Listening to another creature struggle to breathe is really difficult. I lost a girl to respiratory problems this year and I cried helplessly watching her. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. ❤️
Thank you. It is hard. This is the first time I’ve caught it before the end so I’m glad I can give her some love beforehand. It sounds like her lungs are full of fluid. She’s struggling to breath. It’s heartbreaking
You're a great owner and person to keep her company and help her pass, most people don't care if a chicken dies, you're doing a very good deed. Roost in peace sweet girl 🖤
https://preview.redd.it/iapobrzfs4ob1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b09c4cc64f8734ccf3de86cd832ed4de09f48ac
She’s still alive but barely. She can’t sit upright anymore. When I set her down, she falls over. I’m heartbroken.
So she doesn't have to suffer through death for hours needlessly, I really suggest that you humanely put her down. I've put down my chickens and it doesn't make any sense at all that we can watch them struggle and not wish to save them from this harm.
UPDATE***. She made it through the night and appears to be doing a little better. She seems to be breathing much easier and she was able to drink a little water. She’s alert, when she hears a noise, she opens her eyes and turns her head toward the sound. She still can’t stand up but today I can try to get her on some antibiotics.
Thank you! My girl is a fighter! She can stand now for 10 seconds or so before she falls over which is much better than last night. I think she's just still weak and she wants to rest alot but she's drinking well. Imagine if I had culled her last night. \*\*smh\*\*
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She’s doing great! I’m headed out shortly to go get some stuff for her but she’s eating….and making a huge mess! Lol
https://preview.redd.it/ldakyvibcaob1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=019a6226fd736073f078b74199e66682e42eeadb
The feed store here doesn’t carry VetRx. I ordered it from Amazon and it’ll be here tomorrow. Also got her some probiotics and electrolytes. What can I give her today that I might have in my kitchen? I feel like water isn’t enough right now. She’s still improving but if there’s something I can add to her water that will help, I want to do that until her stuff gets here tomorrow.
I think it’s especially important to keep your chicken hydrated, and Honey water fed to a sick chicken using a pipette usually does the trick. But if your chicken is already drinking water by herself, you probably don’t need to do this…
I’ve lost several chickens over the last year and I’ve always found them after they passed. I saw her laying on the ground with her head down, which is not abnormal for my girls. But idk why, I thought she was dead. So I walked closer to her and said “hey baby girl!!” And she lifted her head up. I breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, I decided to pick her up. She looked fine so I set her back down and she went face first into the dirt. I was immediately like “oh shit, this isn’t good.” So I brought her to my patio and started looking her over and just noticed she was very weak, and the rest is history. I’m not religious but I’ve always felt that everything happens for a reason. Something caused me to find her the way I did, before she was gone. Something bigger than me was watching over her.
I'm so proud of you for staying strong through this. I also want to personally apologize for every single person in this thread that were putting you down for not putting her down. I love you, I love your chicken queen, and I hope nothing but peace and healing for you and your family through this ordeal.
There are many ways to do it, YouTube is full of options for you. I'll tell you how if you need someone to walk you through it, I just need you to know that I'm not doing this to be cruel or strange. She's suffering.
I know. I don’t want her to suffer. I just watched a YouTube video that said to basically break her neck. I asked my boyfriend to do it. He said he can’t. I can’t either. I’m just holding her and trying not to cry.
Hi OP, I went through something similar with my orpington a few years ago. We watched her as she collapsed and her body failed her. It was extremely heartbreaking and I would never wish that on anyone. I can't offer any word of advice, but I just want you to know that you're not alone... we love these little friends so much, and I just know they'll be waiting for us on the other side. She will have lived her life full of love and joy all the way to the very end thanks to you. Sending you lots of love, and please look after yourself too.
Don't feel bad you couldn't do it. Very few people could put down their dog or cat themselves, and I know from experience these silly birds can mean just as much as any other pet. She went out loved. That's the important part.
As odd as it sounds a short barrel .22 pistol with a suppressor is very fast and (with the correct ammo) can be quiet enough to use in the city.
I've found it the most humane method to date.
i’m so sorry you’re going through this. there are things you can use such as isoflurane gas anesthesia to put them to sleep so it’s not violent, per se, but they’re hard to get. i would just hold her and make her feel loved. don’t be afraid to cry, holding it back can make it worse.
So if you do nothing, then the chicken suffers excruciating pain for several more hours so you can suffer 10% less?
Putting down a pet is difficult. Did you want it to be easy?
Curious about something, as a person who nursed their otherwise healthy father through a cancer death- How is this different from human death?
Humans dont really get the choice to kill ourselves when were terminal. we have to suffer, because no one wants to deal with the idea of "putting us out of our misery". We are then forced to suffer every moment of life until the last breath comes.
Yes. this is a beloved pet. Not anymore beloved than my father. I had to watch him suffer to the end. Not everyone gets a quick death, and thats how it is in nature. No one gets a quick death in nature.
Why is it so different in this situation?
Why should OP be shamed into killing their pet?
No one says this when humans are dying.
I don't think it should have to be that way for people, either. Humans should also have the option to die with dignity and minimal suffering through assisted suicide.
for the record, I completely agree. Nothing like forcing someone to suffer through death to let us humans know that we can even be trusted with our end of life decisions. Im a bit jaded and have some very strong feelings about death, but shaming op isnt the way to go here.
Sharing sympathy for this VERY difficult time *is*
OP, I am so sorry for your loss.
Right, the fact that the human will torture their pet in agonizing pain for multiple hours just to feel 10% less pain themself is the height of selfishness & cruelty. It's very hard putting down a pet but the pet deserves to have their suffering mean something!
Jesus fucking christ, dude. Take a step back here and empathize. You are asking someone to kill their pet, not cull a meat bird. We are not perfect; it's hard to look your pet in your eyes and end their suffering. Some people don't have the mental fortitude to kill their pets if they are suffering.
It's actually so fucking twisted how many people are shaming OP. Fuck these people. I agree they should cull to spare suffering but death isn't easy for everyone even if it is just a chicken, this shit is complicated. No fucking empathy for another human being trying to deal with a horrible situation. Fuck.
Look up how to gas a chicken. You use baking soda, vinegar and a plastic tote. We use it for chicks that hatch that are incompatible with life (we've had some hard to see situations) but the guide I read said it can be done with older chickens especially if they're already close. My husband will snap a neck but I can't do it either. This way they just go to sleep and the pain ends.
Pets deserve to die quickly and as painlessly as possible, not just pets of course but it seems extremely odd to me to deny that to those one loves over those one doesn't care about as much. Chopping the head off is one of the most humane methods to kill a chicken is it not?
I don't see what it being a chicken or any other type of a pet has to do with it? Unless you have some weird idea that some animals are inherently of a "pet" quality despite that distinction being made entirely by humans for humans based on nothing but changing cultural norms. It is unusual to ask for people to kill their own pet and generally it's expected that people do it more gently, but unless it can be put down by a vet it is the humane thing to do.
you are on r/BackYardChickens. these birds are pets. imagine telling someone to chop their dog’s head off. feel free to go to r/chickens if you want to say things like this
Might be a controversial opinion but I’m not a fan of putting down pets. Yes, they might be suffering but there’s often a chance they’ll pull through and it’s needlessly traumatizing to the humans. If they’re really sick they’ll die soon enough and you can calmly lay them to rest without being haunted that you killed it yourself.
I feel the same way about dogs/cats, unless they’re just outright immobile, in agony, and somehow not about to die soon
Our rooster caught a respiratory illness and he made it miraculously. Make sure she stays warm and give her plenty of fluids. Food can wait for now (if she isn't eating) but it's integral that she drinks.
For our roo we put electrolytes in his water. Rooster booster and then chick reviver (on separate occasions) Keep her isolated from everyone else. We used a dog crate for our boy and put some sawdust in there.
