Help- my favorite hen is very sick!

[Eggcessive]

Is she walking around without limping or curled under toes? Can you check her vent to make sure there are no maggots around her vent, and look for any lice or mites under her belly? Can you try to get her eating some scrambled egg, tuna, and wet chicken feed? Offer water first and get her drinking. Poultry NutriDrench or vitamins with electrolytes might help as well. How long since she laid eggs? What does her crop feel like—flat and empty, full, hard, or puffy? Can you post a picture of her eyes?

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Try Rooster Booster electrolyte solution, you an get a lot more uses out of it, and it seems to help. Maybe try raisins or banana, my chickens love those.

 

[fairie]

have you given her a DeWormer? I suggest scrambled eggs and plain clear water. If she is going to eat and be thirsty those basics will help her get through.
Our favourite hen died (April) and since then all of our other hens have developed worms. I was sad to lose her but think she was the one who brought the worms into the flock last year in November (from another farm). I DeWormed my whole flock last month but just lost another one this week. I am going to do it again. Good luck with your girl.

 

[thechickenweirdo]

It could be due to internal worms

Is there anything I can do for that besides the antibiotic?? Or should I expect her not to recover...

 

[thechickenweirdo]

have you given her a DeWormer? I suggest scrambled eggs and plain clear water. If she is going to eat and be thirsty those basics will help her get through.
Our favourite hen died (April) and since then all of our other hens have developed worms. I was sad to lose her but think she was the one who brought the worms into the flock last year in November (from another farm). I DeWormed my whole flock last month but just lost another one this week. I am going to do it again. Good luck with your girl.

Oh wow that is so scary.... how do you deworm? How can I do it as a preventative measure with my other girls?

 

[fairie]

I would suggest Valbazen. Its a gentle-Dewormer and all rounder. So it is likely to get and deal with any worms she is having.

Valbazen Cattle Broad Spectrum Dewormer Liquid​

You can get it at the FeedStore or order it on line. Get a SMALL bottle. The normal dose for a normal size chicken is 1/2ml. That's TINY. You can give it to them in a small syringe in their mouth. Then dose all of them again in 10 days. You should see improvements. Check their weights if you want to get really scientific. Weight them now and then again once a week to see if there is improvement in weight. But you need to clean their "house" and deworm all of them for it to be effective.

You can search around here on BYC for more info on Valbazen but it seems to be the GO-to for worms. Good luck.

We have had a terrible year for slugs and I think they are spreading more bad stuff to my girls as well. So I am cleaning their food dishes and making sure they are not getting slug poo in their food. That wont help either.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is her crop emptying overnight?

 

[Chicken poppy]

Is there anything I can do for that besides the antibiotic?? Or should I expect her not to recover...

If its worms, you can expect she will recover. Make her comfy, give her antibiotic. Be patient, and take to a vet if possible to see

 

[thechickenweirdo]

My sweet hen is still around, shockingly. She has stopped eating and drinking on her own completely, and only drinks a tiny bit when I give her liquids with a little syringe. I made a mixture of hard boiled egg, grenadine, water, and an electrolyte mix-- I hold that up to the tip of her beak and she'll drink a couple syringes full. Today is the last day of her antibiotic and she's definitely not doing well still.

Today she is very hunched up, with her tail pointing downward. She seems very uncomfortable, but is still as sweet as ever. Is the hunching from pain? I've read a lot of different stuff about that.

 

[Chicken poppy]

My sweet hen is still around, shockingly. She has stopped eating and drinking on her own completely, and only drinks a tiny bit when I give her liquids with a little syringe. I made a mixture of hard boiled egg, grenadine, water, and an electrolyte mix-- I hold that up to the tip of her beak and she'll drink a couple syringes full. Today is the last day of her antibiotic and she's definitely not doing well still.

Today she is very hunched up, with her tail pointing downward. She seems very uncomfortable, but is still as sweet as ever. Is the hunching from pain? I've read a lot of different stuff about that.

Give her lots of electrolytes and make her comfy, i know i always say that but still. Im sorry about your girl,