~A Couple Chicken Problems And How to Fix Them~
Nellie the BA in the front
Chickens can get sick without warning. Sometimes its minor and sometimes its major, but either way it should not be taken lightly. Any problem your chickens may encounter should be treated as soon as possible. One of my chickens has been through multiple sicknesses and although it's not fun I have learned a lot from them and would like to share my experiences with everyone. I hope this will help anyone going through what I have gone through.
Egg Binding
This was my first problem that my chickens had ever gotten so I was pretty scared. Egg binding is when the egg gets stuck or is too big to be pushed out. My hen had this after she had laid a couple eggs, and is usually more common in younger birds or older birds.
Here are some of her symptoms...
# Alone in a corner
# Tail pointed down
# Straining
# Hard egg shaped mass inside abdomen. (Which was an egg)
The treatment I used for her was...
# Isolate your sick chicken (bring her inside if it's cold outside)
# Soaking her in a container or your sink full of warm water for 10 minutes
# While in the water massage downward (this helps to un-tense her muscles, push the egg loose/out and relaxes her which reduces stress)
# Take her out of the water and let her dry or blow dry her if it's cold
# Keep massaging her abdomen downward and try to squeeze the egg out but do not break the shell it can cut her insides.
# Keep her comfortable
Give her a couple minutes to squeeze on her own and massage every so often. This method worked for me and about 10 minutes after she was out of the water and dry she was able to get the egg out. After the egg was out she passed an egg membrane with nothing in it and then an egg yolk. After watching her for a day or two I put her back in with the others. They're some other methods that might work better for you. But I prefer this one because it saved my hen Nellie. She never laid again after this.
Vent Gleet
The second sickness Nellie had was Vent Gleet. This is a chicken yeast infection. Vent Gleet is caused from unclean living spaces or in her case hereditary. Vent Gleet needs to be treated by flushing their system and putting good nutrients back in it.
Her symptoms were...
# Tail was pointed down
# Very, very runny poo ( Multiple times I had to cut her butt feathers because they were so matted down or give her a bath)
# Not much appetite
# Was very,very thin
Here was how I treated her...
# Separated her
# Flushed her system by putting molasses in her water (Only do this once because it takes the good and bad nutrients out of her immune system)
# Build it back up by giving her a Tbs. of Greek Yogurt a day (Which gave her good Bacteria)
# Boiled eggs in her feed every so often gave her good protein
After I flushed her system I put her back with the others. I did the yogurt for about two weeks and she was almost back normal. I continued this treatment until she was all better.
Prolapsed Oviduct
The last thing Nellie went through was Prolapsed Oviduct. This is when the lower part of the hens oviduct turns inside out and protrudes through the vent. Unfortunately because of all Nellie had been through her body couldn't fix this one. After battling with sicknesses for 6-8 months I decided that she didn't need to suffer anymore. I tryed and tryed to fix this prolapse and it got better at one point but then went back. Nellie was suffering and would squeal every time she strained. I felt horrible for her. She was only one year old when we put her down. None of the others have ever had anything like what she went through besides a couple bumble-foot here and there. She had major hereditary problems from the time she was born. Anyway...
Symptoms...
# Oviduct coming out of her vent
Here is how I treated her...
# Separate him/her (This is very important. The other chickens will pick at it and it will pull out her oviduct and intestines. The hen will then die from shock and loss of blood.
# Put honey on her vent (This keeps it clean and moist and you need to keep it moist so use honey. Also if it gets too gross with poop and honey and the prolapse then clean the area or bath him/her)
# Pushed it back into her multiple time a day
# Bathed when needed
After doing this it would go back in but when she went to poop it would come back out. (She could still poop though). Nellie hadn't laid since she was egg bound, but most of the time with prolapsed oviduct their is an egg. I checked for an egg just incase but their wasn't one. Taking the chicken to your vet is another option. You can also use Preparation H which is a Hemmorrhoidal cream on the vent area. Good Luck!!!!
Nellie on the Right (RIP)
~Willow Branch Farm~
