Afraid We're Losing A Hen

[Abronsyth]

Apples has been sick for a while now, but she's getting worse. Now she's lost all fat and most of her muscle mass, despite eating plenty. She won't dust bathe so we have to dust her with mite powder ourselves. We tried giving her an antibiotic, but we had to give it orally because we couldn't find any muscle to inject it into. She's very weak, and falls over easily. Her comb/skin is very dull, and her comb has flopped over. We've been letting her out on warm days but I'm thinking I should tell my mom to keep her away from the other birds just because she's so ill. I have no idea what to do about her, there are not any chicken savvy vets in our area (just dogs, cows, and cats), so there's no one to take her to.

She's a 3 year old Golden Comet hen.

Does anyone have any advice? We're giving her ACV, tylan (she's been sneezing and coughing too), and keeping her inside...however I'm now worried that she could pass something on to our rabbits or baby chicks because they're all in the same room (though there is no way for physical contact to occur between Apples, the chicks, and the rabbits), but I'm worried all the same.

At this rate any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. We love this hen, she's part of our original flock and one of the sweetest of the 8.

Thanks,
Abron and his family

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm sorry to hear that Apples is not feeling well. She may have worms which would could make her thin. It may not be her only problem considering she is sneezing, but it is possible worms are an issue. This thread has info about treating worms near the end of the list:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517234/medical-treatments-recommended-by-bycers#post_6580204

I don't think you have to worry about your rabbits catching anything from her. I'm not so sure about the chicks as far as the sneezing and passing something on.

 

[Attila the Hen]

I would keep her comfortable and isolated. One of my hens was ill recently and recovered. I gave her water through a dropper and yogurt 2 hours after the antibiotic. She was better in a couple of days. It's so hard to know what to do sometime. Good luck.

 

[Abronsyth]

Update on Apples! She's going much, much better now that we've wormed her! She's gotten much stronger and, thankfully, has started rapidly putting on weight. She's even gotten out with our bantam chicks and made friends with them! And, today, for the first time in weeks, she was strong enough to dust bathe!

Thanks everyone who has helped me out with this and helped saved our sweetest hen's life!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm so glad she is improving!