Help/advice with a new chicken

[awestphal]

I need some advice. I just acquired a 2 year old Silkie yesterday. She is in terrible shape. I had to bathe her in dawn dish soap, rinse and rewash a second time just to get most but not all the "grim" off of her.She is much fluffier now, Her feathers? were plastered to her body. I kept her in a wire cage inside overnight and plan to do this for a couple weeks. She is very thin. I was told she is a good layer & mother but I can't imagine she is in any shape for either of these. What would be the next steps in improving her health, put weight on & what ever else you can recommend? She has no feathers on top of her head,she was being picked on but not removed from the others, her feet have just the shaft part of the feather and the shafts are very stiff and hard. What should I do with them? She also has some through out her body. I'm hoping with good food,water and TLC she improves. Thanks for any input and/or suggestions.

 

[Pathfinders]

It sounds as if your hen is molting (the pinfeathers you describe.)

Is this your only chicken? Do you have others? If you do, you should quarantine this chicken away from them for at least four weeks or so. When you do chores, do them with her last, and then don't wear those clothes around your other birds.

If this is your first chicken and the only one you own, then never mind the quarantine, naturally.

The first thing I would do is get some wormer and worm this poor dear. Likely she has worms and may even have mites or lice. There are a number of threads here on the BYC about mites, here's one I found just with a quick search (someone else may jump in with a better one): https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/749736/mites-mites-mites

As far as worming goes, I use a wormer called the Worminator, sold by Twin Cities Poultry here: http://www.twincitypoultrysupplies....in_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=584

It's very simple, one drop down the throat of a bantam chicken, perhaps repeated in 18 days (if she is very thin.)

You will need to feed her a good quality layer ration, with perhaps an 18% protein while she is molting, then down to a 16% for maintainence.

It sounds like you have yourself on the right track. Poor wee hen, I love Silkies, they can be very sweet birds. Good luck with her!

 

[Judy]

I'll give you my usual links for worms and lice/mites. The first lice/mites link has good pics for identification. They recommend only Sevin 5% garden dust, which lots of peple use, but there are other remedies: a pyrethrin/permermethrin/piperonlyl dust or spray, for example Adams flea and Tick spray, or many products called "poultry dust" or "poultry spray" at feed stores, and a newer, apparently safer product called Spinosad.

I'm not familiar with Worminator which is apparently flubenvent, a British wormer. It's probably fine. I like Valbazen because I've read it's relatively safe even if they have a huge lod of worms. The wrong wormer in that situation can dump clumps of dead worms or toxiins and cause their own problems. Valbazen is used 0.25 ml for a silkie by mouth, repeat in 10 days to kill newly hatched worms. For large fowl birds, the dose is 0.5 ml. Also, Valbazen is the only wormes=r as far as I know that kills all worms, even tapes -- although if they bird has tapes, the dose needs to be doubles.

Either worms or lice/mites can cause weight loss. I must say, I agree I'd start with worming. The first time I wormed my flock, they ate less feed yet gaines weight. Obviously their worms were eating their feed. And I had not seen any worms in the poop; I only wormed because I knew I have the right soil type (warm, most) to have them present in the soil.

Good luck!

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ll-seeing-live-worms-in-poo/0_20#post_9315842

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-crd-parasites-are-rampant/0_20#post_7474233

 

[Pathfinders]

I'll give you my usual links for worms and lice/mites. The first lice/mites link has good pics for identification. They recommend only Sevin 5% garden dust, which lots of peple use, but there are other remedies: a pyrethrin/permermethrin/piperonlyl dust or spray, for example Adams flea and Tick spray, or many products called "poultry dust" or "poultry spray" at feed stores, and a newer, apparently safer product called Spinosad.

I'm not familiar with Worminator which is apparently flubenvent, a British wormer. It's probably fine. I like Valbazen because I've read it's relatively safe even if they have a huge lod of worms. The wrong wormer in that situation can dump clumps of dead worms or toxiins and cause their own problems. Valbazen is used 0.25 ml for a silkie by mouth, repeat in 10 days to kill newly hatched worms. For large fowl birds, the dose is 0.5 ml. Also, Valbazen is the only wormes=r as far as I know that kills all worms, even tapes -- although if they bird has tapes, the dose needs to be doubles.

Either worms or lice/mites can cause weight loss. I must say, I agree I'd start with worming. The first time I wormed my flock, they ate less feed yet gaines weight. Obviously their worms were eating their feed. And I had not seen any worms in the poop; I only wormed because I knew I have the right soil type (warm, most) to have them present in the soil.

Good luck!

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ll-seeing-live-worms-in-poo/0_20#post_9315842

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-crd-parasites-are-rampant/0_20#post_7474233

Great info Judy! May I archive your links for future use in other threads here? Good stuff there all.

 

[awestphal]

Thanks for your input. I have 4 female mix Bantam. I got them at a week old last Easter. That's why I was going to keep her away from them for a few weeks. I will start with the worming and go from there.

Thanks-again

 

[Pathfinders]

Good luck with her! Once she fills out and is looking pretty, please post some photos of her so we can see her.