hen is listless?

[jodiv]

I have no idea why my hen all of a sudden is listless today. She was fine the night before, and today she hasnt been free ranging with the other hens and roosters. she stays in the run and sits in the corner and closes her eyes, when she walks around she isnt her perky self, very slow movments, and doesnt seem to be interested in all that much.

I purchased her along with 4 other pullets from Mcmurray hatchery about 2 months back, all are doing fine. But now all of a sudden? Any suggestions? Oh and I did check her vent to see if she was egg bound, but I couldnt see anything.

 

[emzee]

She may have coccidiosis (spelling?) Have you been giving them medicated feed?

 

[jodiv]

emzee- no this just started today, and if it is the cocci, is it ok to feed this medicated feed to all of my flock even though they dont have the symtoms?

She did have rather watery poo, and it looked a bit odd. I'm really not sure what to do, I have never owned a chicken that up and did this.

I just started to let the flock free range just a week or 2 ago, so I dont know if she picked it up from something or what? I'm afraid my other hens will get what shes got.

I have a wooden coop, so sanitizing the thing is going to be a chore since it isnt treated wood, and probably will stay damp for awhile. what to do.....

 

[NotTheMomma]

How's she today?

 

[threehorses]

i wouldn't sanitize yet - especially if it causes damp conditions.

I have a few questions, please. First, do all your birds get grit? Can you please check her crop - tell us if it's backing up, not emptying? What do your birds eat exactly, and how old are they? Is the coop cool? If it's not, I'd try to get her out into the better ventilation of the outside air.

Feel her weight - does she feel thin to you, her keel sticking out a bit? Check her carefully for mites/lice close against her skin all over her. Check at night a few times as that's when mites come out and get onto birds.

I would also probably isolate her for a couple of days, maybe in a smaller cage, where she has easy access to food and water with less effort.

Because she had watery dropping, I'd at least give her and the other birds a treat of some yogurt (plain), or probiotics on the feed. That will replace some good bacteria in their guts and help with any digestive issues she might secretly be fighting.

I would also make sure that your feed is fresh -within date, kept in a dry, cool, airtight container. Make sure there are no puddles, algea water, and that their waterers are slime-free (feel the inside edges as biofilm is often clear, unlike algea). Any access to compost piles? Manure piles? Falling berries, vegetables, fruit?

I suspect something is happening when she free ranged - either she got into something, or the extra activity has brought out something underlying. BUt hopefully answering those questions will help us narrow some things down.

 

[jodiv]

notthemomma- amazingly she is perky today...go figure, but i still am going to do something.

threehorses- yes all my birds get grit, they are on a layer feed. Her crop felt fine, and of course was empty this morning when i let her out, they all eat greens that I pick from the garden, mostly carrot tops, brocclli leaves, and quack grass. I give them also ground up egg shelss with their feed every week or so for calcium. The pullets are 24 weeks now and 2 older hens are about 2 yrs old, and the 2 roosters are young yet, bot sure how old. The hen that was not feeling that great is fairly good as weight is conserned, no bones sticking out, no bugs or lice that I can see. I keep there water pretty clean, and yes they have fresh grit layer everyday.

And when I have recently let them out to free range, they all have had access to the compost pile. Which i did see them scratching in it. The only berries that they are able to get are the strawberries in the garden, however I have an old pile of composting lake weeds. They clean the lake every once in awhile and the weeds that they turn up I had them drop it off in my back yard to use for my garden...there are snail shelss in it and some clam shells. It is pretty well composted already.

Other than that I have no idea, your thoguht was the same as mine, that she might have eaten something that didnt agree with her, and felt icky in the morning because of it.

However today, she was her perky self, however, like I said, I am going to give them all something just to be sure. I'll try the yogurt too. I spoke to the guy at the feed mil and he said to put the flock back on a medicated starter for awhile. He said the change from in the coop to free ranging puts stress on the birds...beleive it or not, and he said their stomachs need to adjust. so I am ging to try the med feed and the yogurt, and see how it goes i guess.

Thank you for your input, and I will keep you posted.

 

[emzee]

Yes, it is okay to feed medicated feed to the rest of your flock as it will help to prevent them from getting sick. But if you are going to feed it to any egg layers, you may not want to eat their eggs while they're on the medicated feed.

 

[threehorses]

Ahhh yes, I suspect it could be any of those situations (compost, berries, lake weeds) or all of them. There are many cases of birds getting in to compost and getting botulism. The heat from the composting kills bacteria on the insides - but doesn't effect the edges. So for poultry, it really is best to keep some kind of wire up. Our own speckledhen can tell you how important this can be.

Since she's perky, and since the above mentioned situations can include mildews and molds that are good for the process of composting but not so good for the process of digeston, you might do a gentle cleansing of all their digestive systems to clean out anything that might still be in there. It's not necessary to do a flush like you would for botulism. But something gentle to just get the "yuck" out and give the digestive tract a good clean slate for the good bacteria in the yogurt.

It's as simple as making some sort of mash for them and include 1/8th a teaspoon of molasses and a cup or so of applesauce. Oatmeal makes a great 'base' for this (cooked). Add 3 tablespoons of yogurt do that - it'll serve three to six hens. The molasses gently flushes the system, the applesauce pectin both cleanses as well as acting as a PREbiotic to the PRObiotics/yogurt (i.e. feed for the living bacteria to make them happy so that they colonize and flourish), and they just like oatmeal.

I would also make sure that you have a good source of oil vitamins around just in case - like cod liver oil for example. If they get into mold/mildew, it causes oil vitamin deficiency. A regular vitamin/mineral package should work since she's better (water application).

Of course, I'm going to recommend oyster shell as a calcium source because it's more bioavailable, more easily absorbed into the blood than egg shells.

It's the standard and has been for years because it so easily gets into the blood through grinding in the gizzard. So there's my official recommendation. /wink

I'm very glad to hear that she's doing well today - that's a great relief!

Incidentally, only feed amprolium medicated feed., I would not feed anything with an antibiotic (BMd for example). Amprolium isn't an antibiotic, is only an anti-protazoa medicine.

 

[jodiv]

wow thanks for the imput! She's still doing fine, but I will be doing the yogurt thing tommorrow. She gave me a scare and I didnt want to lose my best egg laying hen!

 

[threehorses]

Our favorites are always the ones that give us the scares. I'm glad she's doing better, and glad to have tried to be of assistance.