Buff orpington weak??

[Chixlittel]

I live in Wisconsin, the last two days, and this whole coming week is in the negatives. My chickens are living in my attached garage right now because we didn't get the coop done before winter came. The have pine chip bedding, and a house to go into. My garage is reading about 25-30 degrees. I change their water morning, afternoon when I get home from work, and evening before bed. I found one of my buff orpingtons laying down and not wanting to stand. Everytime I tried to get her to stand, she would drop down. I got her to drink water, and eat some food. She seems alert, but won't stand and is acting cold. I turned a space heater on, and heat lamp to warm it up in there, but shouldn't they be fine with the cold? There is no drafts. I only use the heat when I'm home. I don't trust the heat source when I'm not home. Out of all my buff orpingtons, she is the biggest. All of my other ones seems fine. They are 17 weeks old today. Is there anything else I can do to help her? She doesn't seem sick, but I'm worried about her. Any advice?

 

[ShellyBear]

Let her stay in the house for atleast 2 days and give her pane killers, if not better she might have a disease. Good luck.

 

[azelgin]

25~30 should be no problem. I've got a couple hens that would rather roost in the run and it's been in the teens at night for the past three weeks. Could she be getting ready to lay? Timing isn't that far off, for an early layer. Other than that, I don't know what else to suggest.

 

[justplainbatty]

I live in Wisconsin, the last two days, and this whole coming week is in the negatives. My chickens are living in my attached garage right now because we didn't get the coop done before winter came. The have pine chip bedding, and a house to go into. My garage is reading about 25-30 degrees. I change their water morning, afternoon when I get home from work, and evening before bed. I found one of my buff orpingtons laying down and not wanting to stand. Everytime I tried to get her to stand, she would drop down. I got her to drink water, and eat some food. She seems alert, but won't stand and is acting cold. I turned a space heater on, and heat lamp to warm it up in there, but shouldn't they be fine with the cold? There is no drafts. I only use the heat when I'm home. I don't trust the heat source when I'm not home. Out of all my buff orpingtons, she is the biggest. All of my other ones seems fine. They are 17 weeks old today. Is there anything else I can do to help her? She doesn't seem sick, but I'm worried about her. Any advice?

That temp is not "cold" for chickens, especially buffs. I agree with taking her inside though. Make sure she is eating and drinking. Give electrolytes,scrambled eggs, a little yogurt in addition to feed ration. Is there anything the girl might have gotten into in the garage? Plastic, metal, poisons? Coccidia might be considered too.

 

[Chixlittel]

They are actually in a 12x6 foot outdoor dog kennel, that's in the garage. They have a house in the back of it. So, she couldn't of gotten into anything. Should I maybe separate her from the others? I have 11 chickens in total. She has her feathers puffed out and just laying there. When I try to get her to stand, she falls over. Obviously she can walk, cuz I find her in different spots than how I left her. I did see her poop. It looked totally normal. My other chickens are acting normal, I'm just confused as to what is going on. If I feed her scramble eggs, do I need to give her grit? I haven't feed them people food yet, so haven't given them grit yet. They eat nutrena chick starter/grower. So I haven't had to give them grit.

 

[000]

Although there are no drafts, they can still get cold. Check for any other symptoms, especially upper respetory (coughing, sneezing, ect.). These could be signs of a cold, which could be deadly if not treated, so watch for symptoms. Even if she has no signs of a cold, I would go to the feed store and get VetRX. Put some in the water to help prevent future infection. Also, make sure that the bedding is dry, damp areas can lower the immune system and your chicken could catch a disease. I hope that I helped! Good luck!

 

[justplainbatty]

They are actually in a 12x6 foot outdoor dog kennel, that's in the garage. They have a house in the back of it. So, she couldn't of gotten into anything. Should I maybe separate her from the others? I have 11 chickens in total. She has her feathers puffed out and just laying there. When I try to get her to stand, she falls over. Obviously she can walk, cuz I find her in different spots than how I left her. I did see her poop. It looked totally normal. My other chickens are acting normal, I'm just confused as to what is going on. If I feed her scramble eggs, do I need to give her grit? I haven't feed them people food yet, so haven't given them grit yet. They eat nutrena chick starter/grower. So I haven't had to give them grit.

I start my chicks on grit at 2 weeks (baby grit). They should all be on grit now. Maybe she is going to start laying, maybe she is cold for some reason or sick. It wouldn't hurt to separate her in a warm house while you figure it out. Are her comb and wattles of good color? At least while she is inside you can be sure of whether she is eating and drinking. Falling over is not a good sign though. Are they vaccinated against mareks? Keep updating, anyone on here may have your answer. Good luck!

 

[Chixlittel]

Yes they are vaccinated against mereks. Should I start them in layer feed? Comb and wattles look just like my other buffs. She is moving around. I just checked her, and she moved from the back of kennel, to the front. I guess I'll see how she is in the morning. Thank you everyone for your responses. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[justplainbatty]

Although there are no drafts, they can still get cold. Check for any other symptoms, especially upper respetory (coughing, sneezing, ect.). These could be signs of a cold, which could be deadly if not treated, so watch for symptoms. Even if she has no signs of a cold, I would go to the feed store and get VetRX. Put some in the water to help prevent future infection. Also, make sure that the bedding is dry, damp areas can lower the immune system and your chicken could catch a disease. I hope that I helped! Good luck!

Yes they are vaccinated against mereks. Should I start them in layer feed? Comb and wattles look just like my other buffs. She is moving around. I just checked her, and she moved from the back of kennel, to the front. I guess I'll see how she is in the morning. Thank you everyone for your responses. I greatly appreciate it.

I use VetRx daily on my flock, it's great stuff but I only started using it after I found a chicken sounding like she was having an asthma attack. The bedding advice is also sound. But I was thinking if she was cold she would huddle with others. If she separates herself, she is not feeling well. Puffing out of feathers and squatting is a sign of something else. A chicken "cold" is likely to be infectious coryza or CRD. You have not mentioned any symptoms that match those so far. Also, you don't have to put them on layer ration until 22-24 weeks but they need grit now. Keep posting so we can all try to figure this out.

 

[Eggcessive]

At her age she could still suffer from coccidiosis, especially being cooped up, and not getting out on fresh grass. Corid (amprollium) will treat that, and it would be fine to treat all at the same time. Worms also could be a problem, and treating them all with Valbazen which gets all chicken worms including the rare ones, would be a good thing. Check her crop to make sure it is emptying by early morning. Watch to see that she is not being kept away from food and water by others. Look her over for evidence of lice or mites.