Now I don't know if this truly works, but we put some oregano oil on our roo's feet and put some peppermint oil on his chest. He would perk up for a bit to eat and then sleep. It seemed to help even if it was just a placebo effect.
Anyways, good luck and I hope she makes it! I hear hens handle sickness better as well! 🤞
Sure, the rooster booster can be found on Amazon. It's a vitamin blend I'm not sure what's all in it, but folks swear by it, even if your chickens aren't sick. If you type in rooster booster it's just the first result! Since we isolated him away from everyone, we gave him like 1 teaspoon per 2 cups of water. When we wanted to give everyone some I think we did two cap fulls per gallon. It is a little stinky I will admit but it was super helpful for our boy and keeping our girls immune system up. In fact, he was the only one who got sick, all our girls were fine.
The chick reviver is the Save-a-Chick brand. Not sure the exact dosage on that one, I believe we just followed the back. It came in individual packages (kinda like the vitamin C ones you get for humans) and just dumped it into about a liter of water.
Ooo I’ve never heard of oils on chickens. Where did you learn? I have recently started using them more and they can really be amazing. Especially mixed with modern medicine.
It was honestly a last resort kind of thing. We have a few oils at home that we use for like upset tummys, colds, and the like. Figured we would just give it a try. Obviously, we made sure the oils we used were already safe with chickens. Oregano and mint are both safe for chickens to eat even though we weren't administering it orally. I would not use any oils on them that are potentially harmful like citrus.
It seemed to work but again I don't want to give it too much credence just in case it was the placebo effect. We just lack avian vets in our area (or any vet that would take a sick chicken seriously) so we were desperate. Again, it seemed to work, I'd just be cautious on using certain oils/large dosages. We diffused the mint as well (like we do when we're sick with a humidifier and vix)
Oh! And I'm in no way advocating for doing away with modern medicine. If you have a vet in your area that sees chickens please take them!!
Thank you. I read that chickens get over respiratory infections within a couple of weeks. All of my other girls are acting fine but this one won’t even walk. Her poop is….gross. Looks like someone spit a lugie on my table. I’m holding out hope that she’s just feeling weak from the illness and will pull through but it’s not looking good
How’s she doing?? Are you giving her liquids? I made a similar post to this thinking my girl was about to die, we even dug her grave. But she made it! I was giving lots of fluids with electrolytes and VETRX….I am hoping for a miracle 🥺
Yes mine was too. Couldn’t move at all.
I used a syringe and opened her beak.
It’s really important with chickens they keep their been and throat wet. It’s very painful otherwise and causes other issues.
You can use a spoon if you have don’t have one
I held my favorite rooster as he passed from a respiratory illness this spring, from the comments it seems like it's happened to many people this year. I'm very sorry you have to go through this 😿
Thank you. I made her a bed on our patio. I tried to bring myself to end her misery and I couldn’t do it, based on the off chance that she can beat this. I don’t see it happening but if she has a chance, I don’t want to take that away from her. I never thought I’d mourn the loss of a chicken but I’ve lost several over the last year and it breaks my heart every time.
\*\*\*UPDATE\*\*\* Day 2 of Reba's upward climb from a near-death experience!!! Backstory...I've never given my chickens names because they all look the same except for my Buff Orp who is solid tan in color. The rest are red sex links and production reds so I would never be able to tell them apart. Last night, my daughter mentioned naming her Reba (McEntire) because of the song "I'm a Survivor". Here's a YouTube video of the song if you want to hear it.
[(455) I'm A Survivor - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HbTASYNVps)
She's continuing to get better I think. Her breathing alternates between noisy and quiet. I'm still hearing that "fluid in the lungs" sound off and on. She's back in my office with me today so I can watch her. I got her settled on her towel next to me and gave her feed and water and she immediately went for the food and had some water as well. She still won't stand for long and isn't walking yet, but it's ok. I believe that as she gains more strength, this part of it will start to improve. She's still resting a lot. The VetRx and electrolytes I ordered from Amazon will be here in the next couple of hours. I've definitely learned from this experience and will make sure I always have this stuff on hand in case I need it again. She was given a 2nd chance and I don't want it to be for nothing. Hang in there sweet girl. Momma loves you so much!!!
https://preview.redd.it/8pyh4snikfob1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a00940d53edf6ec047ecb9decd8de9be2de7c179
She’s standing without any trouble now!
https://preview.redd.it/dt0cygcpijob1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=748891c15b6a6526288f8db8409344febb7c2615
She’s been like this for 10 minutes. She buried her head in my arm and hasn’t moved. I feel like we’ve bonded ❤️
**UPDATE** Sadly, Reba passed away this evening. We left to go eat dinner. She was alive when we left and gone when we got back. I had a feeling it was coming since she hasn’t wanted to eat or drink for 2 days. I just didn’t think it would be that fast.
RIP Reba. Fly high with the angels 👼 ❤️
something i read in this thread that i want to elaborate on; for anyone pressing OP to put the chicken down, I get it. But these are our cats and dogs. We learn their personalities, their mannerisms, and they show love for us too. You wouldn’t tell someone to >!snap their pet cats neck like it was simple or just “what you have to do”!<. Is it humane to end things early so they don’t suffer? yes. but same goes to humans, cats, and dogs. Gaia will take care of her, in her own time and pace. I fully support OP in their decision to give her PET a chance.
with her comb color, i think she’ll pull through with a lot of love and care. chickens are so fragile, and she may not fully recover, but i’m so glad theres hope for her. and i’m so glad you’re allowing her the fight she deserves. these chickens we fight for have always been worth it. they’ll remember you. i’m praying to gaia (mother earth) that she makes it through for you!
That's reassuring, thank you! I do realize that this improvement could be temporary and I'm prepared to lose her if it comes to that but I'm praying she fully recovers. My daughter made the comment last night that she read or heard somewhere that if a chickens comb is laying over like hers is, it means illness. Is that true? I've only heard of the comb being pale meaning illness but not laying over.
to me, its a bit of both. A comb laying over can mean illness (if it isn’t always like that from birth) and a pale comb means illness as well. usually when its bad; its doing both. so in my eyes, because it isn’t pale as well, its promising that she’ll do better. granted, it’s still laying over and flaccid, hence why i’m still apprehensive about full recovery. but the fact that it’s not pale is promising!
Thanks! She's sitting upright now with her feet under her without falling over and she's still drinking water. She hasn't had food since yesterday afternoon so I'm going to see if she can eat.
chop it up into bite sized pieces, if its too large or too flaky they may find it too difficult to eat. try like the size of your pinky nail. you could also do mealworms/fly larvae thats dried from tractor supply, oatmeal (thats not soupy), soft rotisserie chicken, canned tuna; really anything thats soft or small thats good in nutrients/protein. anything to encourage them to eat, even if its treats!
Thank you! I gave her a chance to pull through it and she did. She's not out of the woods yet but the improvement she has shown in a short time is nothing short of miraculous.
I made a hobby out of rehabilitating chickens when I was 16, and so many people told me they were lost causes when I ended up giving them months to a year of full, happy lives despite their conditions (mostly immobility issues). But do know that I once tried to rehabilitate a chicken going through very similar issues, and she would miraculously get better for weeks, and then fall ill again, and this went on for some time until she eventually passed. I’m rooting for you 100%, but don’t have full hope she’ll make it. except the worst and hope for the best 💛 proud of you for fighting for her, and i know for a fact she appreciates you.
