Epsom salt bath for a sick chicken

[Brock the cock]

Read an article suggesting giving a sick hen an epsom salt bath. Supposed to work wonders. Sounds like a crazy idea. Anyone ever hear of such a thing? Does it help?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If a chicken is really in distress a bath can stress her to the point of death. But sometimes an Epsom salt bath can be therapeutic. Epsom salts are laxative, so if a hen is constipated or mildly eggbound, a warm Epsom salt bath can relax her so she can release the egg. It can be more helpful to give her calcium citrate +D3 orally in the form of a tablet available at any store that sells vitamins and supplements, however. Just pop one in her beak and let her swallow it. Lacking that, a Tums will do, break it in half. Tums is calcium carbonate and not as fast acting but it will do. Calcium citrate is also indicated in hens that lay soft-shell or shell-less eggs, give one a day fof 5 to 7 days.

 

[Debbie292d]

It sometimes helps with egg-bound hens because it relaxes them, or soaking their leg(s) if they are injured.

It's not a good idea to give a bath to a sick chicken necessarily as it could stress her out and make things worse.

What seems to be wrong with your hen?

 

[Eggcessive]

If the chicken is sick, soaking could stress her so much that she could die. The only reason I would soak a chicken is if she had a vent prolapse or an extremely soiled vent, just a shallow soak, to clean her up. That would be done inside where it was warm, in warm water, and the chicken would then be dried with a towel and hairdryer.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If the chicken is sick, soaking could stress her so much that she could die. The only reason I would soak a chicken is if she had a vent prolapse or an extremely soiled vent, just a shallow soak, to clean her up. That would be done inside where it was warm, in warm water, and the chicken would then be dried with a towel and hairdryer.

I wanted to give this a , and a as well as the "I" for informative. I've been very puzzled by the fact that so many people come on here describing some problem they're having with their chicken, and the first things they've often already done is 1. given it an Epsom salts soak, 2. given it apple cider vinegar, and/or 3. given it or dusted it in diatomaceous earth (DE). Thank you for clearing this up.