Jumper is not well :(

One of our black Australorp hens named Jumper is not doing well and we arn't sure what is wrong. She was laying on her side in the pen, my husband thought she was dead. She closes her eyes and curls up her feet and just sits. My son said she wasn't acting real normal for the last few days but nothing this bad. We had a cold blast come in yesterday and of course the cold hasn't helped any. We offered her something to drink but she won't even consider it.

The picture is of her a couple of weeks ago. This is my sons hen and she is about 5 years old. Not sure what to do for her, he will be devastated if she doesn't make it.

Smedge, if her feet are curled up maybe she has bumblefoot. If so it will hurt her to walk. Can you open her feet and see if there are any Puss areas. If there are you should be able to gently open them and soak her feet in epsom salt, after doing that apply hydrogen peroxide and wrap them. Keep her bundled so she can't move and repeat the process for about three days in a row. By then her feet should began healing and just keep her away from others until a complete recovery...Hay

I think she curled her feet because she was cold. We have her in a box in the house and she has finally uncurled them and has stood up. She took a little water.

Thanks Hay, so glad you are back on here.

One thing my son noticed is that she seems bottom heavy. He said her back side seems heavy and hard and her front seems thin. She is eating some oats and drinking some now which is a good sign. She also has her eyes open, of course. Earlier she wouldn't open her eyes, she sat with them shut and her head down.

Meaning she is having trouble with an egg?

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100517135106AAqObkB

oh poor baby. I hope she gets well soon or warms up if that is the only problem

Not sure if she is having an egg problem. She is 5 years old and hasn't layed any eggs in a while. She is just bottom heavy, very strange. She still eats a little and seems to like oats in kefir and the kefir will be good for her too, but she isn't gung ho over eating, she will eat if my son holds it up to her, she takes it out of his hand or dish if he is holding it.

I was hoping someone else would know what to do. The link I gave said that chickens 4 to 5 years old commonly get egg bound, but I have never had a chicken with that, so I don't know much about it.

Maybe z or someone will come on that can help. Seems everyone is busy today.

I sure hope they show up soon.

I always worry about birds when they lose their appetite. It is so opposite of what healthy birds do, you know they tend to eat constantly and that always worries me. Not knowing how to help them is even worse. Some have become family members and are much more than just a chicken...I sure hope you can get some help and ideas, this has to be terribly hard on your son...I wish you the very best...Hay

Wow, you are lucky to have a hen that has lasted that long Smedge! You might have a hard time figuring it out with her being that old.. Not many people have hens for such a long time would be my guess.

If you are sure she is not egg bound... is she pooping?

I hope all is okay, but I think the only thing you can do at this point is keep her comfortable.

If it were me, she'd be getting hard boiled egg yolk.. easy to go through and give her a boost.

She is pooping Z but it is a cross between normal and runny. We are keeping her in a box and warm and offering her food, but she doesn't eat much. I'll try the hard boiled egg yolk and see if she will eat any.
She is definately a pet Hay. She is a much loved pet and it is heartbreaking to see her suffer and not know why or what to do.

That site on being egg bound said take them into the bathroom with you, close the door and take a long hot shower. The humidity for some reason helps them pass the egg. Another comment I ran across said do the same thing for parakeets when they are egg bound.

Sure wish I could help smedge, I would be putting garlic powder in her yogurt and egg mixture, for infections.

I wonder if she's been injured. The last chick I lost and couldn't figure out what was wrong, I realized later had probably been pecked repeatedly on the head by one of my mean hens. That was so sad, and I really suffered watching her die. Two of my red silkies are mean. It isn't characteristic of the silkie breed, and they do not look or act like full blooded silkies either. Gladys and Bertha, bad Bertha, she's the worst.

Seems the things/pets/people we love the most often give us the most pain. When they hurt we hurt. This may not seem like a brain storm to anyone else, but I was thinking about that the other day concerning a situation in my own family. If I didn't love these human beings I wouldn't be so concerned and upset, and though I am sure many other families around the world are going through the exact same things, they are not "my" family or loved one. While I can feel sorry for others suffering, the personal emotional impact when it comes to my own is not the same.

When it's your very own chicken it's a whole other story isn't it? Whether it's a divorce, or death, wayward child, sickness, the death of a pet, or financial calamity, when it gets personal it has impact like no one else experiences.

How I do go on so! Thanks for putting up with me.

Karen

No problem Karen, you go on if you want, and you are so right.

I made her a boiled egg as Z mentioned and she did eat some of it. She tends to eat better and more if my son sits with her and either pets her or pushes the food around on the dish, otherwise she just sits with her eyes closed. I think I'll try the humid bathroom and see if that helps just in case she does have a stuck egg. It is just so strange how bottom heavy she is and how tight her back area is. I feel so bad for her.

