# EMERGENCY! Chicken sick, I don't want to lose her!



## anjirocool (May 14, 2016)

I noticed one of my hens standing lethargically today, leaking poop. I gave her a bath and let her sit outside of the run in the shade, since today was a hot day. She wouldn't eat or drink.
I felt her crop and it felt hard, almost like there was a bone running down it. It's strangely not the entire crop, but just one solid square-ish piece going up and down. I haven't found anything online about crops being that shape. I used an eyedropper to give her some water, mixed with an electrolyte powder made for chickens.
She had a hard time staying awake, and her eyes were bloodshot when they did open. She didn't move from where we set her.
After about an hour, she lightly fell over and started sleeping on her side. I put her in a cage inside my house, with hay for comfort, plus food and water bowls (though she won't eat or drink).
She's just laying awkwardly and breathing heavily with her eyes closed. I don't know what to do. Please help me, I don't want to lose another one of my girls.


----------



## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Doesn't sound good.... can you take her to a vet?


----------



## anjirocool (May 14, 2016)

The only vet in my city who does chickens is closed on weekends...


----------



## anjirocool (May 14, 2016)

Rest in peace, Beyoncé. I hope I gave you a good life.


----------



## chickenmommy (Apr 30, 2013)

Do you feel comfortable performing a necropsy yourself to see what was wrong?


----------



## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

So sorry you lost her.


----------



## anjirocool (May 14, 2016)

chickenmommy said:


> Do you feel comfortable performing a necropsy yourself to see what was wrong?


No, I'd never be emotionally up to that. I've already buried her, in a shoebox spraypainted white.


----------



## chickenmommy (Apr 30, 2013)

I understand. I think I would be the same way. I'm so sorry for your loss.


----------



## TheKeeper777 (Mar 30, 2016)

I am sorry for your loss


----------



## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

Odd... wonder if she just ate something she shouldn't have like a piece of plastic or something. :/ So sorry. It's hard to lose them, especially like this.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I'm very sorry for your loss. I know you did the best you could and sometimes they are beyond helping.


----------



## pblanton (Mar 30, 2015)

I as well am sorry when I lose a chicken. They are all beautiful, living creatures. I love our chickens and think of them as pets up until the time they stop producing eggs and we need to kill them and move them to the freezer.

So... They're not pets. They're not members of the family. They're food. Though it's tough, it's important to remember that you are dealing with a farm animal. Sometimes they die. It's best when they die and provide your family wth food. It's just sad and useless when they die on their own and don't end up as food.


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

pblanton said:


> I as well am sorry when I lose a chicken. They are all beautiful, living creatures. I love our chickens and think of them as pets up until the time they stop producing eggs and we need to kill them and move them to the freezer.
> 
> So... They're not pets. They're not members of the family. They're food. Though it's tough, it's important to remember that you are dealing with a farm animal. Sometimes they die. It's best when they die and provide your family wth food. It's just sad and useless when they die on their own and don't end up as food.


Maybe your chickens are food but some people,me included,think of their chickens as beloved pets.I NEVER think of them as food!If they stop laying,I get new hens and the old ones just live happily ever after...


----------



## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

chickenqueen said:


> Maybe your chickens are food but some people,me included,think of their chickens as beloved pets.I NEVER think of them as food!If they stop laying,I get new hens and the old ones just live happily ever after...


On the same token,Chickens are livestock and not everyone has them as pets.


----------



## pblanton (Mar 30, 2015)

chickenqueen said:


> Maybe your chickens are food but some people,me included,think of their chickens as beloved pets.I NEVER think of them as food!If they stop laying,I get new hens and the old ones just live happily ever after...


I want to do that too, but my wife absolutely forbids me from allowing them to die of old age. I'd prefer to just keep them as pets for as long as they'll live, but that's a non-starter for her. It's sad too. Whenever she's out they follow her all around the place. They clearly think she's pretty cool. They have no idea she's a ghoul.


----------

