Sick hen- Respiratory illness???

BaileyMChicks

Songster
May 8, 2015
585
37
111
Wisconsin
Hi I have a Californian white hen who hasn't been doing too well. She has diarrhea, is drooling/puking? especially when I try to hold her, and also seems to have trouble breathing sometimes. Her feathers are all puffed up and she obviously looks sick. She has been like this for a while, and I don't know what to do about it. I feel really bad that I don't know how to help. Anyways, I'm pretty sure it's a respiratory illness, but I don't really know how to treat it, or how I'm going to be able to separate her because it's getting cold where I live( I live in northern Wisconsin). I just don't know what to do for her. Please tell me what to do and what I need to treat her. Thanks in advance. Oh, by the way, none of the other birds(I have 38 more in the same area) are sick like that. They are all healthy. Well, some of them have black spots on their combs and wattles, and I looked up fowl pox, and it does NOT look like that. No one seems affected/bothered/sick from it so I hope it just goes away. so yeah. Thanks again for any answers or help..I'm still sort of new with chickens, and this is the first time this problem has happened. I think I should separate her, but I'm afraid she'll freeze to death. I really don't want that to happen....Ugh! I just don't know what to do....
 
Has she been wormed recently? Worms impactions will slow the crop down, cause them to drool when the crop has pressure on it because it is full, worm impactions can cause swelling of the intestines enough to fill the breathing cavity. So if you haven't wormed, I do suggest you do so very soon. What does her poop look like?

Heavy open mouth breathing can also be caused by fungal infections, bacterial infections, egg binding, worms, liver disease or any disease that fills or puts pressure on the breathing cavity. Usually with respiratory ailments there is wheezing, coughing, runny noses, swollen faces, gummy or watery eyes, etc...

Any other symptoms? Color of comb?

Black spots on the comb can also be from pecking. The blood and injuries dry black and leave black spots on the combs. Post a picture here so we can see.
 
No she hasn't been wormed recently. Her poop is very watery, and it looks like diarrhea. Her comb is a bit pale. The feathers on her head are fluffed up, but not like when a hen is broody. I can't get pictures yet because I'm at my cousins house but I'm going home today so if it's not too dark ill get pictures tonight.
 
I agree, start with deworming and I would deworm them all. Sometimes the only thing you can do is start with the most common and easily treated possibilities first and go from there.

Have you added any new birds to the flock lately? Coccidiosis is something else that is always a consideration. Even if there are no new birds an older bird can still develop a case if she is stressed or has an underlying health issue that lowers her immunity.
 
She died today. And now my other California white isn't looking so good. We put DE in their food. The oldest hens are only about 2 years old-she was one of them. And yes, I recently added 4 new roosters. What exactly is coccidiosis? And how can I treat it?
 
She died today. And now my other California white isn't looking so good. We put DE in their food. The oldest hens are only about 2 years old-she was one of them. And yes, I recently added 4 new roosters. What exactly is coccidiosis? And how can I treat it?
I am so sorry you lost her.
hugs.gif
If one is dying of similar issues, as described above, you may have one or both issues going on. Either worms, they have cocci or both. If these were my birds, I would first worm them all and then start them on some Corid.

The desired ratio of rooster to hen is 1 roo to 8 to 10 hens. If too many roosters are breeding too little hens or just one of them, they WILL kill the hen or hens from over breeding.

Keep these birds warm under some heat right now and get to the feed store for some wormer. (DE is useless for internal worms) Get some Safeguard Liquid Goat wormer, if they don't have that, you can use the Safeguard Equine Paste, even Wazine will work. Also, pick up something with Amprolium in it for the Coccidiosis. Corid contains this drug.

And keep the roosters away from the hens for a while, at least all the sick ones.
 
I am so sorry you lost her.
hugs.gif
If one is dying of similar issues, as described above, you may have one or both issues going on. Either worms, they have cocci or both. If these were my birds, I would first worm them all and then start them on some Corid.