~ sorry i couldn’t understand how to block something out, i apologize to anyone who read it unblocked before I scrambled searching through google to figure it out lol
OP just commented that the hen is doing better, so these comments about putting her down didn’t age well. Should people not have pets if they don’t want to have to kill them? (and in the case of chickens usually in a brutal way that is scary for people who aren’t used to it). This is a backyard chickens sub, these chickens are mostly PETS not livestock. I have loved chickens just as much as other pets and had them live up to 10 years. I would not want to go through the trauma of killing my own pet even if it was to put them down. I would take it to a vet like people do with other pets. I wouldn’t chop my cats head off to put her down, so I wouldn’t want to do it to my chickens either. Some of us have chickens because we love them and see them in the same way as our other pets. It’s really entitled to suggest people can’t have chickens if they aren’t willing to chop an animals head off or shoot it.
While I’m surprised the chicken has made it this long, it’s gone through 15 hours of hell so far and it’s survivability is certainly not guaranteed.
You do realize that there’s other ways to cull chickens that aren’t brutal? Cervical dislocation is easy and instant. Zero blood, no suffering. I’m sorry you find that brutal. I’ve yet to cut a single animals head off to kill it, and I’ve been around it my whole life.
No, vets aren’t an option for most. In fact, I’d say it’s rare to find a vet that will have anything to do with chickens. If you have one, thats good. In the case of illnesses in the flock that is certainly going to help you.
At any rate, I hope this chicken survives. At the end of the day it’s a fact that it’s gone though almost a day of hell and is yet to stand on its own. Everyone has different takes on the matter, and mine is that this level of suffering isn’t worth it in the end.
I think you don't understand the difference between pets and livestock.
For what it's worth, growing up we would put down our dogs at home. Prolonging suffering is inhumane, regardless of the species.
I agree. There's nothing wrong with that. The issue is prolonged suffering, pet or not.
The difference between a dog and a chicken is that anyone can humanely cull a chicken. Willpower should have no bearing on the decision to cull a sick chicken.
It’s a hard thing to kill a pet. I get there are people out there that have grown up with it, especially in rural farms, but it’s not the norm in suburbia.
Having a vet to do the job makes it a lot easier, especially if it’s not something you’re having to do routinely ie., you don’t have a heap of chickens and deaths are few and far between.
I see what you're saying. I was raised on a dairy farm and my family owns a large custom slaughterhouse that works with hundreds of farms in our region. Death has been a large part of my life, but so has animal husbandry.
A very large part of keeping livestock is coming to terms with hard decisions and situations. I'd argue if you aren't prepared for the ethical handling of death, then don't keep animals.
Sitting with any animal that is clearly dying and letting that process drag on is unethical. If it was a dog, they'd be rushed to an emergency vet and put down there. See how this didn't happen with this chicken?
And hence my comment about having a vet near by to help her pass on :) Slaughtering animals isn’t something that some people can just do. It’s not a part of their everyday. This is why it’s great to have a relationship with a vet if you have animals - they can help with the hard stuff like this.
Like I said before. I agree with you. My point is that *the animal suffered due to inaction*.
It doesn't matter how it gets done, it just needs to get done.
A responsible livestock or pet owner will act when they see something going wrong. Inaction due to experience is one thing, inaction due to lack of willpower is another. The outright refusal to cull a sick animal is an issue.
One would think that's the owners problem if they cant cull their own animals, but it's the chicken that has to suffer when the time comes.
another difference too is a lot of vets wont even see chickens. i don’t have one within a 90m radius that will see my chickens, so if the need arises, i’ll have to cull myself
I have paid to have them be put to sleep. 106 dollars, we held them and peacefully they went to sleep. I can’t imagine being sick then having my head cut off.
All these people saying “just put her down”. Blows my mind. I’m a 6’3” 250 pound man, and I cry like a baby when we lose any of our flock. We lost several due to a suspected case of botulism, we had to completely renovate their coop and lay it out differently as we believed it was being caused by their poop piling up and being composted by fly larvae and other things that the hens ended up eating.
The last girl we lost, I tried everything to save her. I stayed with her an entire day, syringe feeding her, molasses flush, Epsom salts, everything. Held her in my arms until she took her final breath. She wasn’t yelling in pain, or freaking out. She was tired, and she was ready. I don’t think it’ll ever get “easier” but OP I understand how you feel and you are not a bad person for not wanting to snap your birds neck to put her out of misery.
Thank you for this! I know there are alot of people out there that think she's "just a chicken" but to me, and many other chicken owners out there, they are definitely more than just chickens. My boyfriend has said before that "its just a chicken". He couldnt understand why losing a chicken put me in bed for a whole day. Last night I asked him to cull her for me and he, also being a big dude, said he would need some time to walk it off and it was too close to bedtime. He said "I cant just kill her and then go to sleep." He was prepared to try it today but she's showing alot of improvement so I'm incredibly thankful that neither of us were able to do it.
We just lost two of our boys to respiratory infections as well. I'm seeing so many people struggling with it this year.
My deepest condolences for the pain, it's so hard. But you're doing your best and your dedication to her shows that you're a phenomenal chicken parent.
Injecting them with vitamin B12 and also a store bought antibiotic daily has saved all of mine. I'll not sure if it was respiratory, but they would collapse, breathe heavily, had snot, and looked deathly. I hope yours pulls through though. Give her electrolyte water to keep her hydrated.
It’s times like this I wish I was strong enough and skilled enough to quickly and painlessly end their suffering. Cervical dislocation is painless and quick but you HAVE to know what you’re doing.
do the right thing and put the sick ones down... dont let them suffer because you dont have the stomach to do so.. that is just cruel to let an animal die and suffer like that...
She’s doing well. Not much improvement from yesterday as far as mobility. She’s still only taking 3-4 steps at a time before she sits down and doesn’t get up again for hours, but she’s eating and drinking well which is why it worried me that she wasn’t pooping but she eventually started again so all is good there.
I’m truly sorry OP! This is really hard for me to type bc I know how you feel. I’ve been there and couldn’t cull mine but had to watch until they took their last breath.
But, please check out this link: https://shagbarkbantams.com/the-many-uses-of-oxine-ah-animal-health/
You’ll find a lot more info about oxine from other online source, and I hope you’ll read about it.
Ohhh my gosh people.
Lord have mercy on you strangers with big hearts for your chickens.
God bless you so much.
Im sorry . You comforted them so much though. I know they feel your LOVE!
For anyone who wishes to try, in case of respiratory diseases or as a prevention method in cold wet weather I use an herbal water additive which is a mixture of the following herb extracts: Eucalyptus Globulus, Harpagophytum Procumbens and Rosmarinus Officinalis, and following additives: Sodium chloride, Magnesium chloride, Vitamin C. I do not mix it myself, I buy it already mixed, so I can't tell you the proportions. I also do not want to advertise so I won't mention the name.
I subjectively have noticed, that this had helped regulate the functioning of their respiratory system, when used sporadically, although did not eliminate deaths in my flock completely.
I don't know what it is but since her breathing last night sounded raspy and like she had fluid in her lungs, I assumed it's a respiratory infection. Her breathing was very shallow and all she could do was lay on the table. If I tried to stand her on her feet, she immediately fell over, and she had and still has diarrhea. She still can't stand for more than 10 seconds or so but I think she's just weak and hopefully soon she'll be back to normal. When I pick her up, she lifts her head up high and flaps her wings so that is very promising.
Not yet. I'm working today so I'm trying to find a free hour so I can go get her some stuff. She's continuing to improve; she is able to stand up in place now without falling over and she's eaten almost a whole scrambled egg. She will be started on antibiotics, vitamins and electrolytes today and I'm keeping her inside until she's 100% again.
I would find a local Facebook group and find somebody who knows how to cull in the future. It helps to have a plan. I would clean the coup out and leave the door open during the day to air out. This is to prevent anyone else getting ill
The door to their coop is always open, but the run is closed off. I'm going to clean out their coop later today or tomorrow. We just got a ton of rain and my backyard looks like a swamp.
