Chicharron
Hatching
- Jun 14, 2023
- 2
- 0
- 7
Hello everyone, it's as the title says. I have a Red Star hen, approximately 2 years old, who seems very weak and cannot take more than a few steps without falling over. She was vaccinated for Marek's at birth and her flockmates show no symptoms.
Problems with her started maybe a week ago. I noticed her comb was pale and floppy, which it still is today. She was missing a lot of feathers from her backside and belly. Her butt had a thin streak of dried yellowish poo stuck to it. At this point she seemed otherwise normal, eating and drinking fine. Feathers started to grow back and I thought she was recovering.
Then yesterday I noticed she was getting very skinny. She still eats ok, but feels like skin and bones. I became very concerned when come evening, she had not followed her friends into the coop. I found her hunched over outside our shed, looking quite distressed. I had to carry her and put her on the roost, and take her off it this morning. She immediately fell over and didn't want to get up. Her rump seems to tremble sometimes like she is very weak.
I put crumbles before her and she ate like she was starving. Also added some Nutri-Drench to yogurt and she ate a little. She would only take a few small drinks of water. When I returned to check on her she had made it outside and was grazing with her friends. But every so often she falls over and sits there for a long time.
She seems to be breathing ok. Her feathers look all ruffled and kind of oily. One weird thing I noticed was an odd lump on her butt, which I cannot get pictures of as she runs from me and hunches down. The lump has no feathers on it and seems maybe painful since she tries to flee when I move her feathers to look at it.
I don't think she has laid an egg in months. Several months ago I started finding soft shelled eggs in the coop, but I don't know if they belonged to her. She doesn't feel egg bound. I don't think I've actually seen her poop in quite a while so I can't say what that looks like currently.
What could be wrong? I live in the city so have no avian vet anywhere nearby, and I would hope to treat this myself if possible. Thanks!
Problems with her started maybe a week ago. I noticed her comb was pale and floppy, which it still is today. She was missing a lot of feathers from her backside and belly. Her butt had a thin streak of dried yellowish poo stuck to it. At this point she seemed otherwise normal, eating and drinking fine. Feathers started to grow back and I thought she was recovering.
Then yesterday I noticed she was getting very skinny. She still eats ok, but feels like skin and bones. I became very concerned when come evening, she had not followed her friends into the coop. I found her hunched over outside our shed, looking quite distressed. I had to carry her and put her on the roost, and take her off it this morning. She immediately fell over and didn't want to get up. Her rump seems to tremble sometimes like she is very weak.
I put crumbles before her and she ate like she was starving. Also added some Nutri-Drench to yogurt and she ate a little. She would only take a few small drinks of water. When I returned to check on her she had made it outside and was grazing with her friends. But every so often she falls over and sits there for a long time.
She seems to be breathing ok. Her feathers look all ruffled and kind of oily. One weird thing I noticed was an odd lump on her butt, which I cannot get pictures of as she runs from me and hunches down. The lump has no feathers on it and seems maybe painful since she tries to flee when I move her feathers to look at it.
I don't think she has laid an egg in months. Several months ago I started finding soft shelled eggs in the coop, but I don't know if they belonged to her. She doesn't feel egg bound. I don't think I've actually seen her poop in quite a while so I can't say what that looks like currently.
What could be wrong? I live in the city so have no avian vet anywhere nearby, and I would hope to treat this myself if possible. Thanks!
