I think my sweet little silkie Maggie is getting sick! I thought she might be going broody but now think it could be a cold! She's been laying for about 4 weeks, we get an egg almost every day and I noticed a few days ago she's been spending alot of time in her coop and our polish hen who's the queen chicken is chasing and pecking her terribly! I'm new to chickens and there laying habits and I think I've interrupted her laying process a few times thinking she was sick she looked stiff and was just sitting in her coop and it scared me I picked her up and the first time she was sitting on 3 eggs ( one i think was hers and 2 others were clearly not, but they all lay in the same nest). The 2 other times I thought she was dead she wasn't sitting on anything. Both times she didnt move alot when i picked her up. i set her on the ground and after a few minutes she walked over and ate. We live in Michigan and just went threw a cold spell -8 for two nights this week and there coop is wrapped in contractors plastic to stay warm and draft free and I put tons of straw and shavings in the coop and they seemed to do well the the thermometer in the coop was always above 10, I'm to afraid to put heat out there and was going to bring them inside but opted not to and now wondered if I should have! Last night I noticed Maggie had really wet looking eyes and this morning one was stuck shut and I used a warm compresses and its now open and she seemed to have her mouth open to breath a bit, she seems to be eating just fine and its suppose to be 35-40 outside today, I am treating everyone (2 polish and 4 silkies) with 1 teaspoon of oxytetracycline to a gallon of water i got the dose off this web site, also a drop of vet rx in the water. She also seems to be eating just fine. I've read a bit about tylan and wondered if that's a better choice? I don't want to loose any of my chickens there all very loved pets! It's suppose to be in the high thirtys today, wondered if I should bring her in for a few days? I'm just worried about how to acclimate her back to the cold? And her best hubby Stella cries terribly when there separated. Just wondering if I'm doing things right? Please any help is appreciated! I just noticed the same eye that was stuck shut this a.m. Has some tiny bubbles in it!!!
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