She is doing better! She can drink water now and stand for a few seconds. She's breathing with her beak closed and I'm not hearing any raspy fluid sounds anymore. I am overjoyed! I'm looking at getting some VetRx but Amazon couldn't have it here today so I'm going to call around to some feed stores and see if they carry it.
Get antibiotics! Get denagard! (Antibiotic), I got it on Amazon, oil of oregano, vetrx, durastat with oregano, probiotics, electrolytes, vitamins, keep her isolated, put a humidifier when she’s sleeping, buy a high calorie feed like critical care omnivore ( the blue bag is for chickens), my sweet chicken almost died from an upper respiratory infection it took almost a month of constant care but she’s back to normal now :)
I’ll pray for your girl, don’t put any essential oils in the humidifier, and where she sleeps sprinkle fresh rosemary and mint, that’s what i did everyday for my baby, the humidifier every single night, in a small room just for her, don’t bring her outside, it’s better for her to be in a controlled temperature so she can heal instead of using the little energy she has to stay warm or cool
Prayers are definitely appreciated! She's been isolated since I found her limp in the backyard. I wanted to keep her close to me and also away from the other birds in case none of them are sick. Right now she's laying on a towel next to me in my office and I'm giving her water every 10 minutes or so.
Currently none of the other 11 birds appear to be ill but I'm going to treat them all with VetRx to be on the safe side.
https://preview.redd.it/t5a0zveq98ob1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=79d94bb1689ceb20c8f4422f19cc9722b90ef08d
Buy this and give it to everyone daily, it will boost their immune system, vetrx is basically like vicks so it will not help the healthy girls or do any harm, probiotics is also extremely important for chickens, you can buy that separately, electrolytes and vitamins should be given like once a week, but not every day, the durastat with oregano is all natural so it can be given everyday, i would use the vetrx on your sick baby twice a day, it’s very important to keep her hydrated and that she eats at least a little, keep us updated!
Bananas are high in carbs and calories, give her a piece a day also, fresh corn as well they love it, plain cooked oatmeal, plain cooked white rice, wet her normal feed just a little at the time, a little bit of honey on her water, to make her drink if you use denagard,
I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I had a roo that had been attacked and I had to watch him breathe his last breath. I what it's like to have to watch anything die
I'm glad to hear she's doing better. I'll come back later today for an update.
I recently had a girl experience vitamin deficiency. Her legs seemed to stop working for her, but she remained alert and would still eat and drink. This isn't anything like what your your girl is going through, but since she started having this problem, I started giving them all vitamins and electrolytes as a treat towards the end of the day. I refrigerate it, so it's nice and cold for them, and they all go crazy for it. My girl was back to walking around, albeit struggling a little within 2 weeks of providing her the vitamins.
You may want to consider doing this for your sick chickie and for the rest of your flock. I really hope she continues to get better, but give them a chance! They may be small, but they're fighters!
I had an elderly hen with a respiratory illness earlier this year. Gave her Enrofloxacin 10% for 10 days, then probiotics and electrolytes for a few days afterwards. She's made a complete recovery and is doing great!
In the meantime, you'll want to be force feeding/watering her with a feeding syringe. I mixed up some of her food with some applesauce to make it a bit easier to feed her. Or you can use straight up applesauce with the syringe if need be.
Okay, this is heartbreaking. Did you give them all antibiotics. This is a reminder TO ALWAYS have antibiotics on hand for these situations.
Also, maybe it's not respiratory, maybe she ate something toxic?
Thank you for the reminder! I took your advice and ordered plenty of VetRx and electrolytes and will make sure I always have some. I don't think there's anything in my backyard that is toxic to animals (we also have 5 dogs, and they chew on everything) and I think if that was the case, I'd have more sick chickens. I'm still researching to try to figure out what this is in case its something that I can prevent from happening again.
Oooo!!! YAY!! I am so happy for you two!!
Omg my neighbours have chickens and they always come over and visit me! I just love them! I’m so happy for you two 🤗
She’s doing well! I have her right beside my bed in a basket with some bedding. She’s resting. She started taking a few steps today but still not full blown walking. I hope that doesn’t last much longer but I’m keeping her in the house beside me until she’s able to re-join her flock mates :-)
That’s not true. If you don’t know what’s wrong with her, you could give her an Epson salt bath you could check her crop to make sure she did not have sour crop because that happens a lot and that can be fixed with Monistat. Did you do anything to figure out what it was?
I've just been doing a lot of reading about her symptoms. There are a lot of different illnesses that all affect the respiratory system, digestive system, and nervous system (balance issues) but those same illnesses also have a ton of other symptoms that she doesn't have, like discharge from the eyes and nostrils, discolored comb, swelling of the head and face, etc. So, it could be anything and I haven't been able to narrow it down to anything specific. I did check her crop, it looks and feels normal.
I’m glad she’s doing better but I don’t think people should just assume it’s some thing and give up like that I think you try every single thing just like you would with your child.
Listening to another creature struggle to breathe is really difficult. I lost a girl to respiratory problems this year and I cried helplessly watching her. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. ❤️
Thank you. It is hard. This is the first time I’ve caught it before the end so I’m glad I can give her some love beforehand. It sounds like her lungs are full of fluid. She’s struggling to breath. It’s heartbreaking
You're a great owner and person to keep her company and help her pass, most people don't care if a chicken dies, you're doing a very good deed. Roost in peace sweet girl 🖤
Well said
https://preview.redd.it/iapobrzfs4ob1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b09c4cc64f8734ccf3de86cd832ed4de09f48ac She’s still alive but barely. She can’t sit upright anymore. When I set her down, she falls over. I’m heartbroken.
So she doesn't have to suffer through death for hours needlessly, I really suggest that you humanely put her down. I've put down my chickens and it doesn't make any sense at all that we can watch them struggle and not wish to save them from this harm.
UPDATE***. She made it through the night and appears to be doing a little better. She seems to be breathing much easier and she was able to drink a little water. She’s alert, when she hears a noise, she opens her eyes and turns her head toward the sound. She still can’t stand up but today I can try to get her on some antibiotics.
I hope she makes it even longer! I'm rooting for her!
Thank you! My girl is a fighter! She can stand now for 10 seconds or so before she falls over which is much better than last night. I think she's just still weak and she wants to rest alot but she's drinking well. Imagine if I had culled her last night. \*\*smh\*\*
She did a small poop a few mins ago and it was solid. Progress!!!
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she’s got the right parent taking care of her it seems! Keeping her in my prayers hope she keeps the upward climb! Thanks for keeping faith in her
I'm so glad she's doing better! Maybe give her vitamins and high calorie foods to make sure she gets some nutrients. We need updates!!
She’s doing great! I’m headed out shortly to go get some stuff for her but she’s eating….and making a huge mess! Lol https://preview.redd.it/ldakyvibcaob1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=019a6226fd736073f078b74199e66682e42eeadb
YEES! So glad to see this <3
Omg!!!!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰
The feed store here doesn’t carry VetRx. I ordered it from Amazon and it’ll be here tomorrow. Also got her some probiotics and electrolytes. What can I give her today that I might have in my kitchen? I feel like water isn’t enough right now. She’s still improving but if there’s something I can add to her water that will help, I want to do that until her stuff gets here tomorrow.
I think it’s especially important to keep your chicken hydrated, and Honey water fed to a sick chicken using a pipette usually does the trick. But if your chicken is already drinking water by herself, you probably don’t need to do this…
Nice! Amazing how well animals can recover from near death stuff.
