Chicken failing to thrive

[Leo1]

So, I brought home 3 chickens about 6 weeks ago. They were not doing very well at the time. They were very skinny, one in particular, Brigid, who was skin and bones. I could feel the sides of her breast bone. They had some kind of protozoan, worms, mites and lice. I believe I have gotten rid of all these things and one of them just doesn't seem to be coming around. She was doing well for a while, putting on weight and starting to get more energy. Now she seems to be in a down slide. I'm having trouble getting her to eat enough and she acts cold all the time: puffed up and half asleep. She drinks plenty of water and consequently has watery poos. I've put vitamins in their water (tried putting sugar in as well), DE in their food and put a heater on them. I'm out of ideas does anyone have any suggestions? I'm desperate to get her through this!

 

[easteregger96]

Poor chickies

that makes me feel so bad for them. I know you feel bad too. I hope you find some help with it soon. I wish I had a solution for you.

 

[CMV]

You've been having a lot of problems with these birds. I think you might want to have a fecal run on them to ensure the worming worked and to test for cocci again. Are you sure they have been completely de-bugged?

Just an additional note- I would hesitate to introduce these birds to the rest of your flock. With all their ailments you may want to hold off for the foreseeable future. When you do finally decide to integrate, I would pull a sacrificial bird from your flock to put in with these newbies for a month to test for diseases. They have pretty much had and/or been treated for every nasty thing a bird can have, yet they are still ailing. This makes me wonder about their overall health. Something to think about...

 

[Leo1]

It's just the one that's still not doing well, the other two seem to be doing great and Brigid was looking really good for awhile there. Perhaps a fecal is a good idea. Other than being droopy and a little weak she doesn't seem to have any other symptoms. I wonder if maybe the treatments have done her harm or maybe she was just so run down that it is taking her a long time to recover. Or perhaps she's just not a healthy girl to begin with. It's looking like it's going to be a least spring before they can get integrated. They are going in with only two other birds, but I am getting really nervous about putting them together. They're my babies and I don't want to do anyone any harm.