17
Why does nobody talk about how much water a sick hen really needs?
My barred rock, Mabel, was acting slow last week and I just kept her in a separate crate with food. After two days she got worse, so I called my vet in Springfield. He asked if I was giving her water with a dropper every hour, and I realized I hadn't. I started doing that right away and she perked up in a few hours. How do you guys make sure a sick bird drinks enough?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
mila_craig42mo ago
Read somewhere that dehydration is the biggest killer of sick chickens. Honestly, I just mix a little sugar and salt into warm water and use a syringe without the needle. Tbh it's a pain but it works.
6
james5332mo ago
Just be careful not to overdo the salt, it can mess with their kidneys.
5
michael6931mo ago
Gotta disagree with you here. Sugar and salt can actually make things worse if you get the ratio off even a little bit. I've seen chickens crash hard from too much salt in their system especially when they're already weak. Plain warm water with a bit of electrolytes from the farm store is way safer in my experience. If you don't have that just keep it to clean warm water until you can get proper stuff.
2