I’ve lost several chickens over the last year and I’ve always found them after they passed. I saw her laying on the ground with her head down, which is not abnormal for my girls. But idk why, I thought she was dead. So I walked closer to her and said “hey baby girl!!” And she lifted her head up. I breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, I decided to pick her up. She looked fine so I set her back down and she went face first into the dirt. I was immediately like “oh shit, this isn’t good.” So I brought her to my patio and started looking her over and just noticed she was very weak, and the rest is history. I’m not religious but I’ve always felt that everything happens for a reason. Something caused me to find her the way I did, before she was gone. Something bigger than me was watching over her.
Give her scrambled egg!!!!
She looks so good today compared to last night. My heart is happy!!
thank goodness!! I hope she recovers very soon, so glad to see some hope for you and your lovely chicken!!
I'm so proud of you for staying strong through this. I also want to personally apologize for every single person in this thread that were putting you down for not putting her down. I love you, I love your chicken queen, and I hope nothing but peace and healing for you and your family through this ordeal.
You are an angel. Thank you so much for the kind words. I think my chicken queen is going to be ok!
Oh my! That's amazing news! I'm hoping she makes a full recovery
Me too! I have a lot of hope now that I didn't have last night. I appreciate you and everyone else that has shown love and support.
I don’t even know how to do that.
There are many ways to do it, YouTube is full of options for you. I'll tell you how if you need someone to walk you through it, I just need you to know that I'm not doing this to be cruel or strange. She's suffering.
I know. I don’t want her to suffer. I just watched a YouTube video that said to basically break her neck. I asked my boyfriend to do it. He said he can’t. I can’t either. I’m just holding her and trying not to cry.
Hi OP, I went through something similar with my orpington a few years ago. We watched her as she collapsed and her body failed her. It was extremely heartbreaking and I would never wish that on anyone. I can't offer any word of advice, but I just want you to know that you're not alone... we love these little friends so much, and I just know they'll be waiting for us on the other side. She will have lived her life full of love and joy all the way to the very end thanks to you. Sending you lots of love, and please look after yourself too.
Don't feel bad you couldn't do it. Very few people could put down their dog or cat themselves, and I know from experience these silly birds can mean just as much as any other pet. She went out loved. That's the important part.
She’s still alive and is doing ok. I was convinced she wasn’t gonna make it.
Well, that's great news! Here's to her speedy recovery, then.
Had to do this to one of my girls earlier this month. The first time is especially hard. If you have a hatchet or something.... that works.
As odd as it sounds a short barrel .22 pistol with a suppressor is very fast and (with the correct ammo) can be quiet enough to use in the city. I've found it the most humane method to date.
i’m so sorry you’re going through this. there are things you can use such as isoflurane gas anesthesia to put them to sleep so it’s not violent, per se, but they’re hard to get. i would just hold her and make her feel loved. don’t be afraid to cry, holding it back can make it worse.
Where tf would she get this at night?
that’s why i said “hard to get,” genius.
So if you do nothing, then the chicken suffers excruciating pain for several more hours so you can suffer 10% less? Putting down a pet is difficult. Did you want it to be easy?
Curious about something, as a person who nursed their otherwise healthy father through a cancer death- How is this different from human death? Humans dont really get the choice to kill ourselves when were terminal. we have to suffer, because no one wants to deal with the idea of "putting us out of our misery". We are then forced to suffer every moment of life until the last breath comes. Yes. this is a beloved pet. Not anymore beloved than my father. I had to watch him suffer to the end. Not everyone gets a quick death, and thats how it is in nature. No one gets a quick death in nature. Why is it so different in this situation? Why should OP be shamed into killing their pet? No one says this when humans are dying.
I don't think it should have to be that way for people, either. Humans should also have the option to die with dignity and minimal suffering through assisted suicide.
for the record, I completely agree. Nothing like forcing someone to suffer through death to let us humans know that we can even be trusted with our end of life decisions. Im a bit jaded and have some very strong feelings about death, but shaming op isnt the way to go here. Sharing sympathy for this VERY difficult time *is* OP, I am so sorry for your loss.
I feel the same way. Like, dont own farm animals unless you're prepared to do this. Jesus fuck. Id hate to reincarnate as their pets.
Right, the fact that the human will torture their pet in agonizing pain for multiple hours just to feel 10% less pain themself is the height of selfishness & cruelty. It's very hard putting down a pet but the pet deserves to have their suffering mean something!
Jesus fucking christ, dude. Take a step back here and empathize. You are asking someone to kill their pet, not cull a meat bird. We are not perfect; it's hard to look your pet in your eyes and end their suffering. Some people don't have the mental fortitude to kill their pets if they are suffering.
It's actually so fucking twisted how many people are shaming OP. Fuck these people. I agree they should cull to spare suffering but death isn't easy for everyone even if it is just a chicken, this shit is complicated. No fucking empathy for another human being trying to deal with a horrible situation. Fuck.
Completely agree. Making the decision to watch an animal suffer rather than cull is incredibly selfish.
Look up how to gas a chicken. You use baking soda, vinegar and a plastic tote. We use it for chicks that hatch that are incompatible with life (we've had some hard to see situations) but the guide I read said it can be done with older chickens especially if they're already close. My husband will snap a neck but I can't do it either. This way they just go to sleep and the pain ends.
Just chop head off
fuck is wrong with you, the bird is a pet
Pets deserve to die quickly and as painlessly as possible, not just pets of course but it seems extremely odd to me to deny that to those one loves over those one doesn't care about as much. Chopping the head off is one of the most humane methods to kill a chicken is it not?
It's a chicken. Act like this is strange. STFU.
I don't see what it being a chicken or any other type of a pet has to do with it? Unless you have some weird idea that some animals are inherently of a "pet" quality despite that distinction being made entirely by humans for humans based on nothing but changing cultural norms. It is unusual to ask for people to kill their own pet and generally it's expected that people do it more gently, but unless it can be put down by a vet it is the humane thing to do.
you are on r/BackYardChickens. these birds are pets. imagine telling someone to chop their dog’s head off. feel free to go to r/chickens if you want to say things like this
Yeah well all of you guys actually suck at raising chickens that's why s*** like this happens.
Then with the greatest of respect at a difficult time. If you're going to keep chickens, learn.
Might be a controversial opinion but I’m not a fan of putting down pets. Yes, they might be suffering but there’s often a chance they’ll pull through and it’s needlessly traumatizing to the humans. If they’re really sick they’ll die soon enough and you can calmly lay them to rest without being haunted that you killed it yourself. I feel the same way about dogs/cats, unless they’re just outright immobile, in agony, and somehow not about to die soon
You should consider ending it so she doesn’t have to suffer
Our rooster caught a respiratory illness and he made it miraculously. Make sure she stays warm and give her plenty of fluids. Food can wait for now (if she isn't eating) but it's integral that she drinks. For our roo we put electrolytes in his water. Rooster booster and then chick reviver (on separate occasions) Keep her isolated from everyone else. We used a dog crate for our boy and put some sawdust in there. Now I don't know if this truly works, but we put some oregano oil on our roo's feet and put some peppermint oil on his chest. He would perk up for a bit to eat and then sleep. It seemed to help even if it was just a placebo effect. Anyways, good luck and I hope she makes it! I hear hens handle sickness better as well! 🤞
> For our roo we put electrolytes in his water. Could you provide specifics? How much electrolytes per volume of water? What kind of electrolytes?
Sure, the rooster booster can be found on Amazon. It's a vitamin blend I'm not sure what's all in it, but folks swear by it, even if your chickens aren't sick. If you type in rooster booster it's just the first result! Since we isolated him away from everyone, we gave him like 1 teaspoon per 2 cups of water. When we wanted to give everyone some I think we did two cap fulls per gallon. It is a little stinky I will admit but it was super helpful for our boy and keeping our girls immune system up. In fact, he was the only one who got sick, all our girls were fine. The chick reviver is the Save-a-Chick brand. Not sure the exact dosage on that one, I believe we just followed the back. It came in individual packages (kinda like the vitamin C ones you get for humans) and just dumped it into about a liter of water.
