Brahma Bantam Hen Sick - Lethargic and Skinny

[blueheeler1998]

Hello. I have a Brahma Bantam Hen that is sick. Not sure what else to do for her. She is low man on the totem pole in the flock and therefore is a loner. She started sleeping alot a few weeks ago. She will fall asleep standing up with her head hanging. She feels thin to me, but they are so small, it is hard to tell. Her comb in pale, but always has been since we got her last year. She is eating and drinking just fine. Her poop looks normal to me. Just an occasional loose poop. She does move around well on her own. She has feather damage on her back, but we think that is from being picked on. She had lice, but we treated about two weeks ago, and she is lice free now. She stopped laying eggs about a month ago, but wasn't much of a layer anyway. Her abdomen is soft, so there is no egg issue. Her crop feels normal before and after she eats.

What I have done for her so far is to switch her to grower/starter feed, added vitamin drops to her water, and removed her from the flock. I am going to go buy wormer tomorrow. The emergency of it all is that she is my 10 year old daughters 4H project. She is the only bird she can take, as she was the only one she owned prior to the deadline date of June 1. We have a month and a half until the fair to get her back healthy and looking better. If she dies or is ill, my girl will not be able to participate at the fair.

Our other birds are Standard RIRs and are all healthy and beautiful. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[LakeBird]

I had a 18 week old Lemon Orpington with the same symptoms. I didn't go to the lengths you have gone. Maybe if I had, she wouldn't have died today

She would just stand around with her neck tucked in. When I tried feeding her by hand today, she wouldn't eat. I was took this picture and was going to post the same question.

 

[blueheeler1998]

Sorry about your chicken. Luckily mine is still eating fine when she is awake. Hoping to find help before it gets that far. Thanks for your post.

 

[LakeBird]

Please keep me update. I would be interested to see how things go. Mine didn't have any color in her face like the rest of my flock (all hatched together). Good luck!

 

[LakeBird]

P.S. Just ran across this thread - maybe it will help

 

[LakeBird]

and here is the link https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/694103/sick-chick-please-help

need more coffee!

 

[blueheeler1998]

Thanks for your concern and information. We are still not sure what is wrong with her but we are doing all we can. We wormed her today, but only with the poultry wormer that only does roundworms because that is all the feed store carried. We also started feeding her Diatomacious Earth (not sure on spelling) mixed in her food, meal worms for added protein as well as cottage cheese for probiotics, and cooked eggs for the protein. She is eating well and drinking the water with wormer. Her comb color is better, but we weighed her and she is about 7 oz. lighter that she use to be, that is a lot for a small bantam. She is still sleepy, but has times were she is mildly active. Tomorrow she goes back on regular water after 24 hours on wormer. I think I will add Apple Cider Vinegar to it as suggested on Backyard Chickens. Not sure what is wrong, so we are kind of doing everything. Haven't done antibiotics because it doesn't sound like an infection to me. Hope we are helping.

 

[LakeBird]

How does Diatomacious Earth help?

 

[Rikki]

I read on another sick chicken thread tonight that pumpkins and squash are good for dealing with worms. The symptoms do sound right for a parasite. Pumpkins and squash are also good in that the little girl gets some nutrients as well.

Good luck at the fair!

 

[blueheeler1998]

not sure but recommended on here and i am willing to try anything