13, 2017)

well sadly she died today, as soon as i stopped antibiotics she started slowing down. yesterday she didnt run from me like she has been. dang it she was a nice hen. i know i likely couldnt cure her. now im going to worry about her mom. she has the hernia but i dont think much i can do about it. I spent lots of money on these birds and probably would have better luck with feed store birds even though they likely have ms and mg which i have been proud of not getting in my flock. 
so anyone know of any mean birds that wont run from a dog? even thinking turkeys but i wont eat them so they probably are not worth it since they eat so much.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I'm sorry you lost her.


----------



## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

I’m sorry she passed. You did all you could. And sorry about the mom with a hernia. 

I don’t have any advice on chickens that won’t run from dogs. Mine don’t but they also don’t get chased by dogs. I’m sure they’d run if a dog (or anything else) ran after them.


----------



## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

So sorry you couldn’t save her. You tried so hard!


----------



## daisymay (Feb 13, 2017)

thank you, my mom even named her which i told her not to do


----------