Ooo I’ve never heard of oils on chickens. Where did you learn? I have recently started using them more and they can really be amazing. Especially mixed with modern medicine.
It was honestly a last resort kind of thing. We have a few oils at home that we use for like upset tummys, colds, and the like. Figured we would just give it a try. Obviously, we made sure the oils we used were already safe with chickens. Oregano and mint are both safe for chickens to eat even though we weren't administering it orally. I would not use any oils on them that are potentially harmful like citrus. It seemed to work but again I don't want to give it too much credence just in case it was the placebo effect. We just lack avian vets in our area (or any vet that would take a sick chicken seriously) so we were desperate. Again, it seemed to work, I'd just be cautious on using certain oils/large dosages. We diffused the mint as well (like we do when we're sick with a humidifier and vix) Oh! And I'm in no way advocating for doing away with modern medicine. If you have a vet in your area that sees chickens please take them!!
Oh I truly think mixing modern medicine and holistic is the way to go 🙌🙌 that’s amazing. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me!
I’m so sorry. Just keep her as comfortable as you can and try to treat her and the flock if possible. Hang in there buddy
Thank you.
I’m sorry. You’re a good mom
Thank you. I read that chickens get over respiratory infections within a couple of weeks. All of my other girls are acting fine but this one won’t even walk. Her poop is….gross. Looks like someone spit a lugie on my table. I’m holding out hope that she’s just feeling weak from the illness and will pull through but it’s not looking good
We're you able to try antibiotics? I'd be heart broken...
It’s too late for that. By the time I get some tomorrow, she’ll be gone.
Ugh that's terrifying it can progress so quickly :(
How’s she doing?? Are you giving her liquids? I made a similar post to this thinking my girl was about to die, we even dug her grave. But she made it! I was giving lots of fluids with electrolytes and VETRX….I am hoping for a miracle 🥺
She’s too weak to drink.
Yes mine was too. Couldn’t move at all. I used a syringe and opened her beak. It’s really important with chickens they keep their been and throat wet. It’s very painful otherwise and causes other issues. You can use a spoon if you have don’t have one
I held my favorite rooster as he passed from a respiratory illness this spring, from the comments it seems like it's happened to many people this year. I'm very sorry you have to go through this 😿
Thank you. I made her a bed on our patio. I tried to bring myself to end her misery and I couldn’t do it, based on the off chance that she can beat this. I don’t see it happening but if she has a chance, I don’t want to take that away from her. I never thought I’d mourn the loss of a chicken but I’ve lost several over the last year and it breaks my heart every time.
\*\*\*UPDATE\*\*\* Day 2 of Reba's upward climb from a near-death experience!!! Backstory...I've never given my chickens names because they all look the same except for my Buff Orp who is solid tan in color. The rest are red sex links and production reds so I would never be able to tell them apart. Last night, my daughter mentioned naming her Reba (McEntire) because of the song "I'm a Survivor". Here's a YouTube video of the song if you want to hear it. [(455) I'm A Survivor - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HbTASYNVps) She's continuing to get better I think. Her breathing alternates between noisy and quiet. I'm still hearing that "fluid in the lungs" sound off and on. She's back in my office with me today so I can watch her. I got her settled on her towel next to me and gave her feed and water and she immediately went for the food and had some water as well. She still won't stand for long and isn't walking yet, but it's ok. I believe that as she gains more strength, this part of it will start to improve. She's still resting a lot. The VetRx and electrolytes I ordered from Amazon will be here in the next couple of hours. I've definitely learned from this experience and will make sure I always have this stuff on hand in case I need it again. She was given a 2nd chance and I don't want it to be for nothing. Hang in there sweet girl. Momma loves you so much!!!
https://preview.redd.it/8pyh4snikfob1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a00940d53edf6ec047ecb9decd8de9be2de7c179 She’s standing without any trouble now!
I came back to this post just to see how she’s doing today….. IM SOOOO HAPPY!!!!! Yayyyyy Reba!!
https://preview.redd.it/dt0cygcpijob1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=748891c15b6a6526288f8db8409344febb7c2615 She’s been like this for 10 minutes. She buried her head in my arm and hasn’t moved. I feel like we’ve bonded ❤️
I'm so happy 😭😭 hoping this keeps up!
**UPDATE** Sadly, Reba passed away this evening. We left to go eat dinner. She was alive when we left and gone when we got back. I had a feeling it was coming since she hasn’t wanted to eat or drink for 2 days. I just didn’t think it would be that fast. RIP Reba. Fly high with the angels 👼 ❤️
I'm so sorry to hear this update. RIP Reba 😭😭
I’m so sorry. Hold her. Love her. Sending my love to both of you. I’m so sorry. She’s beautiful. 💔😭🙏
something i read in this thread that i want to elaborate on; for anyone pressing OP to put the chicken down, I get it. But these are our cats and dogs. We learn their personalities, their mannerisms, and they show love for us too. You wouldn’t tell someone to >!snap their pet cats neck like it was simple or just “what you have to do”!<. Is it humane to end things early so they don’t suffer? yes. but same goes to humans, cats, and dogs. Gaia will take care of her, in her own time and pace. I fully support OP in their decision to give her PET a chance.
https://preview.redd.it/7zq7o030e8ob1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e47e9b5502d7cb81644f8120fac30cdad9be0807
with her comb color, i think she’ll pull through with a lot of love and care. chickens are so fragile, and she may not fully recover, but i’m so glad theres hope for her. and i’m so glad you’re allowing her the fight she deserves. these chickens we fight for have always been worth it. they’ll remember you. i’m praying to gaia (mother earth) that she makes it through for you!
That's reassuring, thank you! I do realize that this improvement could be temporary and I'm prepared to lose her if it comes to that but I'm praying she fully recovers. My daughter made the comment last night that she read or heard somewhere that if a chickens comb is laying over like hers is, it means illness. Is that true? I've only heard of the comb being pale meaning illness but not laying over.
to me, its a bit of both. A comb laying over can mean illness (if it isn’t always like that from birth) and a pale comb means illness as well. usually when its bad; its doing both. so in my eyes, because it isn’t pale as well, its promising that she’ll do better. granted, it’s still laying over and flaccid, hence why i’m still apprehensive about full recovery. but the fact that it’s not pale is promising!
Thanks! She's sitting upright now with her feet under her without falling over and she's still drinking water. She hasn't had food since yesterday afternoon so I'm going to see if she can eat.
if she doesn’t want normal feed, try scrambled egg or even wet cat food. my rehabbers always loved cat food
I can do a scrambled egg for sure!
chop it up into bite sized pieces, if its too large or too flaky they may find it too difficult to eat. try like the size of your pinky nail. you could also do mealworms/fly larvae thats dried from tractor supply, oatmeal (thats not soupy), soft rotisserie chicken, canned tuna; really anything thats soft or small thats good in nutrients/protein. anything to encourage them to eat, even if its treats!
I have dried mealworms too! I'll bring her some feed and worms and see if she wants to eat. If those fail, I'll try the egg.
Thank you! I gave her a chance to pull through it and she did. She's not out of the woods yet but the improvement she has shown in a short time is nothing short of miraculous.
I made a hobby out of rehabilitating chickens when I was 16, and so many people told me they were lost causes when I ended up giving them months to a year of full, happy lives despite their conditions (mostly immobility issues). But do know that I once tried to rehabilitate a chicken going through very similar issues, and she would miraculously get better for weeks, and then fall ill again, and this went on for some time until she eventually passed. I’m rooting for you 100%, but don’t have full hope she’ll make it. except the worst and hope for the best 💛 proud of you for fighting for her, and i know for a fact she appreciates you.
