Help with a Chicken

[Gonzalez9379]

I need some help finding out what is wrong with one of our hens. About a few months back I found a snake in the pen, and tried to kill it but to no avail. I didn't see it for a while, and then one day I saw it again. Yet again, I couldn't kill it. The next day, I went outside to feed and check for eggs when I noticed a hen who was lethargic. It was sitting in front of the door and didn't want to move. Eventually it moved slowly, and hobbled off, and kinda leaned on its wing. I told my Dad and he said that it had been like this for a week (how he would know is beyond me, he rarely ever checks on them, he leaves it to me) and that it was our rooster that did it. I checked it for marks and wounds but found nothing. We separated her, and it's been at least a month since then and she's made little to no progress. She sits in the exact same spot all day and night, near food and water. She seems in pain, and I hate to see her suffering. I think it's about time to put her out of her misery, but I don't want to. Is there anything I can do? Is any more information on the chicken needed?

 

[Judy]

Does she feel thin, like she is losing weight, have a sharp feeling breastbone? How old is she? Have you ever wormed them? Have you checked for lice/mites? Is she laying?

 

[Gonzalez9379]

Quote:
Well, she eats, but she's losing weight. I don't know about the breastbone, I'll check. We've had her for about a year, since she was a chick. We've looked for lice and mitesr,, but found nothing on her. As for worms, no, we've never taken the chicken to the vet.

 

[Judy]

Then my first guess is worms. Many on here do not take chickens to vets for worming -- and many vets won't treat chickens at all. There are several choices. For her I would get some Valbazen. You can get wormers at a feed store -- they are sold for worming cattle, sheep, etc. and their use is off label for chickens (except piperazine, which only gets one type of worm) so you wind up buying a lot more than you need. Let me give you a couple of links so you can decide for yourself; there are a lot of threads on here about worming.

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5770173#p5770173