10 month old RIR hen, listless, combs not very red, moves very slowly

[4boysmom]

How is your hen? Is she improving? I have one who is acting the same & am planning to stop by the feed store on the way home

 

[chickbea]

It is terrribly difficult to guess from afar what may be wrong. Here's something to try, however, that I have had success with when a hen is under the weather.
Instead of giving meds when I don't know what is wrong, I take a more "holistic" approach, mainly by upping the quality of the food, and by keeping the bird very warm.
If it is winter, I bring the hen inside and put it in a dog crate in a warm location. Then I give a steady supply of PLAIN yogurt (no sugar or flavors), sprouts of all kinds, a bit of Poly-vi-sol, and whatever else I can think of that seems healthy and tasty.

 

[Nostalchic]

I think that is such excellent advice, Chickbea! It really doesn't make sense to throw antibiotics at something that you don't have a really good reason to suspect some particular organism that is sensitive to that particular antibiotic! The medicines themselves can cause worse problems for the patient, and for all of us with the development of resistant organisms. Good nursing care is not going to do any harm, and will probably do the most good, unless you know for sure what the problem is!

 

[Nostalchic]

Quote:
Some chicken diseases can be transmitted to humans in a variety of ways - for instance, salmonella or e-coli, which are both by fecal/oral transmission, meaning you touch something that is contaminated with feces from the infected chicken, you touch your food or your mouth, and then YOU"VE got it, too! (meaning you're ingesting the organism, though you may or may not actually get sick, some people are more susceptible than others). (Other diseases may be transmitted by breathing spores (like histoplasmosis) or vector born -mosquitoes involved, like with West Nile) but in terms of your little boy, really careful handwashing after handling the chicken, and no eating or touching of mouth or face while holding, would be helpful preventive measures.