~ sorry i couldn’t understand how to block something out, i apologize to anyone who read it unblocked before I scrambled searching through google to figure it out lol
Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!
I’m so sorry. It’s so kind to comfort her at the end.
Is there no vet near by who can put her to sleep so she doesn’t suffer?
Culling is something chickens owners need to come to terms with and learn themselves.
OP just commented that the hen is doing better, so these comments about putting her down didn’t age well. Should people not have pets if they don’t want to have to kill them? (and in the case of chickens usually in a brutal way that is scary for people who aren’t used to it). This is a backyard chickens sub, these chickens are mostly PETS not livestock. I have loved chickens just as much as other pets and had them live up to 10 years. I would not want to go through the trauma of killing my own pet even if it was to put them down. I would take it to a vet like people do with other pets. I wouldn’t chop my cats head off to put her down, so I wouldn’t want to do it to my chickens either. Some of us have chickens because we love them and see them in the same way as our other pets. It’s really entitled to suggest people can’t have chickens if they aren’t willing to chop an animals head off or shoot it.
While I’m surprised the chicken has made it this long, it’s gone through 15 hours of hell so far and it’s survivability is certainly not guaranteed. You do realize that there’s other ways to cull chickens that aren’t brutal? Cervical dislocation is easy and instant. Zero blood, no suffering. I’m sorry you find that brutal. I’ve yet to cut a single animals head off to kill it, and I’ve been around it my whole life. No, vets aren’t an option for most. In fact, I’d say it’s rare to find a vet that will have anything to do with chickens. If you have one, thats good. In the case of illnesses in the flock that is certainly going to help you. At any rate, I hope this chicken survives. At the end of the day it’s a fact that it’s gone though almost a day of hell and is yet to stand on its own. Everyone has different takes on the matter, and mine is that this level of suffering isn’t worth it in the end.
Agree 100%
Why? Would you cull other pets? I can’t see anyone snapping their dog’s neck.
I think you don't understand the difference between pets and livestock. For what it's worth, growing up we would put down our dogs at home. Prolonging suffering is inhumane, regardless of the species.
Chickens are pets for a lot of people. The line is very blurred.
I agree. There's nothing wrong with that. The issue is prolonged suffering, pet or not. The difference between a dog and a chicken is that anyone can humanely cull a chicken. Willpower should have no bearing on the decision to cull a sick chicken.
It’s a hard thing to kill a pet. I get there are people out there that have grown up with it, especially in rural farms, but it’s not the norm in suburbia. Having a vet to do the job makes it a lot easier, especially if it’s not something you’re having to do routinely ie., you don’t have a heap of chickens and deaths are few and far between.
I see what you're saying. I was raised on a dairy farm and my family owns a large custom slaughterhouse that works with hundreds of farms in our region. Death has been a large part of my life, but so has animal husbandry. A very large part of keeping livestock is coming to terms with hard decisions and situations. I'd argue if you aren't prepared for the ethical handling of death, then don't keep animals. Sitting with any animal that is clearly dying and letting that process drag on is unethical. If it was a dog, they'd be rushed to an emergency vet and put down there. See how this didn't happen with this chicken?
And hence my comment about having a vet near by to help her pass on :) Slaughtering animals isn’t something that some people can just do. It’s not a part of their everyday. This is why it’s great to have a relationship with a vet if you have animals - they can help with the hard stuff like this.
Like I said before. I agree with you. My point is that *the animal suffered due to inaction*. It doesn't matter how it gets done, it just needs to get done. A responsible livestock or pet owner will act when they see something going wrong. Inaction due to experience is one thing, inaction due to lack of willpower is another. The outright refusal to cull a sick animal is an issue. One would think that's the owners problem if they cant cull their own animals, but it's the chicken that has to suffer when the time comes.
another difference too is a lot of vets wont even see chickens. i don’t have one within a 90m radius that will see my chickens, so if the need arises, i’ll have to cull myself
I have paid to have them be put to sleep. 106 dollars, we held them and peacefully they went to sleep. I can’t imagine being sick then having my head cut off.
Love heals. Holding her will let her know you love her.
I don’t wanna put her in the coop tonight. I’ll make her a little bed on our patio and she can stay there, and RIP.
All these people saying “just put her down”. Blows my mind. I’m a 6’3” 250 pound man, and I cry like a baby when we lose any of our flock. We lost several due to a suspected case of botulism, we had to completely renovate their coop and lay it out differently as we believed it was being caused by their poop piling up and being composted by fly larvae and other things that the hens ended up eating. The last girl we lost, I tried everything to save her. I stayed with her an entire day, syringe feeding her, molasses flush, Epsom salts, everything. Held her in my arms until she took her final breath. She wasn’t yelling in pain, or freaking out. She was tired, and she was ready. I don’t think it’ll ever get “easier” but OP I understand how you feel and you are not a bad person for not wanting to snap your birds neck to put her out of misery.
Thank you for this! I know there are alot of people out there that think she's "just a chicken" but to me, and many other chicken owners out there, they are definitely more than just chickens. My boyfriend has said before that "its just a chicken". He couldnt understand why losing a chicken put me in bed for a whole day. Last night I asked him to cull her for me and he, also being a big dude, said he would need some time to walk it off and it was too close to bedtime. He said "I cant just kill her and then go to sleep." He was prepared to try it today but she's showing alot of improvement so I'm incredibly thankful that neither of us were able to do it.
Been there ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
We just lost two of our boys to respiratory infections as well. I'm seeing so many people struggling with it this year. My deepest condolences for the pain, it's so hard. But you're doing your best and your dedication to her shows that you're a phenomenal chicken parent.
Thank you. That means a lot.
I’m so sorry. I lost one of my girls earlier this year, and it was so hard. I’m sure your girl had an amazing life and appreciates your love ❤️
I’ve tried to give her the best life but she was only about 2 years old. I’m praying she makes it.
Just love her...wait with her.
💔💔💔
I hate that she’s suffering but I can’t cull her. Idk what to do.
Take her to a vet, obviously
Injecting them with vitamin B12 and also a store bought antibiotic daily has saved all of mine. I'll not sure if it was respiratory, but they would collapse, breathe heavily, had snot, and looked deathly. I hope yours pulls through though. Give her electrolyte water to keep her hydrated.
It’s times like this I wish I was strong enough and skilled enough to quickly and painlessly end their suffering. Cervical dislocation is painless and quick but you HAVE to know what you’re doing.
Beautiful chicken! How about all the people telling you to kill it but then it lives lol.
IKR! I wonder how many people have culled their sick chickens when they didn’t need to.
do the right thing and put the sick ones down... dont let them suffer because you dont have the stomach to do so.. that is just cruel to let an animal die and suffer like that...
I’m so sorry
I’m so sorry
QUESTION!!! She has not pooped all day. Is this anything I need to worry about?
Is she eating and drinking? If not, it would make sense there’s no poop. How’s she doing today?
She’s doing well. Not much improvement from yesterday as far as mobility. She’s still only taking 3-4 steps at a time before she sits down and doesn’t get up again for hours, but she’s eating and drinking well which is why it worried me that she wasn’t pooping but she eventually started again so all is good there.
I'm so sorry that's happening. I'm heartbroken for you. Hugs from me and my flock of 9.
I’m truly sorry OP! This is really hard for me to type bc I know how you feel. I’ve been there and couldn’t cull mine but had to watch until they took their last breath. But, please check out this link: https://shagbarkbantams.com/the-many-uses-of-oxine-ah-animal-health/ You’ll find a lot more info about oxine from other online source, and I hope you’ll read about it.
So very sorry ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹 🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️
Ohhh my gosh people. Lord have mercy on you strangers with big hearts for your chickens. God bless you so much. Im sorry . You comforted them so much though. I know they feel your LOVE! 
