Case Studies
As anyone who has hens will tell you, identifying what is wrong with them is sometimes very difficult. As a predated species they often hide illness until it is too late. Even vets sometimes struggle to identify exactly what is wrong. So I have decided to include some case studies; firstly to show the amazing love, care and effort these hen owners put into trying to make their hens well and secondly to hopefully provide some inspiration, ideas and examples for the care of your own hens. If you would like your hen's case study included on this page, please email me all the details.
Chief's Tale by Sophie Nicol
We first noticed Chief being a bit withdrawn and playing with her food, she also occasionally had a messy vent. As head hen it took a while to see through her act as she continued to be bossy and in charge! However, her comb and face become pale and her poop turned explosive and green so I gave her the odd bath and blow dry and tried to feed her up with treats but she wasn't improving, if anything she was slowing down even more.
The next step was the vets! Off we trotted and after a chat we received a course of baytril and a suggestion that if this didn't work she was probably a goner. Off we went home feeling disheartened and Chief received a seven day course of antibiotics, along with treats and fave food to encourage her to eat. We always follow antibiotics with natural yoghurt, as per Jo Barlow's book, and we did this with Chief too. A week passed and again slowly Chief withdrew into herself and started to go downhill, her neck shrank into her body and her comb turned purple. We were stumped with what to do so we decided to worm the flock as our last flubenvet treatment was two months ago. A week or so later there was still little improvement and Chief was getting thinner and very lethargic.
She then took a turn for the worse and developed a nasty case of sour crop. A prompt visit to the vet which included being tipped up to empty her crop resulted in a second course of baytril and a faecal test which showed no parasites. This ten day course of antibiotics was accompanied with feeding support of critical care formula and Kaytee parrot rearing formula, kindly donated by hen guru Fi from Wing and a Prayer Rescue. We carefully hand syringed Chief's food into her, with Apple juice and Avipro to help encourage good gut bacteria. All this time Chief stayed in the house in a pet carrier, sleeping next to the radiator to keep her warm and calorie output low. For the first week she was too ill to go outside but slowly her strength picked up and her small pecks became more interested ones with a hunger for mealworms.
We checked her crop regularly throughout the day to make sure it was working. If it felt like putty or hard we gave Chief a small massage and some natural yoghurt. This method of keeping an eye on her crop and supplementing her seemed to pay off as Chief has become stronger by the day. She still lives by the radiator and is thin but has maintained head hen position and now enjoys being out and free ranging with her flock during the day.
A second hen, Sweethen, started to come down with similar symptoms, so we arranged a second faecal test with Retfords poultry lab to see if this showed anything different and if we had to treat the whole flock. Again the results came back with no parasites but a large quantity of coli in the stools, which is supposedly unusual to see it on its own. Further discussions with our own vet confirmed the use of an anti fungal medicine for Sweethen which is called Ketoconazole which we will start tomorrow. We are hopeful that with some tlc Sweethen will pull through.
Chief still has a way to go but having been so seriously ill I am really happy she is still with us. I wondered to myself at several points whether I should let her go but she was still fighting and maintaining her flock position and did not appear to be in any pain so I felt I had to do my best for her. Her comb is becoming a bit pinker and she is doing normal stools, which is brilliant.
I know all things have a limited life but I think what I have learned from my experience with Chief is to persevere and try find out what is wrong before giving up. Not all vets have chicken experience so ask questions and be prepared to ask for different medicine too. Also by supporting your hen with food supplements and warmth you would be surprised how they can come back from the brink. They are true fighters and I am glad to be able to do my bit to allow my ex-batts a very happy retirement.
Erin's Tale by Elizabeth Gill
We first noticed Chief being a bit withdrawn and playing with her food, she also occasionally had a messy vent. As head hen it took a while to see through her act as she continued to be bossy and in charge! However, her comb and face become pale and her poop turned explosive and green so I gave her the odd bath and blow dry and tried to feed her up with treats but she wasn't improving, if anything she was slowing down even more.
The next step was the vets! Off we trotted and after a chat we received a course of baytril and a suggestion that if this didn't work she was probably a goner. Off we went home feeling disheartened and Chief received a seven day course of antibiotics, along with treats and fave food to encourage her to eat. We always follow antibiotics with natural yoghurt, as per Jo Barlow's book, and we did this with Chief too. A week passed and again slowly Chief withdrew into herself and started to go downhill, her neck shrank into her body and her comb turned purple. We were stumped with what to do so we decided to worm the flock as our last flubenvet treatment was two months ago. A week or so later there was still little improvement and Chief was getting thinner and very lethargic.
She then took a turn for the worse and developed a nasty case of sour crop. A prompt visit to the vet which included being tipped up to empty her crop resulted in a second course of baytril and a faecal test which showed no parasites. This ten day course of antibiotics was accompanied with feeding support of critical care formula and Kaytee parrot rearing formula, kindly donated by hen guru Fi from Wing and a Prayer Rescue. We carefully hand syringed Chief's food into her, with Apple juice and Avipro to help encourage good gut bacteria. All this time Chief stayed in the house in a pet carrier, sleeping next to the radiator to keep her warm and calorie output low. For the first week she was too ill to go outside but slowly her strength picked up and her small pecks became more interested ones with a hunger for mealworms.
We checked her crop regularly throughout the day to make sure it was working. If it felt like putty or hard we gave Chief a small massage and some natural yoghurt. This method of keeping an eye on her crop and supplementing her seemed to pay off as Chief has become stronger by the day. She still lives by the radiator and is thin but has maintained head hen position and now enjoys being out and free ranging with her flock during the day.