Smedge how is she doing? gotta be getting better by now I hope...Hay

Yeah, I hope she is better one way or another.. and over the pain. Do tell.

She is still hanging in there, but refuses to eat or drink anymore. I really don't know what to do for her. My son put her in a warm bath a few days ago and she seemed to enjoy it, but since then has gone downhill. I feel helpless watching her just sit with her head tucked in her feathers and I know it is just a matter of time with her not eating anymore. It's just so frustrating not to know what to do.

To top that off we lost one of our turkeys. We had two and some may remember we had one with wry neck. He seemed to not have anymore trouble with his neck flopping backward, but always had some trouble pecking and didn't seem to be thriving like the other one was. He then got sour crop but nothing we did for that helped and my husband found him dead a couple of days ago. So no more Skittles and now Pickles is by himself. They seemed to be buddies and I think Pickles is somewhat lonely now.
We also lost a Blue Cochin a day later that was about 6 months old. They had all gotten a case of fowl pox and all seemed to do well and get over it, but this particular one never seemed to recover fully or be the same. UGH! pet illnesses and deaths are hard to take and when they come in multiples it really gets discouraging..

I'll keep you all posted, but as of now I don't think she will pull through. I had hope as long as she was eating some, but now she isn't doing that either. :(

Oh my! I certainly hope your luck is about to change - soon!

Your so right, when it comes in multiples it is very discouraging. Keep you head up and lets hope it only gets better. Someone once said if your going to have livestock, your sure to have dead stock. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in that statement...Hay

Thanks all for the encouraging words. Unfortunately Jumper is gone this morning, She was breathing a bit heavily yesterday afternoon and I figured it wouldn't be long. My son spent some time with her petting her head. She was still breathing when we went to bed last night, but this morning she was gone. We had our funeral for her and buried her in a box. It was hard for my son, he has had this chicken for almost 6 years, since he was 10 or 11 (he's now 16), so it's not easy to loose her.

This picture is when Jumper was about a few months old.

I am so sorry. Try not to feel so bad. You did the best you could for her and she went peacefully in her sleep

That is a long life for a hen! You should feel very good about what you gave her. Who could ask for more than a long life of love. :)
I know it's hard to loose a part of the family like that.. I'm sorry for your loss. It warms my heart to hear of a hen that had such a good life. :)

Now that picture speaks so loudly, here is a hen that was loved, and evidently a young lad that found much pleasure is sharing his heart with a true friend. What a great memory that picture will serve to remind him of...Please tell him to keep sharing that love with others that will need it. Love is a wonderful gift when we give it away...Hay

Please tell your son that I and others on here are very sorry for his loss. At least now the chicken's suffering is over, and for that he can be grateful. Try not to think about it too much, that's what I tell myself when things happen to me.

Time to move on, and celebrate life. There are many joys ahead for him.

So sorry for your loss

So sorry. It is hard to lose any of them but especially the special friends.

Thanks everyone :) It was hard to loose her, but harder to see him hurt over the loss so much.

We have one Black Australorp hen left, named Samantha. She is also his but not as tame. He is working on taming her more. She looks so much like Jumper but of course has a diferent personality. Funny how each chicken seems to have a unique personality.

I too am sorry for your loss. She seems to have been such a sweet girl. I hope you son finds another good chicken friend soon!

(: ...... Sorry Smedge! I just found this thread..........sad.

I'm so sorry you lost your beloved chicken. It sounds a lot like what we've been dealing with with Monty, our rescue chicken. She got really poofed up and was just standing around with her head under her wing looking miserable. We brought her inside and tried the egg bound spa routine, she did not like it and waddled out of the water. She was so poofed up, she was having difficulty standing, could not lay down,,,,, Imagine a basketball with feathers and legs....
The vet took about 1/2 her weight in fluid off her and gave her diaretic pills for a week. She just got checked today and is doing a lot better. Off the pills and will be able to go outside if she doesn't start retaining fluid again. She is an older chicken too, we are not sure how old....
Anyway, when I read your chicken's symptoms, they sounded a lot like Monty's....I wish I'd seen your post sooner, perhaps our experience with Monty could have helped Jumper.
Hopefully it will help someone else...
Deb

Wow Deb, glad your chicken is doing better .She must have really been swollen up poor thing. Hope she continues to improve. It is so hard to have one ill and not know what to do for them.

Thanks Smedgekles. She is quite the character. I wasn't ready to give up on her considering how she'd come to us - wandering free around the city with half her feathers missing and a huge chunk out of her side. Most expensive free chicken I've ever had!

Oh jeez, I'm so sorry. I've had my girls for less than a year, and it's devastating when we lose one. Let your son know Jumper had a fantastic life under his loving care and that he did a great job with her.

Thanks, I will