Help!! Sick hen!

[mrscbass]

I am a new member to this site and love it. I am a new found lover of raising chickens. I have a question about one of my hens. She is a very active and noisy brown sex link. She is 21 weeks old. I believe she has started to lay because we have been getting an egg every day, but we also have 7 other hens, BUT she shows all the signs. We are about 75% it's her.
This morning I found two puddles of blood in the coop. I found her on the roost still at 8:30 am. Her comb is very faded and pale. She is hardly moving and making no noise. She is drinking water though, lots of it. She is just standing by her water like a zombie while closing her eyes and shifting her weight.
My daughter and I separated her from the flock and she has since been lying down. We did see her poop blood. What is wrong!? I am so new to all of this and don't know what to do!!! Help!!

 

[BantamLover21]

I have two ideas as to what is wrong with your hen. 1) She is infected with Coccidiosis. The bloody droppings and lethargy are both classic signs of Coccidiosis, though its odd that she is the only hen affected. 2) This is more of a guess, but could she have eaten something that punctured her intestines or other digestive organ? IMO, that would explain the pure blood, and the suddenness of her illness.

I think that my puncture theory is the less likely of the two, so I would begin treating your hen for Coccidiosis. The best medication to use is Corid (it contains Aprolium; Corid is the brand name). You can usually find Corid at a livestock supply store. Corid comes in two forms: powder, and liquid. I only have experience with the liquid form, so that is the only dosage that I can tell you.

The liquid Corid dosage is 1/2 teaspoon Corid per quart of drinking water for 5-7 days. During this time, do not give any vitamins, as certain vitamins interfere with the Corid's effect on Coccidia. Probiotics are fine, though. If Corid powder is the only thing that you can find, then you can probably find the dosage for that on the BYC website.

Keep your hen isolated in a clean, warm place. Make sure that she is eating; if not, entice her to eat by giving her wet feed, mealworms, applesauce, or scrambled eggs. If you can't get her to eat on her own, you might have to tube feed her, or try something else.

Good luck! Please keep us updated.

 

[mrscbass]

Wow! What a great response. Thank you for all that information! Unfortunately our hen died around 10 this morning. Soo fast! Should I still treat the rest of our flock?

 

[BantamLover21]

Wow! What a great response. Thank you for all that information! Unfortunately our hen died around 10 this morning. Soo fast! Should I still treat the rest of our flock?

You're welcome! I'm sorry that your hen died.

No, I don't think you need to treat the rest of your flock. Just make sure that you monitor them carefully for a few weeks to make sure that no other chickens develop any symptoms. If they do, then I would treat them right away.

 

[mrscbass]

Bantamlover21 this morning I found two more bloody spots in the coop. All my hens are acting normal though. Hopefully I got the cordin in them far enough. I did what you said about 1/2 tsp per quart. Do you know if I have to change the water every day? What if only half the water is gone?

 

[ten chicks]

Bantamlover21 this morning I found two more bloody spots in the coop. All my hens are acting normal though. Hopefully I got the cordin in them far enough. I did what you said about 1/2 tsp per quart. Do you know if I have to change the water every day? What if only half the water is gone?

ALL chickens have to be treated,not just the sick one. Coccidiosis is a parasitic infection of the intestinal tract,and is spread by droppings,which get into feed/water via droppings. Make Corid water fresh every day.

 

[mrscbass]

Thank you ten chicks! i did switch the water out this morning but am unsure of what I am doing so I will take all the advice I can get!! I am still learning, this is my first year raising hens!

 

[BantamLover21]

Bantamlover21 this morning I found two more bloody spots in the coop. All my hens are acting normal though. Hopefully I got the cordin in them far enough. I did what you said about 1/2 tsp per quart. Do you know if I have to change the water every day? What if only half the water is gone?

When one of my chickens had Coccidiosis, I changed her Corid water every day. I think it says to do that on the Corid bottle, or maybe I found the information somewhere else. I would suggest that you change the water daily, too, even if it means wasting the water that they haven't drank. And, as ten chicks mentioned, if you aren't already, you should be treating all of your chickens for Coccidiosis. Despite the fact that no more are acting droopy, bloody droppings are a definite sign of Coccidiosis. If not treated, Coccidiosis results in high mortality.

However, I think that you have caught the Coccidiosis in time. If you continue the Corid treatment, your flock should be healthy in several days.

 

[mrscbass]

Thank you! You have given me hope I will be sure to change the water every day. I really appreciate the feedback.