Sick Chicken--any help out there?

[raisingkane]

I went out this morning to let the hens out of the coop. Only 7 of the 8 came out. I peeked in to see if the missing RIR was on the nest but found her sitting quite still on the roost bar. Now she is just standing very still on the ground outside the coop. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Robin

 

[BlueMoon]

Is she a layer? All puffed up and head or tail down? How are the other chickens reacting to her?

 

[raisingkane]

She is a layer and she looks puffed up and her head and tail are not down. She's just so quiet and still. Since they are free ranging once I let them out of the coop the others just went off about their business and she is alone in the enclosure. My husband reports that she just went back into the coop and is sitting on the nesting place.

 

[BlueMoon]

Is she eating and drinking?

Can you tell us anything else about her?

 

[Michael Apple]

I'm having the same problem with one of my Australorp hens. She walks as if she's arthritic, won't stand for very long and often has her tail down. She does eat & drink though. I cannot figure it out since I felt around the vent to see if she's eggbound.

 

[hobomom]

We had a Barred Plymouth Rock that did that in January. She would stand mostly in one place all puffed up like she was taking a quick nap but the thing we noticed the most was that when she would walk, she would stop & pick up a foot, look at it as if she had stepped on something. Her appetite wasn't as good either....she doesn't miss many meals. She's a full-figured gal ;^) After a quick check around the forum here we figured it was leg mites.

We separated her from the other gals for a few days and she had "spa treatment"... soaked her feet in warm water in the bathtub, dried off her feet, slathered Bag Balm all over her feet and then put her in a small cage with some straw to sit on. Then the other gals got their feet soaked & Bag Balmed, too, and placed in another cage as I got their pen totally cleared out, cleaned everything (roosts - undersides, too, sides of the pen, bottom, every place I could spray) with a bleach/water mix and then let to dry for a day before I replaced the nesting boxes with new straw that I dusted with poultry dust. (They nest in straw baskets and those all got washed with the bleach/water mix, too, and dried in the sun for a day) I put the other hens back in the pen after it was all dry & clean for about a day so the Bag Balm could take effect before they went & did their normal daily routine of having dirt baths. They are all free-range so they weren't all that pleased about being locked up.

I did let Ducky out with the other girls after about 2 days because she wanted to be with the rest of them and she was feeling better, too. It took about a week before she was her old self again and had put some weight back on - I did the foot bath/Bag Balm treatment every other day for that week. So you may want to give her a foot bath & put some Bag Balm (or something similar) on her feet for a few days. And make sure she eats/drinks so you may have to give her some treats that are her favorites.

Good luck & keep us posted!
Karen