Hen acts drunk?

[pwand]

Glad she is doing better.

 

[FaerieChicken]

Thank you so much for all the advice! I was trying not to worry too much. Thank you again

 

[FaerieChicken]

Although my Hen is doing much better, her tail is still down. Is this any sort of indication of anything? I can't seem to find any information about a "Broken Tail" so to speak!

Also, Just about the time she layed the egg and is doing great, despite the tail, another of my hens had started to act off, lack of response time. I checked her and the only thing I can figure is the bits of greenish poo stuck to her rear feathers. I cleaned her rear end, gave her some yogurt and she is eating fine, drinking fine, and actually is better this morning. I am not sure when they were last wormed, is it ok to worm them even if they had been wormed in the last 4 or 5 months?

Any suggestions on a worming medicine? Also, can we still harvest eggs while being wormed or do we discard them?

Thank you in advance for all of your great help!

 

[Michael Apple]

Although my Hen is doing much better, her tail is still down. Is this any sort of indication of anything? I can't seem to find any information about a "Broken Tail" so to speak!

Also, Just about the time she layed the egg and is doing great, despite the tail, another of my hens had started to act off, lack of response time. I checked her and the only thing I can figure is the bits of greenish poo stuck to her rear feathers. I cleaned her rear end, gave her some yogurt and she is eating fine, drinking fine, and actually is better this morning. I am not sure when they were last wormed, is it ok to worm them even if they had been wormed in the last 4 or 5 months?

Any suggestions on a worming medicine? Also, can we still harvest eggs while being wormed or do we discard them?

Thank you in advance for all of your great help!

When birds don't feel well, they often have that posture with the tail down. How old are your hens? Have you ever used Amprolium (Corid) as a preventative or treatment for coccidiosis?

In regard to intestinal worms, they can become reinfected even after being wormed. I worm usually twice a year, but have wormed any time I find evidence (like little 1/8" eel looking critters swimming around in a dropping). I don't know what you wormed them with, but if you used Wazine, a common wormer sold in feed stores, it only works on roundworms. If your birds have capillary or cecal worms, it won't work. Most worms are visible to the naked eye with the exception of capillary worms. I use Safe-Guard suspension labeled for goats which contains fenbendazole, or I use Valbazen suspension which contains Albendazole. Both are safe and very effective. The only thing about Fenbendazole is it won't get rid of tapeworms in poultry.

Oral dosage for either wormer is 1/2 cc for large fowl and 1/4 cc for bantams. Dose with a syringe minus the needle. I use a 3 ml syringe. Most feed stores carry all these supplies. Do it once and do it again 10 days later. Wait 14 days to eat any eggs. Here is some information about intestinal worms:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm015

 

[FaerieChicken]

I wish there were a more natural method to deworming them, one so we could still eat the eggs!
I have 7 hens that are 2 years, 6 that are 1 year or perhaps a few months older, and 4 babies about 16 wks!
The older ones were my friends' and she moved and I moved into her house which she had already had the coop and run and they were already use to free ranging! The RIR that this thread was originally about belongs to the older group! Although her tail is still down she is doing really good, I noticed she doesn't go up into the nesting boxes to lay or to roost at night, she stays on the ground in the straw with my baby frizzle.
The 6 I got in November from a craigslist post, she had all her hens in a coup with a run, no free ranging for them! I think the one that has had green poo is from this group, I am told she is an Americana, but she isn't white, but I have 2 that are white and 3 that are her coloring pattern!
Then the babies I got in October at like 6 weeks old I think!
So with all this said, I do not know when the last time any of them had been wormed or medicated! I think the chicks were on the chick starter that had the stuff in it at first but then I switched it to the unmedicated!
These hens are so spoiled too, I have been giving them some plain yogurt thinking baybe it will help them out too! They get black oil sunflower seed, hen scratch, dried mealworms and some table scraps as treats! I feed them a mixture: layer pellets; layer crumbles mixed with starter crumbles for the extra protein and vits; oyster shell and all the bugs and greens they can find in the backyard!
Are the worms contagious between species, like my dogs could get/give them? Should I worm them again too?

 

[casportpony]

FWIW, to treat for capillary worms with Safeguard you need to do it for several days in a row. Might be cheaper to use Valbazen instead as it will get capillary worms in just one dose, I think.

-Kathy