Gravely ill hen

[johndeerematt]

She was just fine this morning. Now she can hold her head up a bit and is responsive, but she can't stand up, is laying on on side, and her comb/wattle is purplish. She's also breathing heavy. What is wrong?? I have no idea what to do...

 

[Eggcessive]

Get some electrolyte water into her by dipping her beak or putting a dropper to her beak and drop a drop or two at a time. Sometimes I will use a little bowl and hold it up in front of the beak. Is she hot or suffering from heatstroke? If she is having heatsroke, you could spray her with some tepid water to cool her. The purple comb is from not getting enough oxygen into her blood.

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION courtesy of TheChickenChick.com
1/2 teaspoon salt substitute*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water
*Salt substitute is readily available in most stores in the spice aisle near the salt, but if you do not have it, don't worry, the solution will still have most of the benefits intended to combat heat stress.

 

[johndeerematt]

Thank you!! I will certainly try. I'll let you know how she does.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Are any of the others acting sick? Any diarrhea?

 

[Sabz]

At this point, where she can barely stand up, she is probably not eating.

I would feed her something in the beak, with a syringe. I am no expert and not sure if what I did was ok, but I did two things:
- I fed my sick ones some water mixed with chick feed
- I fed them liquid nutrition for humans, to give them proteins and carbs.

When you do that, you don't want to put too much food in the beak at once or else the hen might aspirate the liquid. I just put a few drops, give the hen a chance to swallow, and continue on.

Another thing I did was to put pillows or towels on the sides of the chicken so it remains in sternal position (not fallen down on either sides). Not sure if this applies to chickens, but with other animals that are a bit heavier, they can get lungs or legs problems if they are laying on their side for too long, so that's why I tried to keep mine straight.

Good luck.

 

[johndeerematt]

As of now, her condition has improved a little bit. the purplish color has gone away significantly, she has see bit more strength, and the cardboard box I have her in (open top naturally) she managed to get herself propped upright in the corner! I'm thinking now that she is sick. Maybe it was a heatstroke and she is taking a long time to recover. Should I try medicated feed maybe?

 

[Eggcessive]

Chick feed mixed with water or vitamin water would be good, as well as scrambled soft egg. Sometimes i will give them a few bead crumbs covered with a mixture of buttermilk whipped with raw egg. How old is she, and is she having diarrhea?

 

[johndeerematt]

She is a year and a half old, and she did have a bit of diarrhea. Wasn't bloody or out of the ordinary, just no form at all