It’s Sunday night.
One of our chickens, ‘Elua, has been hospitalized at Feather and Fur Animal Hospital in Kailua since Friday night.
First, the sanctuary. Now, this. It’s been quite an emotional roller coaster for me with these hens!
When we had brought her back home last week, we noticed she was a little lethargic and bloated. Turns out, ‘Elua was egg bound; meaning, she has an egg inside her that she can’t expel. To make matters worse, the egg, which wasn’t quite calcified, missed the fallopian tube and her belly was filled with fluid, making it difficult for her to breathe. We took her to the hospital on Friday night, where she was promptly drained of the fluid and put in an incubator (shown above), where she’s been recovering. She also has an infection, which requires daily antibiotics.
All this for a chicken that cost $2.
I feel badly for ‘Elua, like I should have realized her discomfort weeks ago. Early detection would have likely improved her chances of survival. Now, we’re not sure if she’ll make it through the week. But I don’t know much about chickens; this is my first time raising hens, and I didn’t even know they could be egg bound, which, as it turns out, isn’t that uncommon, especially for older birds.
It’s interesting how attached you can get to a chicken. I didn’t realize they had much in the way of a personality — but they do. ‘Elua is feisty, independent and ready for anything. She’s not timid or gentle like some others. She’s got a lot of gumption that makes me feel pretty confident if any bird was going to make it through this ordeal, it would be her.
So we’ll see.
I’ll find out more tomorrow and will keep you all posted.
Cross your fingers, paws and feet, please!
7 Comments
I totally feel for you. We took our chicken to the same place when she got sick. We thought she might be egg bound, but she wasn’t. The folks at the animal hospital were so great. We ended up caring for her at home, and sadly, she died before we could take her back the next week. I totally cried. I hope your girl gets better. I’ve got my fingers crossed for her.
Hoping for the best……Does Pet insurance cover hens?
Totally attached to our birds, as well. When a raccoon got one, it was devastating. Positive thoughts that your feathered pal pulls through!
Hoping for the best for Elua! My pet dog had heart problems five years ago and the hospital cost in Kaneohe was over $5,000.00. Hope for the best.
Hello Cat!
Hoping for the best..
Birds are extremely good at hiding illness. It is what they do.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your girl.
One of my girls nearly died once – we think an eagle or hawk tried to pick her up – she had blood in her beak but my thought is that belonged to the eagle – I think she gave as good as she got, and got dropped from a bit of a height. We brought her inside that night once the girls got up to roost so she would not lose her standing in the flock, put her in a warm box near the gas fire as it was winter, and took her back out to the coop before the other girls got up. She’s fine now, thank the deities. 🙂
To those for whom a chicken is only food, or a source of eggs, it may seem odd. However, it’s a living being with a personality all its own.
I’ve been known to get pretty attached to some of my potted plants over the years, particularly my potted citrus trees, one of which I planted from the seed of a grapefruit that was before me on my breakfast table 21 years ago.