Chicken acting off

carolthom · May 3, 2015

I noticed my year old buff hen acting off today. She's kind of moping around, she's fluffing out a little and her comb is a very faded pink. I felt of her crop and it was mostly empty, which means she isn't eating much. All of the other hens look normal with bright red combs. Any ideas what could be wrong with her? She is free ranged and fed free choice feed.

Eggcessive · May 3, 2015

Have you wormed the flock lately? What do her droppings look like? Have you added any new birds to the flock recently? I would check her skin closely for any sign of lice or mites. Some mites only come on at night in the dark. Here is a good link to see what to look for on the skin: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

carolthom · May 4, 2015

I haven't wormed them recently. Not sure about the droppings, but I know where she roosted so I'll look. I'll check her over for mites. We haven't added any new birds to the flock. Thanks for the link, I'll look it over.

Eggcessive · May 4, 2015

I would go ahead and worm her and the flock with either Valbazen sheep and cattle wormer, or SafeGuard goat wormer 1/2 ml orally per chicken, and repeat in 10 days. For hard to get worms such as cecal and capillaria worms, giving the SafeGuard to the sick hen for 5 straight days would be beneficial, but the Valbazen only requires the 2 doses 10 days apart. If her droppings are runny or have any blood in them, then coccidiosis or enteritis could be the problem. Scrambled chopped egg is usually taken eagerly by sick chickens, and make sure that she is drinking normally before worming her or giving other medications. Here is some info on coccidiosis and enteritis:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis/

Chicken acting off

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carolthom

Chirping

Eggcessive

Wrangler

carolthom

Chirping

Eggcessive

Wrangler

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