Chicken not feeling well

I have an 11 week old chicken who for the last few days doesn't seem to be doing real well. At first I thought she was just low man on the pecking order as during feeding she would stay back and not come up like the others. She generally seems disinterested with the world, but now I am thinking she may be sick. She hangs back either on the ground or roost during meal times, she does eat some but not like the others, she seems more interested in the grit or shavings then the food. She does drink but not much, her color is ok, I think she might be a tad pale. And this morning she started walking very stiff, and she is laying down a lot like its hard for her to stand. All my others are looking good so I think its just her, I haven't been able to get a good look at her poop so I am not sure how that is looking but I'll post an update if I see her poop. I am just not sure what to do, these are our first chickens and it would be a shame to loose one so soon.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Nariah01 said:

I have an 11 week old chicken who for the last few days doesn't seem to be doing real well. At first I thought she was just low man on the pecking order as during feeding she would stay back and not come up like the others. She generally seems disinterested with the world, but now I am thinking she may be sick. She hangs back either on the ground or roost during meal times, she does eat some but not like the others, she seems more interested in the grit or shavings then the food. She does drink but not much, her color is ok, I think she might be a tad pale. And this morning she started walking very stiff, and she is laying down a lot like its hard for her to stand. All my others are looking good so I think its just her, I haven't been able to get a good look at her poop so I am not sure how that is looking but I'll post an update if I see her poop. I am just not sure what to do, these are our first chickens and it would be a shame to loose one so soon.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Any photos of her or the poo or video of her walking stiff legged?

How many chickens do you have?
How does her crop feel?
What type of food/treats do you give?
Is her crop full, hard, soft, squishy, empty?
If she is low in pecking order, she may not be able to get to the feed/water, so she could possibly be suffering from not eating enough and dehydration. The interested in grit/bedding could be a crop problem.

Separate her so you can monitor her food/water intake, her poo and whether or not her crop is functioning properly.
Offer wet chick starter, a little grit and poultry vitamins in her water.
Check her crop when you take her food/water out at night, then first thing in the morning, check her crop again. Look at the droppings as well. She should have a full crop before bed and it should be empty/nearly empty in the am.

I had one like that last week who became even sicker and could not move her back legs. I am almost positive its MS. I put her down today, The poo was green, The hen was 12 weeks old. Her back quarters just got weaker and weaker until she didn't act as if she even had a rear bottom or feet and legs. I hate having to dispatch ahen due to injury or disease.








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Wyorp Rock said:

Any photos of her or the poo or video of her walking stiff legged?

How many chickens do you have?
How does her crop feel?
What type of food/treats do you give?
Is her crop full, hard, soft, squishy, empty?
If she is low in pecking order, she may not be able to get to the feed/water, so she could possibly be suffering from not eating enough and dehydration. The interested in grit/bedding could be a crop problem.

Separate her so you can monitor her food/water intake, her poo and whether or not her crop is functioning properly.
Offer wet chick starter, a little grit and poultry vitamins in her water.
Check her crop when you take her food/water out at night, then first thing in the morning, check her crop again. Look at the droppings as well. She should have a full crop before bed and it should be empty/nearly empty in the am.

Click to expand...

I don't have any photos or videos, and I am not sure I could get any but I will try. She is one of 8 other chickens, five are 11 weeks and the others are 10 weeks old, all are pullets. When I felt her crop earlier it felt fine, but to be honest being my first chickens I may not be the best judge for how it feels. It wasn't as full as the others but did feel like it had food in there. I am feeding a flock raiser crumble, and have been for at least two weeks, before that they were on a medicated chick starter. I know she is getting food because I have seen her eat, I have also seen her drink, she just doesn't seem terribly interested in food/water. I will try to see if I can separate her out, I don't have a way to do it right now easily but I will rig something up asap so I can keep a better eye on her. How much room should I try to give her when I separate her out? She is pretty attached to one of the other hens so I will need to keep her next to the others do you think that would work?

Nariah01 said:

I don't have any photos or videos, and I am not sure I could get any but I will try. She is one of 8 other chickens, five are 11 weeks and the others are 10 weeks old, all are pullets. When I felt her crop earlier it felt fine, but to be honest being my first chickens I may not be the best judge for how it feels. It wasn't as full as the others but did feel like it had food in there. I am feeding a flock raiser crumble, and have been for at least two weeks, before that they were on a medicated chick starter. I know she is getting food because I have seen her eat, I have also seen her drink, she just doesn't seem terribly interested in food/water. I will try to see if I can separate her out, I don't have a way to do it right now easily but I will rig something up asap so I can keep a better eye on her. How much room should I try to give her when I separate her out? She is pretty attached to one of the other hens so I will need to keep her next to the others do you think that would work?

