Help poorly chicken

[cardy]

Hi everyone, I have been reading everyone's posts about illnesses, trying to find a solution to my poorly chicken. I have had 6 chickens for 8 months now, i have had many problems!! unfortunately one died soon after I got it from crop. Now my chickens have a taste for feathers and seem addicted to striping each other of feathers. I have tried everything (mites killer, higher protein, cabbages hanging) to stop this but feel that this behaviour is now ingrained in them as even with their new bigger enclosure I watch them and they continue to love pecking each others feathers ( they now wear saddles to stop this, not working).
Anyway this is not the problem one of my chickens she has never have been right since I got her and only laid a little in autumn and has not started again this year. She always seems to get the flu/cold. She very rarely eats pellets and only eats corn that I put down. She's been off her food for more then a month now and definatly seems skinny! From been on holiday this week I have noticed she is struggling to breath and is hunched in a corner drinking all the time! Nearly all her poor has been very watery. Please Can anyone help?

 

[teach1rusl]

Hi. Sorry that your experience with chickens hasn't been so great yet. I would suggest totally doing away corn for right now, forcing them to eat their layer feed. You may be right, that the feather picking has become a bad habit, but it also could be from not getting enough protein. Are they penned, or do they free-range? If they free range, then they are able to pick up more protein from bugs and such (at least in my area, it's warmed up enough for bugs to make an appearance already). But if they're penned, then their formulated feed is their only protein source, and they'd rather eat the corn, which doesn't have those good nutrients. So cut out the corn for now. Any time you have meat scraps available (even if you let them pick the bones/carcass), give them to your birds. See if that helps with the feather picking. I'll assume they are not crowded (one major contributor to feather picking)??

As for your hen, it could be so many things. If she laid normally at one point and has stopped (if of laying age - not old), then internal laying could be the issue - they will waste away if it's gone on long enough. Do a search on that here on BYC, and see if the symptoms sound similar to your girl.
But a heavy load of worms could also affect a layer and make her health so bad that she could stop laying. Has your flock ever been wormed? You might want to give that a try - it can't hurt.

Wishing your and your flock a brighter future...

 

[cardy]

Thanks so much. I don't think my girls are over crowded they are now penned in (kept escaping) the have the whole the bottom of the garden now! They have a space about 15ft x 13ft approx thinks its bigger! I did deworm them but am unsure if the poorly one ate the pellets it was on!
I will try adding some on corn for her again, I am just concerned about the amount if water she is drinking! Every time I looked today she was drinking!!!
I will keep trying with her and hope for best! I think it's just bad luck but I'm not gonna give in! I have some peppers on order to see if they work for a month or so as two of the girls looks well, feather less birds! Lol I will post some pictures tomorrow!
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

 

[teach1rusl]

Hi again. Just to be clear, I was suggesting doing AWAY with corn for right now...as in stopping it. Chickens will always prefer corn, but corn has very little nutritional value. If they fill up on corn, they will ignore their layer feed, which has plenty of nutrition. Think of it like offering a kid the choice of M&Ms or veggies/fruits to snack on. MOST kids will choose the candy, even though it's not nutritional. So don't offer any more corn to them right now.
If the sick one won't eat anything, you can try plain yogurt, scrambled eggs, etc. Those foods tempt most birds, even the sick ones... Sorry I wasn't able to help.