Cyn off to the vet

[Oola]

Cyn is off to the vet again :( She's still not right and I think she feels swollen underneath, as well as having a really pooey bum (we cleaned and blow dryed today, she looks lovely and fluffy now)...although Rich isn't so sure. I think her crop is still mushy but Rich disagees. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid....

Really hope she's ok :( I'd be heartbroken if it's cancer or egg peritonitis for her too :(

[magic cochin]

Hope the vet can be of help. It's so worrying when hens are poorly because they are designed to hide their symptoms :rolleyes:

All the best
C

[Katelb]

Oola,I do hope she is OK,I know how much you worry about your chuks,but hope this time the worry is unfounded.

[Crocus]

Oh no Oola! I hope it's not what you fear! Be positive and please keep us posted on what the vet thinks. xxx

[SummerSkye]

Hi Oola, I hope Cynthia will be okay, having animals sick is worrying as they can't speak to tell you what is wrong; do you have veterinary insurance for all these visits, it must work out very expensive ontop of everything else.

[Crocus]

Hi Oola, How is Cyn today - have you taken her to the vet?:)

[jazzactivist]

Hi, Oola, any news about Cynthia?

[Oola]

hi everyone, no nothing yet as our vet isn't in until this evening, so we've got an appt. for 5:50pm. However, I did pick up Cyn today to bring her in (she was really fed up), and as I was holding her I bent down to pick up my glove. Then she started regurgitating all this horrible yellow liquid - which points to sour crop. She has a lot of it, and I purposely tipped her up a couple of times but then stopped because I didn't want to risk her aspirating or choking on it. I'll ask the vet to do a proper crop flush.

I hope it's just something treatable and that there are no underlying sinister causes to it. Although I have read that once a hen gets sour crop, she's prone to getting it again. I think she may be a bit dehhydrated too, although I'm still convinced she's a bit swollen underneath.

Right now she's in her clean pet carrier with fresh straw, sitting with a blanket over the top and the door open with access to water. She's not fussed about eating at all - no wonder really when you feel how much muck she must have in her crop. It's nice and quiet down here, she's under the piano and the cats just ignore her. I think it's nice for her to get away from everything and rest, she seemed to respond well to some respite indoors before.

Summerskye we haven't got pet insurance, I should look into it really because all Yoko's tests and surgery cost us a good £250-£300. Some people wouldn't have paid out, but I just do what I can, I couldn't bear to think of them suffering. I always think there's something I can cut back on to pay for it. And to think, they only cost us 50p each....

Still it's not about the money, although I will look into pet insurance for them. Will let you all know how it goes, thanks for asking xxx

[Crocus]

Best wishes with the appointment Oola! Hope Cyn will be fine!

[Oola]

Well as I expected, we're putting her on a course of nystatin and baytril. Then in a week after the course is finished if she's not better then they'll put her under a general anaesthetic and do a proper crop flush, and take cultures to send off. She agreed that her abdomen is swollen, she said it could be the start of egg yolk peritonitis, but it could be other things too, as lots of things can cause a fluidy abdomen. Yoko's was more solid than Cyn's, but it could be the start of EYP...they'll do an exploratory surgery if she goes under the general.

So another week of treatment, plus some avipro and CCF to help boost her (vits, minerals, pro and prebiotics), and then we'll see how she goes. I just hope it's ok...

[sheddie]

Oh Oola do hope everything goes ok it is so worrying and I can't bear any animal to be ill, they just can't tell you what's bothering them can they? Be thinking of you and Cyn X

[Healing Hands]

Oh goodness Oola I do hope she will be alright. I did not know you could get pet insurance for Chickens, that will be useful for when I get mine.

[sunflower]

Hi Oola, so sorry to hear that Cynthia is poorly. Do hope that the week's treatment sorts her out.

[dinger]

Was it cyn who was poorly before Oola or was it yoko. You are having bad luck with them lately . Hope you soon get better results after the treatment. xx

[Oola]

Hi dinger, it was Cyn who had sour crop before, and a while before Christmas Yoko was diagnosed with sterile egg yolk peritonitis (EYP) - EYP is basically where the hen lays internally, and they get a build up of fluid in their abdomen. It can affect their breathing as they have air sacs all over their bodies that they breathe through, and the added pressure can make their breathing a bit more laboured, and they waddle when filled up with fluid. Yoko stopped 'laying' over winter and has shrunk down a bit as she managed to absorb some of the fluid, but I think she may have started 'laying' again. If she gets quite full we'll see if we can get her drained a bit.

Cynthia seems to be ok, we had a big fright today with her as I thought she'd aspirated (breathed in) some of the nystatin that I was syringing down her mouth. We whisked her off 8 miles to the vet that deals with her, but by the time we got there she seemed normal. I did her nystatin again tonight, took a lot longer with it and was really stressed out whilst doing it, but it seemed to go ok. I do the syringing and Rich does the baytril (antibiotic) injections.

Her abdomen is still swollen at the mo, so she could have EYP as she hasn't laid an egg in a very long time. She doesn't feel as hot as she did before though, her crop, her poos and her abdomen were really warm. Her crop is where she stores the food before it enters her "digestive" system (and where they make their eggs), and it was full of fluid before. It seems to have gone down a bit now, so hopefully the nystatin (anti-fungal) is doing its thing. I'm really hoping she hasn't got EYP, it's basically a terminal condition - some hens live for two or three years at least with it, some only live for months or weeks. We're not sure Yoko will get through the summer, but I'm keeping everything firmly crossed, as she's such a wonderful hen with a massive character.

We go back to the vet next week for a review if Cynthia isn't right still. She had a bit more of an appetite today which was encouraging - I just hope the swelling in her abdomen goes down as much as her crop has.

It seems that battery hens can sometimes to prone to these problems - as Rich has said their genetics have been messed about with. It's also imperative to find a good vet that's willing to invest their time and (our) money in them.