A second hen, Sweethen, started to come down with similar symptoms, so we arranged a second faecal test with Retfords poultry lab to see if this showed anything different and if we had to treat the whole flock. Again the results came back with no parasites but a large quantity of coli in the stools, which is supposedly unusual to see it on its own. Further discussions with our own vet confirmed the use of an anti fungal medicine for Sweethen which is called Ketoconazole which we will start tomorrow. We are hopeful that with some tlc Sweethen will pull through.
Chief still has a way to go but having been so seriously ill I am really happy she is still with us. I wondered to myself at several points whether I should let her go but she was still fighting and maintaining her flock position and did not appear to be in any pain so I felt I had to do my best for her. Her comb is becoming a bit pinker and she is doing normal stools, which is brilliant.
I know all things have a limited life but I think what I have learned from my experience with Chief is to persevere and try find out what is wrong before giving up. Not all vets have chicken experience so ask questions and be prepared to ask for different medicine too. Also by supporting your hen with food supplements and warmth you would be surprised how they can come back from the brink. They are true fighters and I am glad to be able to do my bit to allow my ex-batts a very happy retirement.
Erin's Tale by Elizabeth Gill
Our little girl Erin came to us on June 9th 2013 with a broken leg, a naked neck and a big personality! She quickly became know as ‘our chatty girl’ or ‘the telephone’ as she does sound like a phone ringing. Erin has always been the most tiniest of our girls and has been forever sisters and best friends with Bella whom we rescued the same day. Erin and Bella spent a long time in a flock of 3 with Elsie May, a wonderful disabled girl who was the boss in that run. Erin respected and adored her and also learned some funny habits including lying down a lot, as Elsie May’s legs were sort of on the wrong way round she liked to lie done often for a rest and Erin followed suit. It has always been so funny watching Erin do this, even after Elsie May passed, Erin would say, “I’m lying down because I know I must but I don’t really know why and I don’t really want to!” so she was often seen doing a crouching/walking/lying thing I guess how a hen in the commandos might act! Erin celebrated her henniversary 3 months ago and we were worried she might have developed peritonitis around about that time. An ultrasound showed us that this was not the case, she sadly had a tumour. An older sister of hers also had a tumour that was much bigger in size and we needed to make the decision to do the kindest thing as the size and weight of the tumour was causing laboured breathing and Squiffy was beginning to be uncomfortable, not what we want for one of our precious girls. We knew that Erin’s tumour was not at that stage so we felt we had one or two months before she would start having problems. We knew Erin was ill, Erin didn’t know that she was.
A kind friend recommended we try Erin on green tea. So, that’s just what we did, Erin had green tea available at all times and she loved it! I then had to go away for 12 days with work but my fiancé continued with her green tea and would make her special mashes on the odd days when she didn’t feel too hungry. As soon as I came home I rushed out to see our precious girl and how she was doing. I could not believe what I felt, or rather could not feel when I picked her up! I was sure the tumour had shrunk and the heat that had been there before was gone. Our very kind vet offered to do a free ultrasound to see if I was right or if it was just wishful thinking. He showed me Erin’s original ultrasound as well as Squiffy’s (with the huge tumour) and Bella’s (who is healthy) so I could understand what I was looking at. He then did the ultrasound on Erin, he looked at me and said, “Are you sure this is the same chicken?”, sure enough the tumour had dramatically decreased in size, about 0.5kg according to the scales! We could now see her intestines and lungs which we couldn’t before as the tumour had obscured her organs.
Currently the tumour is very small, before her breathing was occasionally affected when she laid down but now it is not. Sadly Erin is a very old girl for an ex-commercial hen, we know that cancer is terminal and we know that Erin doesn’t have long with us. What we have done is made Erin’s last few weeks comfortable and we have not had to resort to a PTS as yet as I’m sure we would have done without the green tea. Erin has continued to enjoy the warm weather and lead a happy life for the time being and that is what rescuing is all about, warmth, comfort, happiness and love.
A kind friend recommended we try Erin on green tea. So, that’s just what we did, Erin had green tea available at all times and she loved it! I then had to go away for 12 days with work but my fiancé continued with her green tea and would make her special mashes on the odd days when she didn’t feel too hungry. As soon as I came home I rushed out to see our precious girl and how she was doing. I could not believe what I felt, or rather could not feel when I picked her up! I was sure the tumour had shrunk and the heat that had been there before was gone. Our very kind vet offered to do a free ultrasound to see if I was right or if it was just wishful thinking. He showed me Erin’s original ultrasound as well as Squiffy’s (with the huge tumour) and Bella’s (who is healthy) so I could understand what I was looking at. He then did the ultrasound on Erin, he looked at me and said, “Are you sure this is the same chicken?”, sure enough the tumour had dramatically decreased in size, about 0.5kg according to the scales! We could now see her intestines and lungs which we couldn’t before as the tumour had obscured her organs.
Currently the tumour is very small, before her breathing was occasionally affected when she laid down but now it is not. Sadly Erin is a very old girl for an ex-commercial hen, we know that cancer is terminal and we know that Erin doesn’t have long with us. What we have done is made Erin’s last few weeks comfortable and we have not had to resort to a PTS as yet as I’m sure we would have done without the green tea. Erin has continued to enjoy the warm weather and lead a happy life for the time being and that is what rescuing is all about, warmth, comfort, happiness and love.