Help looks like prolapse?

[MrsBrooke]

I hope that does the trick.

MrsB

 

[lovemy6hens]

Thank you, @MrsBrooke. She's almost back to herself.

My husband said she had laid a shell-less egg 7am Monday when he checked on her, but it was gone when I checked on her at 8am. None of our other girls are sick so far.

Do you think it's safe to worm them now? She and one other are slowly molting right now.

 

[MrsBrooke]

I'm so glad she's bouncing back!!

From what I understand, it's unusual (but not impossible) for a chicken to molt outside of Fall...

I would check both your molty mamas for evidence of mites and/or lice. If you part the feathers around their vents, you may see what looks like little reddish-brown specks crawling around OR a clump of syrofoam-looking stuff around the base of the feather shaft (those are eggs).

Mites and lice can make chickens go anemic, and that will DEFINITELY make them feed bad, and can make them lose feathers... There's a parasite for that called feather mites.

Also check up around her ear openings. Sometimes, you will see whitish-clear crawlies there.

The treatment is a liberal dusting of Sevin dust (you can get it at Tractor Supply or any garden store)... make sure you dust the vent, her back/shoulders, chest, and under each wing. They say Diatomaceous Earth works, but I've seen mixed results... Where I *know* Sevin will get them. With your mama feeling so poorly recently, I wouldn't take a chance "hoping" on a treatment.

Let us know what you find.

MrsB

 

[MrsBrooke]

And, yes. I would absolutely worm them.

MrsB

 

[lovemy6hens]

Thank you so much!

 

[MrsBrooke]

Thank you so much!

Let us know how they do!

I hope she makes a full recovery.

MrsB

 

[lovemy6hens]

After a week of antibiotics, our old girl is back to normal. One more week of medicine and then we'll see how she does.

I am concerned this will continue to happen. I will not give her antibiotics on a regular basis. Is this shell-less egg hanging down thing a sign she's getting old? We don't know how old she was when she came to us last year.

No lice, mites, or evidence of them on any of the girls. I gave them all Valbazen & will give them the 2nd dose on the 10th day.

They now have a dish of oyster shell and one of grit in addition to the oyster shell & grit mixed in their food.

 

[lovemy6hens]

Our girl was back to normal, then yesterday she was less talkative and by evening she was sleeping outside next to me while the others were foraging. She was first on the roost when they went to bed (a first for her).

They were all wormed on day 10 after the first dose and still no external parasites or evidence of having them.

Could she just be having egg laying problems as a result of aging? That doesn't sound right. Wouldn't they just slow down as they age? We don't know how old she is. She was attacked by a dog before she came to us. Surely that could cause premature aging, right?

We will take her to the vet to ask and for treatment, but I would like to have the opinions of our BYC community. How do I know when to let her go and when to continue trying to treat her? Won't egg laying problems continue in older hens?

She is a barred rock, her name is Roxanne, and I love her dearly.

 

[MrsBrooke]

A blood test never hurts. She could have some kind of bacterial infection that isn't evidence externally. Your vet will be able to diagnose anything internal.

The only other potential is a case of Coccidiosis, though she's old enough to have resistance. You can treat Cocci with Corid from Tractor Supply.

Other than that, have you tried feeding her a crushed-up Tums? (I can't remember.)

MrsB

 

[lovemy6hens]

Thank you, @MrsBrooke. I will have the vet run tests if Roxanne gets sick again. We didn't try the tums, so I'll keep that in mind if it happens again.