Droopy Hen...

[HappyPlace]

I have 11 pullets, all laying (some just started just over a week ago), and with a roo. They made it through the winter fine, and even made it through the last week of unusually high temps (70's to almost 90). The temp did drop suddenly yesterday and today to 50 and 60. I cleaned the coop out last week after not having cleaned it in several weeks. I used the same wood shavings as I always do. Nothing else has changed for my birds, environmentally wise. They do not free range and are always in the same pen.

I did get a "double egg" about a week ago, and I have no idea who laid it other than to say it wasn't one of the last layers. (It was a bright blue egg and the two new layers are laying pale blue and a speckled green. I'm thinking now, it might have been the same girl having problems...

Yesterday, I noticed that my Spice was a little droopy - low hanging tail, wings not hanging as tight to her body. She was also wandering around the pen kind of listlessly, not interacting with the other girls. She is eating, but not as enthusiastically as she was. Spice is normally one of my bossiest girls - always chasing the other girls from the feeder bowl and standing on top of the water bowl to make sure she gets first drink. I gave her a thorough check over yesterday, and other than a couple feathers glued together by poo on her bum, she didn't seem to have anything wrong. Hasn't gained or lost weight; no fleas or mites; her feathers are still fluffy, shiny and clean; her eyes are still alert and she doesn't appear to be in any pain.

There is one thing that I changed two (maybe three) days ago: My girls were all looking a little pale in the comb and face and I read it could be because of not enough calcium, so I started giving them oyster shell (self serve with about a teaspoon actually put in there food) and a tablespoon of an omega supplement in with their food in the morning. None of the other girls are showing symptoms, though.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to why she could suddenly be so bummy?

 

[terryg]

The symptoms you describe could be caused by any number of things. Whenever I have a hen like that, I immediately isolate her in a crate. If she does have a contagious disease, this helps to isolate it. More importantly, it allows me to make other observations - I can keep track of food and water intake and manure and egg output, which will be clues to determine what to do next. I have a FAQ about how to diagnose a sick chicken here:
http://www.hencam.com/henblog/diagnosing-a-sick-chicken/

 

[berserker]

I have a hen like that too. She have in adition her cloaca kind of prolapsed and diarrea(very liquid) is also pressent. She is eating but do not gain waigth and I noticed that sometimes she also limps when she walks as if her legs were very tired. Any ideas as to what treatment will work better ??

 

[HappyPlace]

Wow, Berserker, I don't know what would help your hen... Hopefully someone will see this and be able to help you...

My hen is doing a lot better. I think she might have just been weighed down with an egg. She laid her egg the same day as I wrote my post and was her happy, and bossy, self by that night. I held off posting until I knew for sure that she was feeling better. I'm keeping an eye on her, but I think she's fine...

Thank you for your advice, Terryg.

 

[the1much]

feel her crop, it may be plugged.
give her some pedalite or some gatoraide which will replace electrolytes
watch her n make sure she's poopin. take a bird that is well and feel under their wing, pay close attention to their temp, then go to her do same and see if she is warmer.
and yes get her away from your other birds for now, and when you mess with her, make sure you have on clothes you can take off or change before you mess with your other birds.

edit ta say,, when she does poo, look at it and see if its same as usual, not too runny or too hard and notice the color

 

[berserker]

I'll do as you say. Thanks for the advice.

I already separated her from the rest of the flock. I'm fearing some kind of infectious desease like salmonela maybe but not shure. Her poo is watery and with small bubles, kind of yellow too. She is the only hen from a strain that I got last year and I want to make an effort to save her, otherwise I would have put her under the axe some time ago. The risck of getting my other birds infected worries me.