HELP! bantam hen lethargic, not eating nor drinking

[monkeybutter99]

one of my bantam hens, butters, was seemingly fine a few days ago, she was a little lethargic but i had figured it was because of how cold its been the past few days. the past week or so she had been staying on the roost most of the day but i also assumed that was because of the cold, because she was still her normal perky self and still came down to get scratch and food. she seemed perfectly fine the rest of the day, but then a day later i had noticed that she was stopping in the middle of scratching and just standing with one of her eyes closed for a couple minutes. this was yesterday, and i immediately brought her inside. she has not been eating or drinking on her own as far as i know. yesterday i gave her some tylan, nutri drench, and some egg yolk. ive fed her a little bit of egg yolk today as well and also given her some plain water, some water mixed with a couple drops of apple cider vinegar, and some water with a little bit of garlic. she has also had some tylan today. ive been having to give all of this to her through a dropper, and she is pretty resistant with the dropper. shes pooped 3 or 4 times since i brought her in yesterday and her poop looked pretty normal. ive also noticed occasional wheezing noises when shes breathing. she is a bit over 9 months old. someone please help!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

one of my bantam hens, butters, was seemingly fine a few days ago, she was a little lethargic but i had figured it was because of how cold its been the past few days. the past week or so she had been staying on the roost most of the day but i also assumed that was because of the cold, because she was still her normal perky self and still came down to get scratch and food. she seemed perfectly fine the rest of the day, but then a day later i had noticed that she was stopping in the middle of scratching and just standing with one of her eyes closed for a couple minutes. this was yesterday, and i immediately brought her inside. she has not been eating or drinking on her own as far as i know. yesterday i gave her some tylan, nutri drench, and some egg yolk. ive fed her a little bit of egg yolk today as well and also given her some plain water, some water mixed with a couple drops of apple cider vinegar, and some water with a little bit of garlic. she has also had some tylan today. ive been having to give all of this to her through a dropper, and she is pretty resistant with the dropper. shes pooped 3 or 4 times since i brought her in yesterday and her poop looked pretty normal. ive also noticed occasional wheezing noises when shes breathing. she is a bit over 9 months old. someone please help!

Hi! Welcome to BYC! Sorry your hen is not doing well. Maybe @azygous Or @fluffycrow can help?

 

[azygous]

The very first thing to assume when it's been very cold and a chicken suddenly is lethargic is hypothermia. Take the chicken indoors to warm, and give tepid water with a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda to treat shock. Do not, however, subject the chicken to room temps of more than 55F. You may use a blow dryer to warm the wing pits and underbelly.

I caution against giving an antibiotic until you are reasonably certain that a bacterial infection is involved.

 

[ChickenFeeds]

How cold is it outside? I know bantam breeds are not as cold hardy as normal chickens, but it all depends on the breed. Usually, they shouldn’t be in tempatures under 35 degrees, but again, it all depends. Bantam Orpingtons or Brahmas do better in the cold, or also Salmon Faverolles. I would suggest keeping her inside for now. You should also check on your other bantams, to see if they are also having any symptoms.

 

[monkeybutter99]

How cold is it outside? I know bantam breeds are not as cold hardy as normal chickens, but it all depends on the breed. Usually, they shouldn’t be in tempatures under 35 degrees, but again, it all depends. Bantam Orpingtons or Brahmas do better in the cold, or also Salmon Faverolles. I would suggest keeping her inside for now. You should also check on your other bantams, to see if they are also having any symptoms.

it was about 20-30 degrees when she had been staying up in the coop but there is a heat light set up in the coop for when its too cold.

 

[ChickenFeeds]

If there was a heat lamp, she should have been fine. Are the other bantams showing any symptoms?

 

[monkeybutter99]

The very first thing to assume when it's been very cold and a chicken suddenly is lethargic is hypothermia. Take the chicken indoors to warm, and give tepid water with a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda to treat shock. Do not, however, subject the chicken to room temps of more than 55F. You may use a blow dryer to warm the wing pits and underbelly.

I caution against giving an antibiotic until you are reasonably certain that a bacterial infection is involved.

i had set up a heat lamp in her coop and always turned it on when it started to get below about 35F. do you think she couldve still gotten hypothermia?

 

[monkeybutter99]

If there was a heat lamp, she should have been fine. Are the other bantams showing any symptoms?

no, i only have one other bantam at the moment and hes been perfectly fine.

 

[ChickenFeeds]

I don’t think she would. What breed is she?

 

[monkeybutter99]

I don’t think she would. What breed is she?

shes a golden neck d'uccle. and her rooster seems fine and has no symptoms.