Sick hen - Watery eyes, mucusy beak, lethargic

[WarmChick]

Hi there!
My family and I are newbies to backyard chickens and have had ours for just a few weeks. My 5-yr-old son noticed this morning that one of our favorites, Francis, isn't doing so well. She has watery eyes {one is mostly shut}, a crusty beak on the outside and foamy mucus when she opens her beak, and she's lethargic and not eating/drinking. We've had a couple of yucky rainy days and today is the first warm sunny day in a while. I'm really concerned about Francis as she's normally our most social hen. I'm not sure how she's laying as we have 10 others and I haven't spent all day out there with her to know if she's laid at all, but I'm assuming she hasn't. Could this be a respiratory infection? A cold? I also saw one of the more aggressive hens peck at her eye while I was out there just now...could that be part of it? Here are some pictures of her eye and beak.



What should I do? Thank you!!

 

[GoChick]

I'm so sorry, but chickens don't have a cold - it looks like you chicken has some kind of respiratory disease. I'm assuming you bought these chickens as adults, not chicks, so she probably already had the disease or even one of the other chickens had it and passed to her.
Some people would cull them right away, some would treat them. I have not had to deal with it, so I'm not sure what I would do if I were you, but your options are to treat with antibiotics or cull. If you treat, you will be basically treating the symptoms, and they can come back - they can also become carriers and infect other chickens.

Do a search on CRD here on the site and you will find all kinds of info and opinions on whether or not to treat and also on how to treat. A LOT of people who have a backyard flock decide to go ahead and treat. A LOT of people just go ahead and cull.

The best thing if you decide to treat is to find out what exactly does she have, but sometimes taking chickens to a vet is not an option.

Sorry not to have better news for you... good luck.

 

[texasgurl]

I would definitely separate her from the others so they don't keep pecking on her and so she can recoup. Poor girl! I wish her a speedy recovery.

 

[WarmChick]

She was super lethargic this morning, but I separated her from the others and she seems to be rebounding. Her eyes are looking better. She wasn't eating or drinking, but when I gave her some bread she slowly started to nibble and is now eating and drinking like normal. She also has almost all her old energy back! I could see her wheels turning tonight, trying to find a way out of her "hospital room". Her attempts were impressive, including climbing up fence! So...who knows what tomorrow will bring, but she seems to be on the mend. Any thoughts about what I can do to speed her recovery or help her along? A friend suggested some electrolytes???

 

[GoChick]

Electrolytes are definitely good - Gatorade. You can get some Vet-RX in a feed store, which will not cure her but may help her breath better - kind of a Vick Vapor Rub for chickens.

Add some apple acid vinegar - ACV - to the flock's water - 1oz per gallon is what I do.

If she is getting better, you may not need to give her any antibiotics. Just remember that you now have a respiratory disease in your flock. She or some other bird may shown symptoms when exposed to stress -weather, anything. So keep an eye on them and try to build their immunity.

I add ACV to my flock's water every week, I also add some crushed garlic when i know we'll be getting some nasty wet weather.

 

[WarmChick]

I added ACV to the flock's water as well as Francis's water this morning. I also gave them some minced garlic - they gobbled it up!

While a chicken is sick, are her eggs ok or should they be tossed? And how long should I keep her separated from the flock?

THANK YOU!

 

[GoChick]

Though question... especially because you don't know what is wrong with her.

If you're not giving her any medication, I'd say it is up to your comfort level - would you eat the eggs from a bird in her condition? Assuming she has a respiratory disease, her eggs should still be OK for eating.

If you're giving her any antibiotics, then they usually have a withdrawl period, depending on the antibiotic.

 

[GoChick]

Hey WarmChick,

How is she doing? And the rest of the flock? No symptoms?