Hello! I'm new here and have a question

[della78]

I've got a sick hen. I recently lost one hen and now I've got another one sick. She is thin and just nibbles at food bit is drinking ok. Very lethargic and in general not doing well. I just got done treating everybody worth corid after I lost my other hen. I don't know if cocci is what killed her but she did have very runny poo. This hen is coming back from a molt and could that have caused her decline? I feed layer crumbles, they have access to oyster shell, ACV in their water and periodically garlic in water. I'm getting ready to go down and give her some sugar water to help get her energy up until I can find out what's going on.

 

[drumstick diva]

You might post her symptoms and full details at "emergencies, diseases, injuries, cures," thread. I hope she will be okay. Molting can take a lot out of a bird.

 

[della78]

Ok thank you. I'll give that a try

 

[N F C]

I'm sorry for the loss of your bird and the other being ill. Here's a link to the emergency forum, please post there and give all symptoms and info on the sick girl (age, how long you've had her, when was she last wormed, etc.):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures

Hope things work out for you and her!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[della78]

Thank you everyone. I have my sick girl some sugar water last night and this morning she is eating her layer feed like skew hadn't eaten in days. I made her oatmeal with egg layer supplement added and she ate just a bit of it but really ate the scrambled egg and crushed shell I provided this afternoon. I believe she is the one that laid a shellless egg this morning. I've always put oyster shell out for them but I'm thinking about also providing crushed egg shells. They seem to eat the egg shells better than the oyster shell. They also like to eat dog food so I believe I'll get done cat food next time I'm in town to put out for them. I have recently gotten done new birds from a swap meet and also from an individual off of Craigslist. My sick girl is a Bovan Brown. I bought 4 Bovan Brown hens and got a free one winged RIR mix rooster with them in the middle of the summer as 2yo. My swap meet girls I've had for about 2 weeks. One is a Gold Laced Wyandotte and is supposed to be around 2yo, the 2nd is supposed to be an Americauna, I'm sure she is an Easter Egger instead, that is also supposed to be 2yo and was in very poor shape. She was missing most of her back feathers and the feathers she did have look very dull. She is very timid and is a nervous wreck most of the time. She is finally starting to perk up, gain some weight, grow her feathers back in and her other feathers seem more healthy. I've not gotten any eggs from either of these 2.
Just last week my husband bought me 4 Americauna, probably Easter Eggers, hens and a light Brahma pair off of Craigslist. All these are supposed to be under 1yo but reportedly recently started laying. They are nice big healthy looking birds. The rooster has not crowed yet so I believe they are really young. I built them a separate coop to give them a separate area. I've not gotten any eggs from these hens yet! I do provide supplemental light but i leave it on 24/7 to help detour predators as both coops are in my horse barn and we have problems with skunks and snakes out here. If anybody has any tips for me I'd love to hear them. Thank you! I'm so glad my girl seems to be doing better.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

Glad your girl is doing better!

Is your supplemental light bright enough to make them think it's daylight? If not, chickens really require anywhere from 12-15 hours of daylight to lay consistently. Right now we have about 9 hours of daylight and I am lucky to get 1 egg a day from my 11 girls. Another issue you may be dealing with is molt (missing feathers) unless those were caused by an aggressive rooster. If it is molt, the process can take anywhere from 3-16 weeks, with an average of about 6 weeks, for the chickens to regrow their feathers. While they are in the process of doing this, they most likely will not be laying since regrowing feathers is taking up a lot of their energy.