Chicken not eating well

[Ray987]

Hello everyone
I have a small flock of 8 chickens and a rooster (I don't know their breed) anyways there's this one chicken I noticed isn't eating well the past 3-4 days, usually when I open the door for them in the morning they run out and start eating including this chicken but the past 3-4 days she wouldn't go out, I have to go inside then she would run out and she wouldn't go and start eating, instead she just walk around, sometime she eats tiny bits, a little bit of grass but she's not eating as much as she used to and she seems scared from other chickens, I checked her eyes, feathers and all she looks perfectly healthy but just not eating well, I tried isolating her, gave her feed but she wouldn't eat it, any suggestions?

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? Is there any bullying in the flock, and do you have more than one feeder and waterer? I would take her aside and feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, firm or puffy. Then check it first thing in the morning to see that it has emptied overnight. What does her poop look like? Take her aside and offer some bits of scrambled egg, tuna, or ground meat, just to see if she will eat. Consider worming her and your flock.

 

[Ray987]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? Is there any bullying in the flock, and do you have more than one feeder and waterer? I would take her aside and feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, firm or puffy. Then check it first thing in the morning to see that it has emptied overnight. What does her poop look like? Take her aside and offer some bits of scrambled egg, tuna, or ground meat, just to see if she will eat. Consider worming her and your flock.

She's around 12-14 months old, I'm not sure if she lay eggs but I think so, I had a Chicken with a leg injury they used to bully her a lot so I guess Yes there's bullying in the flock, I have 1 feeder 1 waterer, I would have to check and try the stuff you suggested in the morning and let you know

 

[Ray987]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? Is there any bullying in the flock, and do you have more than one feeder and waterer? I would take her aside and feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, firm or puffy. Then check it first thing in the morning to see that it has emptied overnight. What does her poop look like? Take her aside and offer some bits of scrambled egg, tuna, or ground meat, just to see if she will eat. Consider worming her and your flock.

What should I use for worming? A natural way would be nice

 

[Eggcessive]

Valabazen or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer or horse paste are very good for worming. Natural methods are not enough if there is an infestation. Albendazole the active ingredient in Valbazen is used in humans with worms. Both are very safe.

 

[Blairsavage]

Hello everyone
I have a small flock of 8 chickens and a rooster (I don't know their breed) anyways there's this one chicken I noticed isn't eating well the past 3-4 days, usually when I open the door for them in the morning they run out and start eating including this chicken but the past 3-4 days she wouldn't go out, I have to go inside then she would run out and she wouldn't go and start eating, instead she just walk around, sometime she eats tiny bits, a little bit of grass but she's not eating as much as she used to and she seems scared from other chickens, I checked her eyes, feathers and all she looks perfectly healthy but just not eating well, I tried isolating her, gave her feed but she wouldn't eat it, any suggestions?

Over the winter I had that happen to my youngest female of the flock. Since she was at the bottom of the pecking order they kinda all just bullied her. Anyways I found her hidden in the coop she barley held her head up and couldn't walk. She wouldn't eat or drink. I just separated her and put her in fenced in back yard during the day and brought her in every night to sleep in carrier. 2 weeks she wouldn't eat a bite on her own. She was so pitiful I just knew she would die. She was complete bones and then I just dug worms for her and had to force her mouth open with my fingernails and just fed her worms for a few days and force her beak into water to make her drink and a week later she was eating on her own and doing great 2 weeks after that she laid her first egg. I was so proud but she now is spoiled rotten. I never could put her with the rest she goes in her carrier every night and hangs out with the baby and dogs in back yard during the day.

 

[Ray987]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? Is there any bullying in the flock, and do you have more than one feeder and waterer? I would take her aside and feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, firm or puffy. Then check it first thing in the morning to see that it has emptied overnight. What does her poop look like? Take her aside and offer some bits of scrambled egg, tuna, or ground meat, just to see if she will eat. Consider worming her and your flock.

This is her, she wouldn't eat the scrambled eggs, her crop is empty and she has lost around 70 grams of weight within 2-3 days here's a pic of her dropping it's pretty tiny like a little chick poop, please let me know if you still think it's worms

 

[Eggcessive]

Try some tuna or meat. The red blood or intestinal shed in her dropping could be from worms or even a chronic coccidiosis. I would worm her today. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer or the horse paste dosage is 1/4 ml per pound given orally for 5 consecutive days. That will treat roundworms, cecal, capillary, and gapeworms. If you give it once and then in 10 days, that will only treat round and cecal worms. Her face and legs could have some scaly leg and face mites. You can use ivermectin to treat those, or use Vaseline daily on the face and legs rubbing it into the scales. If you could get a close up picture of her face that might help.

 

[Ray987]

Try some tuna or meat. The red blood or intestinal shed in her dropping could be from worms or even a chronic coccidiosis. I would worm her today. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer or the horse paste dosage is 1/4 ml per pound given orally for 5 consecutive days. That will treat roundworms, cecal, capillary, and gapeworms. If you give it once and then in 10 days, that will only treat round and cecal worms. Her face and legs could have some scaly leg and face mites. You can use ivermectin to treat those, or use Vaseline daily on the face and legs rubbing it into the scales. If you could get a close up picture of her face that might help.

Pics of face and legs

 

[Eggcessive]

I still cannot see the face clearly. Does it look like any drainage from a round eyes, nostrils? Is there white chaulky stuff on the face or yellowish something? Look for body mites or lice as while. The picture below shows scaly face mites. Favus or fungus can also cause white chaulky material on the face. Each is treated differently.

Photo from The Holistic Hen