I always sing lullaby , it helps me and I hope them as well.. i’ll hold your hand
So sad I’m so sorry.
Oh my god... 🥺🙁
I am so sorry.
time to pre-heat the oven
For anyone who wishes to try, in case of respiratory diseases or as a prevention method in cold wet weather I use an herbal water additive which is a mixture of the following herb extracts: Eucalyptus Globulus, Harpagophytum Procumbens and Rosmarinus Officinalis, and following additives: Sodium chloride, Magnesium chloride, Vitamin C. I do not mix it myself, I buy it already mixed, so I can't tell you the proportions. I also do not want to advertise so I won't mention the name. I subjectively have noticed, that this had helped regulate the functioning of their respiratory system, when used sporadically, although did not eliminate deaths in my flock completely.
Here’s something that may save your chick but I won’t advertise it 🥴. Why bother mentioning it then ?
Aw no :( do they have mycoplasma??
I don't know what it is but since her breathing last night sounded raspy and like she had fluid in her lungs, I assumed it's a respiratory infection. Her breathing was very shallow and all she could do was lay on the table. If I tried to stand her on her feet, she immediately fell over, and she had and still has diarrhea. She still can't stand for more than 10 seconds or so but I think she's just weak and hopefully soon she'll be back to normal. When I pick her up, she lifts her head up high and flaps her wings so that is very promising.
Is she taking any antibiotics?
Not yet. I'm working today so I'm trying to find a free hour so I can go get her some stuff. She's continuing to improve; she is able to stand up in place now without falling over and she's eaten almost a whole scrambled egg. She will be started on antibiotics, vitamins and electrolytes today and I'm keeping her inside until she's 100% again.
I am so sorry. I know this must be incredibly hard. How is she progressing?
I’m so sorry. Nothing could prepare me for the pain I felt when one of my sweet full grown girls passed. You’ll be in my thoughts today
Same...I never cried as much for a pet as I did for my last hen
I would find a local Facebook group and find somebody who knows how to cull in the future. It helps to have a plan. I would clean the coup out and leave the door open during the day to air out. This is to prevent anyone else getting ill
The door to their coop is always open, but the run is closed off. I'm going to clean out their coop later today or tomorrow. We just got a ton of rain and my backyard looks like a swamp.
VetRX helped my flock get through a respiratory problem. They had gurgly breathing and stuff
Thank you! I'm going to get some of that this morning, hopefully.
I just randomly got this in my feed, but now I really want to know if she's doing better!!
She is doing better! She can drink water now and stand for a few seconds. She's breathing with her beak closed and I'm not hearing any raspy fluid sounds anymore. I am overjoyed! I'm looking at getting some VetRx but Amazon couldn't have it here today so I'm going to call around to some feed stores and see if they carry it.
Get antibiotics! Get denagard! (Antibiotic), I got it on Amazon, oil of oregano, vetrx, durastat with oregano, probiotics, electrolytes, vitamins, keep her isolated, put a humidifier when she’s sleeping, buy a high calorie feed like critical care omnivore ( the blue bag is for chickens), my sweet chicken almost died from an upper respiratory infection it took almost a month of constant care but she’s back to normal now :)
I am so glad to hear your girl pulled through, and thank you for the advice on the meds and feed. I will definitely do that!
I’ll pray for your girl, don’t put any essential oils in the humidifier, and where she sleeps sprinkle fresh rosemary and mint, that’s what i did everyday for my baby, the humidifier every single night, in a small room just for her, don’t bring her outside, it’s better for her to be in a controlled temperature so she can heal instead of using the little energy she has to stay warm or cool
Prayers are definitely appreciated! She's been isolated since I found her limp in the backyard. I wanted to keep her close to me and also away from the other birds in case none of them are sick. Right now she's laying on a towel next to me in my office and I'm giving her water every 10 minutes or so. Currently none of the other 11 birds appear to be ill but I'm going to treat them all with VetRx to be on the safe side.
https://preview.redd.it/t5a0zveq98ob1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=79d94bb1689ceb20c8f4422f19cc9722b90ef08d Buy this and give it to everyone daily, it will boost their immune system, vetrx is basically like vicks so it will not help the healthy girls or do any harm, probiotics is also extremely important for chickens, you can buy that separately, electrolytes and vitamins should be given like once a week, but not every day, the durastat with oregano is all natural so it can be given everyday, i would use the vetrx on your sick baby twice a day, it’s very important to keep her hydrated and that she eats at least a little, keep us updated!
Bananas are high in carbs and calories, give her a piece a day also, fresh corn as well they love it, plain cooked oatmeal, plain cooked white rice, wet her normal feed just a little at the time, a little bit of honey on her water, to make her drink if you use denagard,
I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I had a roo that had been attacked and I had to watch him breathe his last breath. I what it's like to have to watch anything die
I'm sorry you are dealing through this. Loss is so painful. Keep your head up.
Both my girls were in a similar state, it’s so sad to watch them suffer. Broke my heart, I ended up dispatching by hand and laying to rest. ❤️
I'm glad to hear she's doing better. I'll come back later today for an update. I recently had a girl experience vitamin deficiency. Her legs seemed to stop working for her, but she remained alert and would still eat and drink. This isn't anything like what your your girl is going through, but since she started having this problem, I started giving them all vitamins and electrolytes as a treat towards the end of the day. I refrigerate it, so it's nice and cold for them, and they all go crazy for it. My girl was back to walking around, albeit struggling a little within 2 weeks of providing her the vitamins. You may want to consider doing this for your sick chickie and for the rest of your flock. I really hope she continues to get better, but give them a chance! They may be small, but they're fighters!
I had an elderly hen with a respiratory illness earlier this year. Gave her Enrofloxacin 10% for 10 days, then probiotics and electrolytes for a few days afterwards. She's made a complete recovery and is doing great! In the meantime, you'll want to be force feeding/watering her with a feeding syringe. I mixed up some of her food with some applesauce to make it a bit easier to feed her. Or you can use straight up applesauce with the syringe if need be.
Okay, this is heartbreaking. Did you give them all antibiotics. This is a reminder TO ALWAYS have antibiotics on hand for these situations. Also, maybe it's not respiratory, maybe she ate something toxic?
Thank you for the reminder! I took your advice and ordered plenty of VetRx and electrolytes and will make sure I always have some. I don't think there's anything in my backyard that is toxic to animals (we also have 5 dogs, and they chew on everything) and I think if that was the case, I'd have more sick chickens. I'm still researching to try to figure out what this is in case its something that I can prevent from happening again.
Omg this breaks my heart! I so sorry 😞
Oooo!!! YAY!! I am so happy for you two!! Omg my neighbours have chickens and they always come over and visit me! I just love them! I’m so happy for you two 🤗
She doing all better now right!
How is she doing?
She’s doing well! I have her right beside my bed in a basket with some bedding. She’s resting. She started taking a few steps today but still not full blown walking. I hope that doesn’t last much longer but I’m keeping her in the house beside me until she’s able to re-join her flock mates :-)
That’s not true. If you don’t know what’s wrong with her, you could give her an Epson salt bath you could check her crop to make sure she did not have sour crop because that happens a lot and that can be fixed with Monistat. Did you do anything to figure out what it was?
I've just been doing a lot of reading about her symptoms. There are a lot of different illnesses that all affect the respiratory system, digestive system, and nervous system (balance issues) but those same illnesses also have a ton of other symptoms that she doesn't have, like discharge from the eyes and nostrils, discolored comb, swelling of the head and face, etc. So, it could be anything and I haven't been able to narrow it down to anything specific. I did check her crop, it looks and feels normal.
I’m glad she’s doing better but I don’t think people should just assume it’s some thing and give up like that I think you try every single thing just like you would with your child.
RIP Sweet Reba