I have a flock of approximately 80 birds, and about a week ago I noticed a WL hen looking out of sorts. Her comb -- normally a perky, huge, red comb -- was looking shriveled. Her wings seemed to sag a little. And when I picked her up she had obviously lost quite a bit of weight. One other thing I noticed: a few of her feathers were falling out, and there is LOTS of new feather growth. (Could it be she's molting?)
I'd noticed that out of 4 WLs I was only getting 1-2 white eggs per day... one's broody, and this one is obviously too skinny to lay.
Here's the info. Any help would be appreciated!
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
WL hen, about 1 year old, SKINNY. (Breastbone very pointed and sharp, not much meat on her. And WLs don't have a lot to lose in the first place!)
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She just looks "droopy." She's not as vigorous as the other hens -- mostly stands around with her feathers slightly fluffed. Her comb looks like the comb of a broody hen -- it's all shrunken, flopped over, greyish pink instead of a nice bright pink. She's extremely skinny and has stopped laying.
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
No idea -- all of the other birds are happy and healthy. I did switch to layer pellets from layer crumbles, but that was at least a month ago... all of the other birds have been just fine.
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I did isolate her for 24 hours and fed her higher protein chick starter. She seemed to slightly perk up at that, but then I let her back with the rest of the flock and now she's worse than before. She, like the rest of the flock, has access to laying pellets, fresh water, oyster shell, and veggie scraps from the garden (chard, kale, summer squash, cucumber, tomatoes). I've noticed that every time I've picked her up, her crop has been empty.
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Green, slightly watery.
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolated her for 24 hours and gave her chick starter.
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Would like to treat myself.
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use
She has a 10' x 10' coop with tons of perches with pine shaving bedding. (Just cleaned, also dusted with DE.) The chickens really only sleep in the coop so there is plenty of room... the rest of the time they're perched in trees, free-ranging over the property, or dust-bathing underneath the coop.
Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to lose this girl!
Note: I haven't wormed my flock (besides DE), but all of the other chickens seem healthy... is it possible this is a worm problem?
(ETA: bold to help people read answers.)
I'd noticed that out of 4 WLs I was only getting 1-2 white eggs per day... one's broody, and this one is obviously too skinny to lay.
Here's the info. Any help would be appreciated!
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
WL hen, about 1 year old, SKINNY. (Breastbone very pointed and sharp, not much meat on her. And WLs don't have a lot to lose in the first place!)
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She just looks "droopy." She's not as vigorous as the other hens -- mostly stands around with her feathers slightly fluffed. Her comb looks like the comb of a broody hen -- it's all shrunken, flopped over, greyish pink instead of a nice bright pink. She's extremely skinny and has stopped laying.
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
No idea -- all of the other birds are happy and healthy. I did switch to layer pellets from layer crumbles, but that was at least a month ago... all of the other birds have been just fine.
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I did isolate her for 24 hours and fed her higher protein chick starter. She seemed to slightly perk up at that, but then I let her back with the rest of the flock and now she's worse than before. She, like the rest of the flock, has access to laying pellets, fresh water, oyster shell, and veggie scraps from the garden (chard, kale, summer squash, cucumber, tomatoes). I've noticed that every time I've picked her up, her crop has been empty.
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Green, slightly watery.
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolated her for 24 hours and gave her chick starter.
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Would like to treat myself.
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use
She has a 10' x 10' coop with tons of perches with pine shaving bedding. (Just cleaned, also dusted with DE.) The chickens really only sleep in the coop so there is plenty of room... the rest of the time they're perched in trees, free-ranging over the property, or dust-bathing underneath the coop.
Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to lose this girl!
Note: I haven't wormed my flock (besides DE), but all of the other chickens seem healthy... is it possible this is a worm problem?
(ETA: bold to help people read answers.)
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