HELP CHICKEN VERY SICK

[clucksnducks28]

I went out to the chicken coop this morning and I found one of my golden comets dead, she was laying her first egg yesterday, though she never did, and was not having any problems. My other GC is also sick.
She's a GC and is 7 months old.
It's winter, there is a foot of snow and it gets below freezing at night. But she had 7 other chickens that kept each other warm.
I thought she was egg bound, and gave her an Epsom salt bath, lubricated her vent four days ago,I tried to manually get the egg out, but it was blocking the vent, and there was poop in front of ut, so I couldn't see it. I also fed her olive oil and crushed tums. I thought I got it unstuck and put her outside to lay it. Now I have taken her back inside and gave her another bath. After taking her out I noticed lots of very tiny little bugs in the water that came off of her. The other ch I keno seem fine, but after inspecting the dead hen, I found that her verb was swollen also, but it wasn't the day before.

 

[clucksnducks28]

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[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC! Sounds like you might have multiple things going on. Were the bugs lice, mites or maggots?
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

Can you take her to a vet? If not, and the egg is the egg still in her, you could try filling your bathroom with steam and let her sit for several hours in there. Be sure to turn off extraction fans. When not in a warm, steamy bathroom, she should be kept inside in an 80-85° room.

Bathing can be very stressfull on a sick bird, so try the steam instead.

-Kathy

 

[clucksnducks28]

 

[chicknmania]

it sounds like they have a lice and/ or mite infestation. These can kill the birds. It may even contribute to other problems such as you described. I don't know where you are, but if you can get some cattle Ivermectin, get to a feed store and get some, and put some on the hens back between her wings., right at the base of her neck. This also acts as a dewormer, so don't use if you have recently dewormed your flock. Regular dewormer can weaken a very sick bird even further...I'm not sure if Ivermectin will, but at this point you might as well try it. Then, keep her warm, and in a pen isolated from the flock. (It's best if she can still see and hear them, so she doesn't stress at unfamiliar surroundings, but if it's very cold there and you don't have a way to keep her very warm, you might need to bring her inside until she improves) Keep her as well fed as you can, and make sure she has water too. Applesauce is a good thing to mix a little in the feed of a sick bird, as it is pretty liquid so it will give them some fluids too. You can use oatmeal or yogurt, or anything she likes, for starters, to coax her to eat, if her appetite is poor. She must eat and drink or she will die quickly. Then, you should treat all the other birds, with Ivermec, or you can use something like Insectrin too if you can get that. You need to treat their living quarters too as best you can, and clean out the nest boxes and treat those . You can use plain garden sulfur, ashes, or Insectrin, as a preventative against further infestations.

As far as her being egg bound, I have never had to deal with that,

but there are many posts on here about that and you can always search further, or start a separate thread if you need to.

Best of luck to you.

 

[casportpony]

Ivermectin will *not* kill feather lice, and as sick as she looks, I would *not* use ivermectin on her. Birds can live for days without food, but not without water. The most important thing right now is to focus on keeping her nice and warm and getting her properly hydrated. You should probably treat for mites and lice, but do it with poultry dust and she's warm and dry.

Is she drinking?

Tractor Supply has this:


If you can't find that, try 5% Sevin dust:


Place some on vent and under each wing and spread around. Avoid the head.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Laying eggs requires a bird to be properly hydrated, so read the link below and let me know if you want to learn how to tube feed. DO NOT attempt to give her water with just a syringe, it's too dangerous. I guarantee that I can teach you how to safely tube fluids to her, but you need to get a tube and syringe. Proper tubes are hard to find, but you can use aquarium air line instead. You will also need a 30-60 ml syringe. Go get 18" of tube, then go to Tractor Supply and get a large syringe.

Read this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

Once you have your tube and syringe you can call me and I'll tell you how to do it. If you can't call, I can teach you here or via PM.

-Kathy

 

[clucksnducks28]

Thanks for the help, I checked the other chickens, they are healthy, but the lice are so tiny that I can't see them. I'm going to stop at tractor supply and get poultry dust. She is refusing to drink, but I don't think I have enough experience to tube feed her, although I can try.@casportpony

 

[casportpony]

Thanks for the help, I checked the other chickens, they are healthy, but the lice are so tiny that I can't see them. I'm going to stop at tractor supply and get poultry dust. She is refusing to drink, but I don't think I have enough experience to tube feed her, although I can try.@casportpony

If you can bathe a chicken, you can tube a chicken.

I have to go get hay, so I'll be offline for awhile. I will have my phone, so check your personal messages for the message I sent you (PM).

-Kathy

 

[chicknmania]

you can also get baby bird formula that way they have water and nourishment. This is what our Avian vet told us to use. You do have to tube feed them with that though. Tube feeding is not difficult although not much fun. . Our Avian vet also told us to make sure that they eat, anything, that they need to have food AND water. Again, tube feeding will accomplish both, until your bird gets back on her feet.