Can you help me with my sick chicken?

[Glutton4...]

Fingers crossed for you both!

[motherhen]

What sort of feeder do you have, the ball feeders that come with the Eglu are restrictive and sometimes the less pushy hen is driven off the feed, give them another feeder and see if they are hungry.
Do or have you had redmite this will make your birds anaemic, this can have this sort of affect and the bird will act in this way.
What do you feed?

[T-lady]

What sort of feeder do you have, the ball feeders that come with the Eglu are restrictive and sometimes the less pushy hen is driven off the feed, give them another feeder and see if they are hungry.
Do or have you had redmite this will make your birds anaemic, this can have this sort of affect and the bird will act in this way.
What do you feed?

Hey motherhen

I don't use the 'grub' feeder at the moment - they have organic layers pellets in a large casserole-type dish. There's no sign of red mite and we have a rigorous disinfection routine so I think I'm fine there.


I didn't do so well with getting the antibiotic down her last night. I could get her nicely tucked under my arm but couldn't get her to open her beak to take down the liquid. Can I soak it into a little piece of bread and feed it to her that way???

[Suechooks]

You could try it on bread but if she's not eating much the bread might not digest well. Get down and grubby on the floor! Its worked for me when OH isn't available to help and I've had quite a few who've needed it over the past few years. Tucking her under your arm limits your dexterity with that arm so you've really not enough control. I find if the hand opening the beak also covers her eyes (which it will do naturally if she'sbetween your knees with tailend towards you) she'll be less stressed.

[Flummery]

I find that if I touch the side of her beak (where top and bottom join) with the syrynge, she will open it a bit - mind you she then tries to close it fast too. I hold my hand over the top of her head and try to hold the beak open with my left hand and pop the syrynge in with the right and tip her head very slightly back and syrynge gently. Over the last couple of days we have wiped less of the stuff off ourselves.

[motherhen]

Do they always have feed available all the time is there any left at the end of the day?
Sometimes we add a little bit of sugar to a little mash this has tempted them to eat, is she eating at all.

[T-lady]

Lily Hen is still very subdued but she's shown signs of getting a little better. Thanks for all the advice on how to get the syringe down her

- Suechooks and Flummery you'd be proud of me. I've managed to get all of it down her neck for the last two nights (mind you, last night I accidently hit the plunger a bit fast so she got it all at once, not ideal!)

I've found the best way to deal with it is 'accidentally' forget to shut the kitchen patio door so she sneaks in to gulp down the cat food (it seems that protein is what she's after at the moment - not eating grapes or corn but wolding down cat food or tuna). Then I can grab hold of her, wrap her in the trusty towel and then eventually pry open the beak enough to get on with it.

[Flummery]

Good news. Our Topaz is in rude health again (touch wood!) and chuntering at the young ones again. Great to have her back! Best of luck with Lily.

[T-lady]

I'm delighted for you and Topaz Flummery - what a nice start to your weekend.

I'll hope to have the same results by the time Lily Hen has finished her course of antibiotics.

[Suechooks]

Well done T-lady! Glad to hear she's interested in food - even if it is the cat's!!! Keep up the good work!

[motherhen]

Be careful not to let her overdo the cat food it can cause an overload of protein, and may make her prolapse, or the richness can cause digestive up set.
If she is that desperate for protein is she getting the correct amount in her diet, a good quality layers mash or pellet will be better for her and I do recommend ex - batt crumb from Allen and Page, this has been especially formulated to aid ex batts back to health.

[T-lady]

Hi All

Lily Hen seems to be absolutely back to her nornal happy self - eating like a horse and grubbing through the flowerbeds with the others. I hope if's going to be sustainable (we finish the antibiotic course tonight) but it all looks rosy. Thank you all for your help and advice.

[Glutton4...]

Oh that's great news T-Lady - they are such a worry, sometimes, but as tough as hell too. Amazing things, Chooks!

[Suechooks]

Good to hear that T-lady!

[Flummery]

Good news. Topaz is her usual uppity self too. Fingers crossed eh? And very well done for managing the dose by yourself. I'd have ended up with most of it over my clothes, I think!