Can a tick make a chicken this sick?

[Granolamom]

I noticed that Sofie, my itty-bitty 6-month old BR hen was acting totally out of character, not at all her usual, spunky, escape-artist, faster-than-any-of-the-others self, and just stood around, all fluffed up, not eating. When I brought her inside to separate her from the flock and check on her, I found a huge tick over her right eye, and her face was all swollen and alien-looking. I carefully removed the tick, disinfected the wound, gave her some Ledum (homeopathic remedy for tick bites), and kept her inside over night. She seems to be okay, 24 hrs later, and so I let her return to her sisters, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had issues with ticks, and did their chickens get sick like that?

 

[Guitartists]

I don't know if chickens can get Lyme or not... but I hope your gal is feeling better!

 

[cozycritters]

Ticks carry all sorts of little nasty things, and they also drain the system by drinking blood, so, that alone could probably make her feel miserable.

Is she still looking better? Poor thing! I hope she is

 

[Granolamom]

Thanks so much for checking on her, guys! Yes, she's totally back to normal now, and the swelling on her face has dissappeared, too. Freaked me out, though, because all the other chicklets were free-ranging in our yard all summer and fall long, and none of them has ever gotten a tick, to my knowledge.

 

[mackak]

Today I removed a tick from our little bantam hens face. She too was not her little feisty self. Her face and tiny wattles are swollen. I put anibacterial gel on the site and isolated her for the night. She ate some bread that we gave her but she was quite polite which is not typical for her. I hope she is better in the morning!

 

[JustDawn]

I removed a large, swollen tick from Blossom, my golden laced Polish about a month ago. It was right behind her eye under her hair do. She too was not acting like herself - Sitting around, tail down, holding head down. I removed the tic in within 10 minutes she was feeling better! It must have been sucking all the blood flow her little brain needed. She is doing great now and has not "after effects" of her tic bite.

Hope your girls feel better soon!