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If you have a dog kennel that you can put in the run, that would work well. That way she is not completely isolated. The object is to give her time to rest and heal if she happened to injure herself, and it helps you monitor/observe her. A sick or injured chicken will at all costs try to act normal when mingling with the flock. Caging her lets her relax a little and hopefully recover faster, because she's been sent to "jail"


Do you know if she was vaccinated for Marek's?

Wyorp Rock said:

If you have a dog kennel that you can put in the run, that would work well. That way she is not completely isolated. The object is to give her time to rest and heal if she happened to injure herself, and it helps you monitor/observe her. A sick or injured chicken will at all costs try to act normal when mingling with the flock. Caging her lets her relax a little and hopefully recover faster, because she's been sent to "jail"

Do you know if she was vaccinated for Marek's?

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She was not vaccinated for marek's or anything else for that matter. I checked on her this morning and she didn't even come down off her roost. her crop is empty this morning, and her color is bad she is pretty pale. I wasn't able to separate her last night but will do that first thing this morning, I am also off to the store to get the vitamins. is there anything else I should get? I can make a nice warm mash with the flock raiser unless you think the chick starter would be better.

crazyhen said:

I had one like that last week who became even sicker and could not move her back legs. I am almost positive its MS. I put her down today, The poo was green, The hen was 12 weeks old. Her back quarters just got weaker and weaker until she didn't act as if she even had a rear bottom or feet and legs. I hate having to dispatch ahen due to injury or disease.








I

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Doesn't this usually present with some swelling in the legs? if so she has no swelling at all. I'm sorry about your bird though, I haven't lost one yet hopefully I won't lose her. she is not even my favorite, or really even all that friendly but the thought of loosing her just makes me want to cry.

Nariah01 said:

She was not vaccinated for marek's or anything else for that matter. I checked on her this morning and she didn't even come down off her roost. her crop is empty this morning, and her color is bad she is pretty pale. I wasn't able to separate her last night but will do that first thing this morning, I am also off to the store to get the vitamins. is there anything else I should get? I can make a nice warm mash with the flock raiser unless you think the chick starter would be better.

Click to expand...

You can use the flock raiser to make a mash, that is what I use for my flock and they love it wet.

Were you able to get a look at her poo?

Is she puffed up at all? Just on the outside chance, it could be Cocci, you may want to treat her with some Corid.
When you can, a photo or video of her actions may be helpful.

Mycoplasma S. (MS) will generally present with swollen hocks/legs (lesions/oozing hocks) and can be accompanied with some respiratory issues. Marek's will present more like paralysis of one or both legs, balancing with the wings, loss of appetite or "going off" feed (which is sometimes mistaken for crop problems).

Vitamin B deficiencies can be a possibility, so hopefully if that what it is, the vitamins will help.


MAREKS
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease/
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/mareksdisease.html

MAREK'S VIDEO

Mycolplasma:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...synovitis.html?qt=Mycoplasma synoviae &alt=sh

Wyorp Rock said:

You can use the flock raiser to make a mash, that is what I use for my flock and they love it wet.

Were you able to get a look at her poo?

Is she puffed up at all? Just on the outside chance, it could be Cocci, you may want to treat her with some Corid.
When you can, a photo or video of her actions may be helpful.

Mycoplasma S. (MS) will generally present with swollen hocks/legs (lesions/oozing hocks) and can be accompanied with some respiratory issues. Marek's will present more like paralysis of one or both legs, balancing with the wings, loss of appetite or "going off" feed (which is sometimes mistaken for crop problems).

Vitamin B deficiencies can be a possibility, so hopefully if that what it is, the vitamins will help.


MAREKS
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease/
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/mareksdisease.html

MAREK'S VIDEO

Mycolplasma:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...synovitis.html?qt=Mycoplasma synoviae &alt=sh

Click to expand...

I was able to separate her and she paced for a while then just laid down again after about five minutes. She has eaten a little bit of the mash I made for her but hasn't touched her water yet. I am thinking its not Marek's because she isn't paralyzed just weak and a little stiff. And I don't think its MS as there is no swelling what so ever. I've added a vitamin/electrolyte/probiotic powder to her water which I hope will help. She has pooped and it looks normal, not discolored or bloody, its small but since she hasn't eaten much I suppose that is to be expected. It also was not watery or too hard a nice medium. So I am hoping its not Cocci, I am going to hold off on the Corid although I do have it unless she goes down hill. I have heard it interferes with some vitamin absorption and I don't want to counteract the stuff I am putting in her water.

I wonder if she turns around with the vitamins how long should I keep her separated for? And should I maybe give some to the rest of the flock as a preventative just in case they become deficient?