Hen with Breathing Problems - I DID IT! Used DE last night

[HiddenSprings]

NEW CHICKEN OWNER - needing help.

Have 9 -10 week old chicks and then my sister gave me a full grown hen that is blind (chickens were being mean to her), when there were 3 weeks old. So been together for 7 weeks. Shirley, full grown hen, has done great with the babies, they love her, but noticed her after 3-4 weeks here in my coop, she was cleaning and scratching on her self too much. Got to looking and found "q-tip" feathers at her back side near her vent. Saw no live lice though, but bathed her in warm bath, dried her, and put DE on her on 8/1/20. Cleaning slowed down, but did not stop.

Last night, 8/5/20 was reading more, and found that a lot of owners said to treat all chicks so I did this last night. This morning, everyone is fine except Shirley, the full grown hen. She is opening her mouth widely, stretching her neck often as to get a breath and just walking around slowly. (NOTE- she was laying, but quit laying last week of July)

I'm planning to clean out coop - wash out and vacuum -then treat walls, etc with NEEM oil, but something is wrong with Shirley. She is not breathing right and not eating the fresh herbs and grass I threw in this morning.

In case it helps, she and all the chicks are eating organic chicken starter 24% and I have been giving them fruit and vegetable treats as well as organic scratch and meal worms. I purchased Oyster shells and been trying to figure out how to give it to them -in food, etc - mainly for Shirley but they are all in coop together so chicks will get it as well. Help / advice please?

 

[Eggcessive]

If your chickens have lice or mites, you should be able to see them or the droppings on their skin. Look under the hen’s vent and abdomen and her back for lice eggs clumps at the base of feathers, and for moving tan bugs. Mites will leave brown speckson skin. If there are no mites or lice, I would not treat them. DE is an overhyped product, and really will not treat an outbreak. It can irritate the eyes and breathing of both you and your chickens. Permethrin spray or dust from a feed store is a very safe product to use if there is an outbreak. Look for any eye bubbles or drainage, or nasal drainage from the hen, in case she is getting sick with a respiratory infection. Check her crop to see if it is full, hard, or puffy, and that it is emptying overnight. Adjusting the crop can look like this, but she also could be getting sick. Make sure that you have good air circulation throughout your coop. Windows added can help.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

NEW CHICKEN OWNER - needing help.

Have 9 -10 week old chicks and then my sister gave me a full grown hen that is blind (chickens were being mean to her), when there were 3 weeks old. So been together for 7 weeks. Shirley, full grown hen, has done great with the babies, they love her, but noticed her after 3-4 weeks here in my coop, she was cleaning and scratching on her self too much. Got to looking and found "q-tip" feathers at her back side near her vent. Saw no live lice though, but bathed her in warm bath, dried her, and put DE on her on 8/1/20. Cleaning slowed down, but did not stop.

Last night, 8/5/20 was reading more, and found that a lot of owners said to treat all chicks so I did this last night. This morning, everyone is fine except Shirley, the full grown hen. She is opening her mouth widely, stretching her neck often as to get a breath and just walking around slowly. (NOTE- she was laying, but quit laying last week of July)

I'm planning to clean out coop - wash out and vacuum -then treat walls, etc with NEEM oil, but something is wrong with Shirley. She is not breathing right and not eating the fresh herbs and grass I threw in this morning.

In case it helps, she and all the chicks are eating organic chicken starter 24% and I have been giving them fruit and vegetable treats as well as organic scratch and meal worms. I purchased Oyster shells and been trying to figure out how to give it to them -in food, etc - mainly for Shirley but they are all in coop together so chicks will get it as well. Help / advice please?

Put the Oyster Shells in a container in the coop and/or run and/or both coop and run. Keep it available at all times. I keep Oyster Shells available 24/7. They consume it very fast.

 

[HiddenSprings]

Put the Oyster Shells in a container in the coop and/or run ans/or both coop ans run. Keep it available at all times. I keep Oyster Shells available 24/7. They consume it very fast.

Ok, thanks! I wan't sure if they were to be added food or in a separate feeder.