# Polish hen sleeping standing up a lot.



## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Hi, I have two Polish hens, about 5years old approx. One is fine but the other is standing up going to sleep a lot.
Started about 2 weeks ago. Not eating much at all. How long do they live and is there anything I can do for this one, Daisy, if anything. Thanks for any help.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Need a lot more information. When did she last lay an egg? Is she puffed up? Does she look pale? What about mites. Internal parasites. 

My longest living bird was 14. Some were 10, more made it to 8.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Her and her sister have just started laying again since before winter. They only seem to lay every 2nd day. Only got them for their looks, not eggs. She doesn't look puffed up. Where do they get pale? She has feathers covering most of her face.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Update. We have water in bowls everywhere around the place, for dogs, cats, hens, pheasant, pokekos, and the little birds, but I have not noticed whether she has been drinking or not. I actually put some water down into her belly via a little tube, not too much, and she got up a little while later and I gave her a piece of bread which she ate about 1/2 of and then went and had some wheat. now she is back onto the bread again. I can't get over the change in her in about 1 hour.
Will see how she is tomorrow...


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Do her feathers cover her eyes? Cut her topknot in front of her face. That little bit of perk up makes me wonder if she can see through her feathers.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Hi, yes they do cover a bit of the face. Will cut some away and see what happens. She came out of the cage ok this morning, had food, now is sitting down looking as though she is having a rest. Will do face feathers shortly and see if this helps her. The other hen, Violet, doesn't have feathers that come over the face. Hers are standing up away from the eyes.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If you can't see their eyes, it's a safe bet they can't see. See how things go when you trim those feathers. She should start being more herself in a short while.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

I trimmed around her eyes, cut off more than I should have, but never mind. She has gone to bed in her cage and will see what she is like in the morning. Will let you know.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Thanks. I'm hoping this simple fix is all she needs. 

At first I missed the Polish and focused on the age.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Update on my sick hen. My computer has been down for about 1 week, and she is still about the same. I don't know what else to do for her. I have been giving her water in a syringe, and she has tried to eat, but guess what, she has gone just about blind in both eyes. It never rains but it pours. She pokes about in the plate of food but doesn't get much to eat. 
Any ideas please. Is there a home remedy I can use for her. I cannot afford to get anything from the vets at the moment.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I wish I had some idea for you. I just don't. It can be her age. Although for Polish that probably isn't ancient. 

Have you checked for mites? What do her droppings look like?


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Hi, seeing she can't really see to eat, there is not a lot of droppings. More squirts of watery stuff...I have tried to give her some veg soup, just the juice. With a syringe that can go down the throat a bit...Sorry, it was the only way I could try to get something inside her. I have checked for mites. The other day, Short of money at present, I used some dog flea powder. Doesn't do any good on dog fleas, but it killed a lot of little things on her body. They fell on the floor dead.
She has tried to eat a bit of solid food but as she can't see basically, she just kind of hits the plate with her beak.
I do wish she would just go to sleep and not wake up in the end, but they do hold on don't they. I can't kill her, and hubby is the same. I have been dripping some water over her beak, so she gets a little bit of water.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If she had that many mites on her, that could be her problem. They will suck the life out of a bird.

Do you have any multi vitamins? Make her a wet mash or some sort of wet food that you might be able to get her to dig into. Mix half a crushed vitamin in with the wet food. Use a shiny metal spoon to help her eat. If you have liquid iron, raw liver I would give her some of that to try to get her red blood cells back up. 

No, they don't go quickly most of the time. With my last one, she was ten, I saw it was her time but it took her a month to finally let go. I couldn't put her down either.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Thanks for your tips...Will see what I have got....


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Chopped hard boiled egg might tempt her. Use the spoon. The shiny will attract her if she has any sight left.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Ta, will try one.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

I think I will just have to let nature take its course. I don't know what else to do.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm sorry. It's hard when trying to communicate over a computer and not being able to see the bird first hand. I wish there was some magic word that could pull her back. I don't care, it hurts to lose them for any reason.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Thanks for your help anyway...Will let you know when and if she goes.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I just wish it could have been more.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

Update. Daisy died last night. I had put her in the cat cage tucked up in a blanket. Dog heard a noise in the room where she was, and she had just died. A couple of tears. At least she didn't stay as long as some had before she died.
I think she was approx, 5-7 years old. She had the busy feathers on the top of the head. I got Violet, at the same time. She has the smaller top knot of feathers on her head. 
Thanks for all the tips to try and help her. 🐥


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm sorry I couldn't come up with better answers. She was with you a long time and her absence will be noticed for a while.

Now the question, is Violet alone now? If she is, you'll need to look for an older hen to get her as a companion.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

She has got a 11-year-old silkie, female, a big rooster, who I keep her away from, he gets a bit frisky, and another bantam sized female. I used to have about 12 but have not been getting anymore when they went. Daisy was a little bit of a bully towards Violet at times, so I don't think she will miss her too much. She is laying at the moment. I get an egg every 2nd day from her for about 3 weeks then has a rest for quite a while, then back to it. The old girl still lays every now and again. I have gone back to buying eggs a lot now.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Good, then you don't have to go messing around getting another companion for her. 

I got down to my last hen two years ago. I tried bringing in a new companion, that went over like a lead balloon. A friend said, let's swap. I'll take the pullets and I'll bring you quail. I'll be darned if my old girl didn't adopt the quail as her chicks. She's gone now but most of the quail are still out there.


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## aprilhelleur (4 mo ago)

You made me smile, on a sad day. I just had a look to see where you are from. Hope you were not near that bad storm that was over in Florida area and nearby. Thanks for the advice. 🐥


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Thanks for asking. The storm turned, I didn't even see any rain from it. But FL is all beat up from it. 

I know you have stories like that too. I think that's the biggest part of having them in our lives, they almost always give us something to smile about everyday. It makes up for the harder losses. 

Right now the quail are celebrating the cooler temps by jumping up and flapping their wings. When several of them do it at the same time it reminds me of popcorn popping.


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