First Aid help!

[ChickyBaber]

Hi there! I’m a first time chicken mama- one whole week. We have one chicken that isn’t really apart of the group and now I think she may be getting pecked… although we’ve had a horrible week- 2 heavy rainstorms, 1 tornado, and then a heat wave. So please help me figure out what’s wrong with our girl.
She’s very tired. She doesn’t want to eat or drink. I finally got her to eat some watermelon today. Then I noticed some dried blood around her ears… should I separate her? Do some kind of first aid? Is it the heat?
For reference we have four hens about six months old. We’ve had them for a week. The other girls seem fine.

 

[azygous]

For starters, treat her for heat stroke. One cup water with a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda. Dip her beak to tip her off that it's sweet. The other hen can drink this, too.

Notice the little ear flaps just behind her eyes? Take a finger and poke those forward and look into her ear holes. They should be clear of any crusty stuff. If you see the ear holes are crusted over, she may have an ear infection and has been scratching them. Scratching at a body part is how a chicken lets us know it hurts. If you find crust and swelling, come back and well go through the next step of treating it.

Are these hens laying? Sometimes it takes a week or two to resume laying after moving into a new home. But if she was laying but acting like she wants to lay but isn't producing anything, we may need to treat for egg binding. If she has a watery discharge, that's a symptom of egg binding.

Last, there is a possibility she could be coming down with coccidiosis. This is a parasite of the intestines caused by a protozoa in the local soil. Chickens who grew up elsewhere may not have resistance to the strain of coccidia at their new home. Incubation is five to seven days for onset of symptoms. This is treated with liquid Corid, a thiamine blocker, two teaspoons to one gallon of water (you can scale that down to one-fourth teaspoon to a quart of water.) five days on, one week rest, then five more days of Corid. Mix fresh each day. Do not give any B-vitamins during treatment. It doesn't hurt to treat if you are merely suspecting she may have this. It's not like an antibiotic.

Come back with any questions.

 

[ChickyBaber]

For starters, treat her for heat stroke. One cup water with a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda. Dip her beak to tip her off that it's sweet. The other hen can drink this, too.

Notice the little ear flaps just behind her eyes? Take a finger and poke those forward and look into her ear holes. They should be clear of any crusty stuff. If you see the ear holes are crusted over, she may have an ear infection and has been scratching them. Scratching at a body part is how a chicken lets us know it hurts. If you find crust and swelling, come back and well go through the next step of treating it.

Are these hens laying? Sometimes it takes a week or two to resume laying after moving into a new home. But if she was laying but acting like she wants to lay but isn't producing anything, we may need to treat for egg binding. If she has a watery discharge, that's a symptom of egg binding.

Last, there is a possibility she could be coming down with coccidiosis. This is a parasite of the intestines caused by a protozoa in the local soil. Chickens who grew up elsewhere may not have resistance to the strain of coccidia at their new home. Incubation is five to seven days for onset of symptoms. This is treated with liquid Corid, a thiamine blocker, two teaspoons to one gallon of water (you can scale that down to one-fourth teaspoon to a quart of water.) five days on, one week rest, then five more days of Corid. Mix fresh each day. Do not give any B-vitamins during treatment. It doesn't hurt to treat if you are merely suspecting she may have this. It's not like an antibiotic.

Come back with any questions.

Thank you so so much! This is incredibly helpful! I will try all of this and let you know how it goes!!

 

[ChickyBaber]

We tried the water solution and water with ice stations. She’s acting so much better! She’s eating frozen watermelon and drinking on her own and walking around the yard. Yay!! Thank you so much for your help!