Chicken seems sick, keeps falling asleep

[chickenlady12]

Hi everyone. One of my hens doesn't seem like herself lately. The first thing I noticed was that sometimes she doesn't go back in the coop at night with the others and we have to pick her up and put her in there. Also, she doesn't seem as lively as the others. Yesterday she was sitting down briefly. I am home during the day, so I check on them all the time She seems to eat and drink fine and she feels strong and healthy when I pick her up, though she protests less than the others. She walks around the run, pecking at crumbles, etc. This has been going on for a week, and several times I went out to pick her up and check her for problems and can find nothing wrong. She is only 5 months old and is not laying yet, so I don't think it would be an egg problem, though I felt her vent to see if maybe this was going to be her first time laying and she was having trouble, and I don't feel anything unusual. I checked for lice and mites and don't see any, though I've never seen lice or mites before, so maybe I just can't see them? The other two chickens are fine though. I cleaned out the coop today and dusted with mite powder, just in case. While I was out there, I noticed that even though she was standing, she kept falling asleep. Any ideas? I am very discouraged because since we got the six chicks in August I have lost two already (one to a mysterious paralysis, another to problems related to an impacted crop) and have to give a third away because it turned out to be a rooster. I want to hold on to the last three I have! Also, I treated them all with Wazine and Corid during the time the others were sick, just in case. One more thing -- most of her feathers look nice and full and shiny, but her tail feathers are tatty and almost nonexistent. I thought she was keeping her tail down, but maybe it looks that way because of her sparse tail feathers. You can't see skin or anything, they're just not long or full. Hope someone can help!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would be a l bit concerned since you lost the one to a neurological problem, and another to crop problems, both of which could possibly be Mareks disease related. I am not diagnosing that, but it is a question. Did they have a Mareks vaccine? Did you dust her for mites or the coop? Does she have any diarrhea or a poor appetite that may be a sign of a recurrence of coccidiosis? Here is a couple of good links with pictures of mites and lice eggs:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

 

[chickenlady12]

Thanks. I was concerned about Marek's too. The farmer who sold them to me said he didn't vaccinate. But they all had such different symptoms, I was hoping not. I dusted the coop, but not the chicken. Mites seemed unlikely to me, since the other chickens were well, but I don't want to take any chances. One of them does have some fairly runny poops, and I assume it's her, but I'm sure she's eating -- i see her pecking the ground and the cabbage I hung up. I guess I could try more corid, but there is no blood in the poops.

 

[Eggcessive]

Only the worst couple of strains of coccidia out of nine cause blood in the stools. I might consider worming again with SafeGuard horse paste 1 pea-sized dot now and again in 10 days. Wazine unfortunately only gets round worms. I would probably do the Corid for 5 days at 1 tsp powder or 2 tsp liquid Corid to 1 gallon of water (or make a smaller portion.) If she dies, I would condsider getting a necropsy just to know if I had Mareks in my soil and coop. Then you would always need to get vaccinated chicks, and keep them away from any coop dust or soil for at least 2 weeks to prevent new ones getting it.

 

[chickenlady12]

I have the SafeGuard because my last sick chicken was gaping and head shaking, so I thought she had gapeworm. The instructions say to put only a tiny bit in a gallon of water, but when she wasn't improving, I put a couple of drops right in her mouth. She died eventually anyway, but I don't think she had gapeworm. She had an impacted crop and my neighbor and I did surgery to fix it and she was improving, but then died suddenly, seemingly choking on vomit and/or a grape. Should I put the SafeGuard straight into her mouth? I will do the Corid again too. Where do I find someone to do a necropsy? And about how much might that cost?

 

[pwand]

I have the SafeGuard because my last sick chicken was gaping and head shaking, so I thought she had gapeworm. The instructions say to put only a tiny bit in a gallon of water, but when she wasn't improving, I put a couple of drops right in her mouth. She died eventually anyway, but I don't think she had gapeworm. She had an impacted crop and my neighbor and I did surgery to fix it and she was improving, but then died suddenly, seemingly choking on vomit and/or a grape. Should I put the SafeGuard straight into her mouth? I will do the Corid again too. Where do I find someone to do a necropsy? And about how much might that cost?

Is it Safequard horse paste that you have?

Edited:
If its liquid, here is info of dosage that can be given orally. That way you know the birds will get exactly what they need.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...er-for-chickens-can-it-be-used-in-their-water

 

[Eggcessive]

I have the SafeGuard because my last sick chicken was gaping and head shaking, so I thought she had gapeworm. The instructions say to put only a tiny bit in a gallon of water, but when she wasn't improving, I put a couple of drops right in her mouth. She died eventually anyway, but I don't think she had gapeworm. She had an impacted crop and my neighbor and I did surgery to fix it and she was improving, but then died suddenly, seemingly choking on vomit and/or a grape. Should I put the SafeGuard straight into her mouth? I will do the Corid again too. Where do I find someone to do a necropsy? And about how much might that cost?

Yes I would just give the Safeguard straight to her--that way you will know she got the right dose. Do you know how much she weighs?