Help Lucy! Very pale - barely eating/drinking - open mouth breathing

[LucyJulie]

Please help! I am fairly new to raising chickens. One of my birds Lucy (rhode island red) has suddenly stopped acting like herself. I got my ladies last year in April, making her about 16 months old. Currently, her comb and waddles are pale, she has little interest in eating or drinking, her tail is down, occasionally she has been breathing with her mouth open and she isn't moving too much.

I have given her a physical exam. Her crop is empty, her vent is clear and there does not seem to be any open wounds or sores - no signs of bugs either. Her poop is slightly green containing mostly water. This makes me think an infection...

Lucy has just begun to molt. She is probably about 2 weeks into it.

I have tried feeding her sugar water and scrambled eggs. She has only nibbled at it.

Please help in anyway you can! I can not bear to see her like this!

 

[iwiw60]

Could it be that this blasted heat wave we're all experiencing has something to do with it? I know they get really stressed from it...just thinkin'

 

[LucyJulie]

It has been pretty awful these past few days. Really humid! She is currently inside in the air conditioning. Would you recommend she stays inside the house for a couple of days?

 

[iwiw60]

Me personally? I wouldn't keep her indoors. She needs to be with her other members of the flock. Here it's been in the mid to high 90's and I've been making sure they have plenty of water around and I've been running a sprinkler on low where it just hits inside their run area by about a foot or so. Then I move it to a new 'spot'...back and forth, back and forth...yikes! As soon as I move the sprinkler they all run to the wet spots and scratch and even lay down in it...keeps their feet cool, too. My run is in the shade for the afternoon hours, too, which is a big help.

I'd just keep a close eye on her and see how it goes. Have you thought to maybe putting some electrolytes in their water?

 

[LucyJulie]

The sprinkler system is a good idea! I actually just made my boyfriend go buy some pedialyte. I was thinking of putting them on antibiotics too. Would you recommend that or should I wait?

 

[Suzie]

With a pale comb..could be due to the moult...possibly lice/mites or worms..I would personally treat for lice/mites and de-worm her...then look for any other possibilities that may be causing the problem...from what you describe of her poop she is not eating enough..maybe consider tube feeding her.

 

[cafarmgirl]

X2, check her over very carefully for lice/mites. If they aren't on a regular deworming program I'd get that done as well. It may be that she is heat stressed but make sure your other bases are covered as well.

A place to get their feet wet as mentioned does really help a lot as well as fans. I have a fan in each coop that runs well into the night when it's really hot and a couple big ones in the main barn area where they hang out on hot days. Humidity especially is really hard on them.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

x3 with the mites and lice. I had a hen real close to that age start showing those same symptoms. I checked her for mites, heck we even held her, and saw nothing. A few days later, after worming and trying every possible food or vitamin I could get my hands on she still wasn't improving. There must have been a giant hatch because when I decided to give her a warm bath all I saw were mites. I sprayed her down (then the coop and the rest of the flock) and blow dryed her. Unfortunately in this case it didn't work, but it saved everyone else. (blessing in disguise?

)

I hope this isn't the case for you, but just as a warning keep a really, really close eye on her. Best of luck and I hope your hen feels better.

 

[iwiw60]

Quote: Can you elaborate on the 'deworming program' ... my girls are just now 15 weeks and I'd like to know if this is something that I should be doing as well. To clarify, none of my girls have had loose poops or any other noticeable stress problems or sicknesses. I'm very interested to learn!

 

[LucyJulie]

Thanks for all the great advice. What medication works best for deworming?