Broody chicken left the nest, white comb, lethargic, help

[emily_chickenlover]

our broody lady has been sitting on eggs for 12 days already, but today she left the nest and the eggs have been sitting in 10-12° Celcius for like 4-5 hours, but theyre all covered in mites. We sprayed our entire coop to kill the mites last week, and we are going to do it again today, but is there a chance to help this girl out? She is lethargic, other chickens peck on her, and her crop is all white, can she be anemic? How can we help her?
Also, this might be a wrong thread to ask the question at, but can the eggs still be viable? We put them under another chicken, but is there a chance of any of them hatching? Thank you for any help

 

[LaFleche]

Poor thing!

Yes, she looks very anaemic. Take her in the house and feed her some scrambled eggs with fine oats and chopped raw beef liver to help rebuild the lost blood cells. Clean off any mites you can see and treat her accordingly.

Put her in a clean cage with towels, no straw or similar.

She also needs a boost of poultry vitamins in her water.

It is risky to let a broody set on a clutch in a mite infested coop.

How far along are the eggs? If you have or can get an incubator it would be best to set it up and move them to it and let them hatch there.

Your broody may not survive if you don't break the broodiness as in her broody trance she will be unable to feed herself sufficiently and get rid of the mites.

 

[emily_chickenlover]

Poor thing!

Yes, she looks very anaemic. Take her in the house and feed her some scrambled eggs with fine oats and chopped raw beef liver to help rebuild the lost blood cells. Clean off any mites you can see and treat her accordingly.

Put her in a clean cage with towels, no straw or similar.

She also needs a boost of poultry vitamins in her water.

It is risky to let a broody set on a clutch in a mite infested coop.

How far along are the eggs? If you have or can get an incubator it would be best to set it up and move them to it and let them hatch there.

Your broody may not survive if you don't break the broodiness as in her broody trance she will be unable to feed herself sufficiently and get rid of the mites.

she had been sitting for 12 days on those eggs, but we are not sure if she is still broody. We candled the eggs, and some of them looked like they had been developing. So, we put them under another broody chicken (because we don't have an incubator) that has also been sitting on eggs since June 1st (also 12 days), and we are hoping for the best.

My mum is boiling an egg, going to mash it and put some beets and liver in it, and she is also making vitamin water for all the chickens to drink.

we are going to wash all of the chickens and spray them + the whole coop just to be safe.

 

[LaFleche]

she had been sitting for 12 days on those eggs, but we are not sure if she is still broody. We candled the eggs, and some of them looked like they had been developing. So, we put them under another broody chicken (because we don't have an incubator) that has also been sitting on eggs since June 1st (also 12 days), and we are hoping for the best.

My mum is boiling an egg, going to mash it and put some beets and liver in it, and she is also making vitamin water for all the chickens to drink.

we are going to wash all of the chickens and spray them + the whole coop just to be safe.

Sounds like a good plan.

You will also have to remove all the bedding from the coop and nest boxes and burn it.

Don't use straw as its hollow stems provide great hiding places for mites. Fresh sand or soft wood shavings are much better.

Use a blow torch on the undersides of the roosting bars mornings and in the evenings before the birds go to roost.

Stick double-sided adhesive tape on the underside of the roosting bars and ends where they meet the wall so any mite on its way to feed on the chickens will get stuck to the tape.

Check the other broody and her eggs each day for mites.
To be on the safe side, I would remove her old nesting material when she gets up to relieve herself and eat etc.
Prepare a fresh one using new nesting materials and put her eggs back in.
Use mite spray all around her new nest so the parasites cannot get to her.

Fingers crossed that your hen will survive.

 

[emily_chickenlover]

Sounds like a good plan.

You will also have to remove all the bedding from the coop and nest boxes and burn it.

Don't use straw as its hollow stems provide great hiding places for mites. Fresh sand or soft wood shavings are much better.

Use a blow torch on the undersides of the roosting bars mornings and in the evenings before the birds go to roost.

Stick double-sided adhesive tape on the underside of the roosting bars and ends where they meet the wall so any mite on its way to feed on the chickens will get stuck to the tape.

Check the other broody and her eggs each day for mites.
To be on the safe side, I would remove her old nesting material when she gets up to relieve herself and eat etc.
Prepare a fresh one using new nesting materials and put her eggs back in.
Use mite spray all around her new nest so the parasites cannot get to her.

Fingers crossed that your hen will survive.

well good news already - she is eating and drinking on her own, so we have good hopes for her <3 thank you a lot for the suggestions and help!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Please make sure that she is eating and drinking several times a day. The egg and liver would be good to supplement her usual chicken feed to build her health back. Mites are very deadly. If you are in the UK you may not be able to get permethrin garden dust, or Elector PSP with spinosad, which what most use to treat mites. Call your vet to see what they recommend for a bad mite infestation. They might suggest a dog or cat medication. The coop may need to be heat treated or pressure washed. You will have to be vigilant to get rid of the mites completely. Their eggs hatch every 5 days, so all chickens will need to be retreated at those intervals and checked for mites.