The desired ratio of rooster to hen is 1 roo to 8 to 10 hens. If too many roosters are breeding too little hens or just one of them, they WILL kill the hen or hens from over breeding.

Keep these birds warm under some heat right now and get to the feed store for some wormer. (DE is useless for internal worms) Get some Safeguard Liquid Goat wormer, if they don't have that, you can use the Safeguard Equine Paste, even Wazine will work. Also, pick up something with Amprolium in it for the Coccidiosis. Corid contains this drug.

And keep the roosters away from the hens for a while, at least all the sick ones.
Thanks. I put DE in their feed last night, but I guess that won't work, so I'll have to have my mom pick up some wormer. It actually just so happens that my dad is taking my sister to an ortho appointment, so I'll see if he can pick up the wormer. Which one works best? I'll see if they have the goat wormer first, and if they don't should I just use whatever they have that's safe for chickens? And I'll also have him get the Amprolium. I hope they have this stuff. We don't really have very many feed stores around us, and the one that we do have is small.

Should I take Scarlet(the other California white that is sick, not the original one who died) and separate her? I don't know how I should go about doing that if I should because I can't keep her in the house or garage, and the barn gets cold, and I'm afraid to leave the heat lamp on all the time because the barn is really old, so I'm afraid she'll freeze to death. And also, should I treat all of the chickens for coccidiosis, even if they don' t look like they have it? Or should I just treat her? I think I'm going to worm all of them, though, regardless, just to be safe. And after I treat them, I should throw away any of the eggs I get, right? (I haven't been getting ANY, so I don't think I'll be losing much..)

Do you think the hen got it from one of the new roosters? They have been staying away from the other birds for the most part. I have 31 hens and 7 roosters. Is that too many? I'm thinking of selling my one BSL cockerel I hatched this year, and possibly giving my blue cochin cockerel away as well, which would bring me down to five. But as of right now I have 2 LF mature, crowing roosters(by crowing I mean that they have started to crow and are trying to mate the hens and stuff, stating that they are mature), one cochin banty rooster who is mature and crowing, one BSL cockerel who is not mature or crowing, and won't be for a while yet, one blue cochin cockerel who also is not crowing or mature yet, and 2 'fancy bantam roosters', as the lady called them, that have yet to crow and mate the hens. So as of right now I only have 3 roosters trying to mate. And did you mean that I should keep all the roosters away from all the hens, or just the sick hen, or just keep the new roosters away..??
 
For now, get what ever wormer they have at the feed store. Most stuff is not labeled for chickens that are used for eggs or meat, but all drugs do break down in the system after certain periods of time. Most wormers have a 14 day egg and meat withdrawal. Let me know which wormer you got and I will give you the dosage for it.

Do your best with keeping that particular bird warm. If you can't bring her inside and can't use a heat lamp, there isn't much else you can do. Make sure she stays snuggled in with the other birds on the roost bar and not on an end where she might get cold by herself.

Adding new birds to a flock always poses a risk to the original flock. All birds carry something. They become immune to their environment and there are many bacterias, virus's and parasites that chickens encounter in their world. So by bringing in new birds, you are introducing new things to the original flock that they are not yet immune to. It is always best to quarantine all new birds for 30 days before mixing in the flock. And always know where these new birds are coming from, how they were raised, how they were cared for, etc....Purchasing birds from a stranger can be risky business. Not worth the disease you can bring into your flock.

You will need to worm all your birds and use the cocci meds on all of them as well. When one is sick with something, chances are the others have it too.

I would keep all rooster away from any sick birds. Doesn't do a sick hen any good to have a rooster trying to mate her. Then divide up your flock so that there is 1 rooster for 8 to 10 hens. If you don't have enough hens to go around for these roosters, then keep them in a separate place by themselves. You can't have too many roosters with not enough hens or they will kill them with over mating them. Lots of people keep "bachelor" quarters for their extra roosters.
 

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