Hen found on her side...ideas?

[rainlips]

I found one of my girls on her side this morning... She's still alive and breathing pretty fast. Her eyes keeping closing and she just lays there. I've brought her in the house, tried giving her water with acv.. Nothing. Her crop feels fine, she doesn't feel egg bound she also seems to be shaking.. I'm at a loss! All the other girls seem just fine.. Ideas?

 

[tastybabies]

Any problems breathing? Do you hear any congestion that could point to a respiratory illness?

 

[rainlips]

No not really... And she's normally not a friendly bird so I know something up... I will take a video, it's just weird!

 

[tastybabies]

That is weird. Well we can cover the basics. it sounds like shes sick, picked up something either viral or bacterial. fever, fast breathing, lethargy. keep her away from the rest, watch the flock, and wash your hands between interacting with them.

Diet:
Eating? drinking regular?
Enough calcium typically?
Free range? are there new shoots of grass theyve been getting into for foods?
Bowel:
Diarrhea? Solid?
Different color?
Age:
How old is she?

 

[Eggcessive]

This may not be her problem, since many chicken diseases cause them to lay down a lot with weakness, but you might want to rule out botulism from eating dead animals, fish, mice, or vegetaion. Also lead or rat poison. Also check her for lice and mites. Check her crop, and note any leg or wing weakness. Here is a link to read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/860838/botulism

 

[rainlips]

She is in confinement, she's been on laying mash for a while, sunflower seeds and cabbage as treats along with the rest, we have 25. She has been doing just fine, she's not eating or drinking. No free range, we still have 5 feet of snow so ok new grasses are anything. She hasn't had any bowel movements since being in the house... I tried standing her on her feet and she just lays down, like she can't hold her self up. Her breathing is pretty fast, and she shakes. She's around 1 I think.. I just got her and some others about 4 months ago... As of now I have her in a box and forcing water into her every 1/2 hour or so...

 

[tastybabies]

Try electrolyte mix and maybe some crushed up calcium in the water so her ion levels dont get thrown off. Crush up 1 baby aspirin and dilute it into 1 quart, or one 364 mg adult one into a gallon of water. it will help with the fever. chicken aspirin dose is 25mg/lb. keep it diluted in water though since it tastes bitter to everybody. careful force feeding her water of course so she doesnt inhale anything.

 

[Eggcessive]

She sounds very sick. Did she have a Mareks vaccine? Mareks can cause leg weakness, too. Keep her warm. Tube feeding may be required if she won't eat or drink. A tube feeding set-up can be made with aquarium tubing from WalMart plus a large 35 or 60 cc syringe from the feed store. Burn on end of the tubing to round off sharpness to insert into crop. KayTee bird food is good to use. Here is some info on it and mareks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease/502