12 week old chick very sleepy and puffed up. First time chicken owner.

[tedstonechickens]

My 12 week old Isa Brown is very sleepy and she doesn’t okay with the other chicks who have a lot of energy. they just went out side a few weeks ago but yesterday i noticed she is very tired and sluggish. she also is missing feathers and has cuts on her side from my bigger hens pecking at her so i separated them. any tips on what to do? i brought her inside under the heat lamp alone and gave her medicated food and water mixed with probiotics.

 

[nuthatched]

What's her crop feel like? Any sneezing or runny eyes/noes?

 

[MountainWoman73]

The puffed up/hunched up shoulders look always says coccidiosis to me, so the medicated feed was the right idea. Treating everyone's water with amprolium(corid) would ensure that she's getting a full dose, even if she's not eating much. You might want to check what's in the probiotics. If you're supplementing with any b-vitamins, they counteract the amprolium.

And, as a first time chicken owner it's important to know that it's perfectly normal to lose the occasional bird. A lot of things can go wrong that you can't see. If the others don't seem sick it's not necessarily cause for alarm.

 

[MountainWoman73]

Another thought: you mentioned missing feathers. Is it possible she survived a predator attack and is injured? Sometimes injured birds act sick. In that case, the right thing to do would be to keep her warm and isolated and encourage her to drink water and eat something (a scrambled egg with cornmeal mixed in is what I try)

 

[tedstonechickens]

What's her crop feel like? Any sneezing or runny eyes/noes?

Thank you for the reply! No runny eyes or nose but her chest is a lot more buff than usual and specifically the right side.

 

[tedstonechickens]

The puffed up/hunched up shoulders look always says coccidiosis to me, so the medicated feed was the right idea. Treating everyone's water with amprolium(corid) would ensure that she's getting a full dose, even if she's not eating much. You might want to check what's in the probiotics. If you're supplementing with any b-vitamins, they counteract the amprolium.

And, as a first time chicken owner it's important to know that it's perfectly normal to lose the occasional bird. A lot of things can go wrong that you can't see. If the others don't seem sick it's not necessarily cause for alarm.

Thank you for the info. She is the only sick one i have noticed so far.

 

[tedstonechickens]

Another thought: you mentioned missing feathers. Is it possible she survived a predator attack and is injured? Sometimes injured birds act sick. In that case, the right thing to do would be to keep her warm and isolated and encourage her to drink water and eat something (a scrambled egg with cornmeal mixed in is what I try)

I agree with your thinking but she is not free ranger right now or has never been. We have lost a chicken to a fox a few weeks ago so i’m being cautious about that. I am thinking that it was just one of my older hens picking on her. This is what it looks like:

 

[feather13]

The puffed up/hunched up shoulders look always says coccidiosis to me, so the medicated feed was the right idea. Treating everyone's water with amprolium(corid) would ensure that she's getting a full dose, even if she's not eating much. You might want to check what's in the probiotics. If you're supplementing with any b-vitamins, they counteract the amprolium.

x2. We had a 12-week-old Phoenix who acted exactly like this. We were prepared to cull her, but a BYC member suggested it might be coccidiosis (even though the chick had received a vaccine for it) and after giving the flock Corid, she recovered and just started laying eggs. I did keep her in a cage in the house until she felt better though.