Follow-up on sick hen -- still looking for advice

[DevGoddess]

Ok, so on Sunday we bought two new Isa Browns that we were told are both 10mos old... One of them is in great shape, full plumage, bright red comb and wattles, drinking, eating, etc. The other one... she looks like she's been through it.

It was our first time buying chickens from anyone, and honestly it's probably on me for not speaking up more (severe social anxiety ftw). Her left eye is shut, looks kinda swollen, she has feathers all over her back missing, has black scab-looking things on her shut eye and over her comb.

She keeps sitting all scrunched down, but then sometimes she will get up and kick around, drink water (I mix electrolytes and probiotics into it for them..!), and eat food. The first evening of having them, they both went to town on the food like they were starving (even though they look and feel like a good weight), and she would chase the other hen from the food, so we thought maybe she just liked to fight? Lol? I've supplied them with oyster shell, some lettuce as a treat, and yesterday I made some scrambled eggs mixed with crushed shells from our other two chickens -- she absolutely went to town on it!

Yesterday I noticed tiny black specks on her fluff, and so I went searching on old posts here. I settled on maybe mites? Maybe lice? I went and got a 7gal cow feeder, peat moss, permethrin 10 concentrate, and chicken dust. I mixed some peat moss and chicken dust (and even a tiny amount of DE... I worry about their respiratory systems, but some people say do and others say don't?) into the cow feeder as a place to dust bathe.

This morning she and her sister/friend were kicking around! But then as soon as I went out there, she squatted down and became kinda despondent again. Her comb and wattles are pale, but her eye is looking a bit better. Last night I lifted up her back and vent feathers and tried to get some of the chicken dust in there to help.

I really just... don't know what to do. Her previous owner had a rather small piece of land with a few full-size goats, two smallish pigs, some ducks, and a whole bunch of hens with maybe 3 roosters. So maybe she got into it with the other hens and/or roosters?

I just want to help her.

Continuing from my last post, I've been just trying to make sure she's getting enough nutrition. Two days ago was scrambled eggs with crushed egg shells for protein and calcium, yesterday was mealworms and crickets for protein, and today was scrambled eggs with egg shells again. All three days she gobbled them up (on top of the regular laying feed).

Today she seems to be walking around a bit more, and her eye isn't as swollen. Her feathers even look a bit better? But that might be my imagination, tbh. She really does alternate between eating for a good while and then scrunching down and turning into a chicken loaf.

Her comb and wattles are still pale, but maybe not as much? I also got a few saline flushes that I'm going to use on her shut eye, but still don't know if I should put any kind of antibiotic ointment, or if it needs to be a specific kind.

Should I deworm her and her sister? Does ACV work for that, or do I need something stronger?

 

[dawg53]

You can put either Terramycin eye ointment or Neosporin in her eye, just a tiny bit until her eye heals.
Consider worming her as well as your other birds using either Safeguard liquid goat wormer or Valbazen liquid cattle/sheep wormer.
Either will eliminate all types of poultry worms except tapeworms.
ACV wont eliminate worms.

 

[DevGoddess]

You can put either Terramycin eye ointment or Neosporin in her eye, just a tiny bit until her eye heals.
Consider worming her as well as your other birds using either Safeguard liquid goat wormer or Valbazen liquid cattle/sheep wormer.
Either will eliminate all types of poultry worms except tapeworms.
ACV wont eliminate worms.

Ahh ok, thank you! If her eye is looking better, should I still put the ointment on it, or would it be a safe bet to just let it try to heal on its own? I ask because this is still a stressful time for her, so I want to avoid adding to it as much as possible!

I'll see if I can get a hold of the dewormer today -- will there be a ratio guide on the box/container, or is that something I'll need to search for?

Speaking of deworming, is it good practice to do that regularly...?

I'm including some photos I took of her earlier.

 

[dawg53]

It would be best to put ointment in her eye, stressful or not. You dont want to deal with a bacterial infection that might eventually require the purchase of an antibiotic such as amoxicillin.

Dosage for Safeguard liquid goat wormer is given orally using a syringe without a needle, .23ml per pound of weight for 5 days in a row.
Valbazen is given orally using a syringe without a needle, 1/2ml for a 5lb chicken, then repeat again in 10 days.

How often you worm your chickens depends on your soil conditions. Warm, moist or wet soil will require frequent wormings as well as birds that are penned all the time.

Double check and make sure they dont have lice or mites. Mites suck blood, cause anemia, then death. Lice are more of an irritant but also need to be eliminated. Take a close look around the vent area where it's warm and moist. Check for eggs attached to feather shafts also.

Are you seeing any mosquitos in your area?

 

[DevGoddess]

It would be best to put ointment in her eye, stressful or not. You dont want to deal with a bacterial infection that might eventually require the purchase of an antibiotic such as amoxicillin.

Dosage for Safeguard liquid goat wormer is given orally using a syringe without a needle, .23ml per pound of weight for 5 days in a row.
Valbazen is given orally using a syringe without a needle, 1/2ml for a 5lb chicken, then repeat again in 10 days.

How often you worm your chickens depends on your soil conditions. Warm, moist or wet soil will require frequent wormings as well as birds that are penned all the time.

Double check and make sure they dont have lice or mites. Mites suck blood, cause anemia, then death. Lice are more of an irritant but also need to be eliminated. Take a close look around the vent area where it's warm and moist. Check for eggs attached to feather shafts also.

Are you seeing any mosquitos in your area?

Absolutely, that's a really good point...

Thank you so much!!

We live in the southeastern US, so definitely moist, and we live near a river/creek. We've also got a pond in our yard from the previous owners that we are looking to fill in. Usually we let our birds free-range while supervised, but that's a no-no with the quarantined ladies right now.

And ok! I've got some permethrin that I dusted under her feathers, and need to get to her sister in the calm of night (she's a feisty one lol).

Mosquitos are definitely... a way of life, here. :')

 

[dawg53]

Okay. I took a closer look at the lesions on the red hens face and eye. They might be fowl pox lesions, if she was bitten by an infected mosquito.
I dont know if it's been too cold in your area for mosquitos yet.
We live in north Florida and are already seeing mosquitos, but I'm not sure about where you live.
If in fact it's fowl pox, the lesions will disappear on their own in about 4-6 weeks. Eggs are safe to eat.
You can put iodine on the lesions to help shrink them, avoid the eyes at all costs. Dont bother with the lesion on her eye, just continue with the ointment.
If in fact it's fowl pox, your hen will be immune to that particular strain hereafter.

 

[DevGoddess]

Okay. I took a closer look at the lesions on the red hens face and eye. They might be fowl pox lesions, if she was bitten by an infected mosquito.
I dont know if it's been too cold in your area for mosquitos yet.
We live in north Florida and are already seeing mosquitos, but I'm not sure about where you live.
If in fact it's fowl pox, the lesions will disappear on their own in about 4-6 weeks. Eggs are safe to eat.
You can put iodine on the lesions to help shrink them, avoid the eyes at all costs. Dont bother with the lesion on her eye, just continue with the ointment.
If in fact it's fowl pox, your hen will be immune to that particular strain hereafter.

Omg, thank you so much!! After looking at other pics of fowl pox on here, I do really feel like it might be that! Which is oddly relieving, to me.