Poorly rescue chicken - really dont know what to do!!

[youngalexrob]

We adopted two rescue chickens 3 days ago. One is getting along just fine but the other one just stands there like a statue and will not eat or drink, we really dont want to lose her but dont know what to do to help her. Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do to help her?? We have had to take her out of the coop as our little Pekin Bantums keep attacking her. She is a 12 month old Brown Warren.

 

[dawg53]

Inspect her for lice/mites, she also may need to be wormed.

 

[youngalexrob]

I've checked for mites/lice and there is no sign and wormed her. There are'nt any visible signs of illness, she just stands there with her eyes closed like she is asleep. Occasionally she rests her head on/in her wing. If I carefully dip her beak in some water she will drink. She looks sad.

 

[addie08]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have been in a similar situation with a young pullet and things didn't end well. I bought her and a few other pullets at a trade-day type thing. When I got her, I didn't notice any type of sickness, but when she got to our house, things went south. She wouldn't eat or drink unless we hand fed her or put the water where she could reach it. She would either stay on the roost or outside in one place, depending on where my other hens chased her. She wouldn't do anything but sit or stand, and her eyes stayed closed. Eventually we noticed that she was having trouble breathing, and I began to think the poor thing was actually blind, or close to it. Turns out she had a respiratory illness (kind of like a human cold) and she had worms that had gotten behind her eyes which made it difficult for her to see. I can't remember the actual scientific terms for it, sorry. Long story short, my whole flock of 16 birds had to be thinned to 8 because she gave them a respiratory illness, and some of them just didn't get better even after antibiotics. We were having to medicate their water and put antibiotic cream on some of the hens. At one point I thought my best layer wasn't gonna make it. She was in pitiful shape and her eye was swollen up the size of a grape. In the end, we had to start disposing of the sick hens, the young pullet included. It was getting just too expensive buying medicine that just didn't seem to be working. When one would get better, then a few more would get sick. I'm not saying that is what is going on in your situation, just letting you know of my experience. I told myself I would never get chickens from that place again, and only from my family's trusted friend. My suggestion would be to get some antibiotics and see if she gets better. I do wish you the best of luck with your hen.

 

[RedIII]

She could be in shock and/or sad, like you think. It might be that she needs a couple of days to adjust and get used to her new home. Do you know what kind of conditions they came from?

I would maybe check to see if for some reason she is eggbound, just in case. Carefully feel around her abdomen and see if you find an egg-sized lump.

 

[youngalexrob]

Well, the person/place we had them from would not let us see how or where they were kept. I will check to see if she is eggbound tomorrow, if she is eggbound what should I do?? ty

 

[youngalexrob]

Thanks Addie, I will certainly be looking out for all the things you've mentioned. Luckily I isolated her from the flock yesterday, so if she is ill, hopefully they wont go the same way. Her eyes aren't swollen and when she does open them they look clear, I'm hoping she is light sensitive still. ty

 

[RedIII]

Aw, there's probably good reason she was a rescue, then. If she's eggbound, try to get her to take a little bit of olive oil if you can get her to eat, possibly with yogurt. Giving her a warm bath or two will help relax her muscles.

Whoa, sorry for that delay! I got home from work and forgot about this.

Symptoms:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/427583/sick-hen-likely-eggbound
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/427358/eggbound

Treatments:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/475615/pretty-sure-my-hen-is-eggbound-help
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/186978/eggbound

Here's a thread that has one suggestion for treatment on post #5:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/431740/eggbound-hen-help-please

Long thread, but post #11 has some info and a link to an article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...tarts-at-post-4-update-she-was-constipated/10

Good luck! Let us know what you find.