Hen with no energy, please help

[chix4lyfe]

Hello, we have a polish hen who is not doing very well. She has mites in her afro that I can't seem to get rid of but there isn't that many of them right now. She keeps one of her eyes closed and she seems like she has no energy. It is cold and snowy so we brought her inside and she was drinking a ton of water. I wonder if she was dehydrated but its been a few hours and she is still just laying down and sleeping. I am letting her rest and checking up on her every once in a while and forcing her to eat. She will eat out of my hand occasionally and she also hasn't pooped since she's been in the house which had been almost 3 hours. I love her so much and i want her to get better so if anyone can help, it would be very appreciated.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Hello, we have a polish hen who is not doing very well. She has mites in her afro that I can't seem to get rid of but there isn't that many of them right now. She keeps one of her eyes closed and she seems like she has no energy. It is cold and snowy so we brought her inside and she was drinking a ton of water. I wonder if she was dehydrated but its been a few hours and she is still just laying down and sleeping. I am letting her rest and checking up on her every once in a while and forcing her to eat. She will eat out of my hand occasionally and she also hasn't pooped since she's been in the house which had been almost 3 hours. I love her so much and i want her to get better so if anyone can help, it would be very appreciated.

Hmm. She seems sick, here are some people that can help. @MysteryChicken @Wyorp Rock @azygous

These 2 have polishes: @JustBabyMargo @Little Baby Bean

 

[Mrs J]

Hi
Give her some water with sugar or nutri drench in, she could be lethargic due to mites, I use ivermectin on my Polish for mites, which seems to work. Hopefully @Wyorp Rock @azygous @LaFleche @Eggcessive can help, then when your polish is out of the woods, you can concentrate treating your birds/sorting coup to eradicate mites. Good luck

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? What have you treated the mites with? What does she eat? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard, doughy, or puffy? Does her crop fill empty by early morning? I would try to give her some Poultry NutriDrench 2 ml orally or similar electrolytes with vitamins. Mix up some mushy wet chicken feed and scrambled egg. It may take some time to help determine what is wrong. I read a few of your earlier threads, and you never updated any of them about how your chicks got along. Have you seen any illness before or lost any?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She has mites in her afro that I can't seem to get rid of but there isn't that many of them right now. She keeps one of her eyes closed and she seems like she has no energy. It is cold and snowy so we brought her inside and she was drinking a ton of water. I wonder if she was dehydrated but its been a few hours and she is still just laying down and sleeping.

What are you using to treat the mites with?

She's drinking a lot, what does her crop feel like? Check it first thing in the morning to see if it's emptied.

 

[dawg53]

Mites suck blood, cause anemia, then death. Kill the external parasites and get your hen started on Poultry Cell.
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...mart PLA (IBSF0001)&utm_term=4585169651768108

 

[azygous]

Do you know if you're dealing with mites or if you're dealing with lice? They're completely different species. Mites are a more immediate health risk to chickens than lice since mites can make a chicken dangerously anemic. Lice feed mostly off dead skin.

It's a good idea to know which of these you're dealing with since eradication methods differ. Mites require much more attention to the premises, where lice are on the chicken and not so much in the coop and run.

Find a magnifying lens. Every chicken keeper should have one. They are inexpensive. Collect a bug off your chicken and inspect it under magnification. Count the legs. If you see eight legs, including the tiny ones coming off the head end, you have mites. If there are only six legs, you are looking at a louse and simply dusting with permethrin poultry dusting powder will kill the lice.

 

[Eggcessive]

Permethrin garden dust is very good to treat mites or lice, used every 7 days at least twice. The coop, roosts, and nests must be treated as well, once bedding has been removed far away. Permethrin 10 concentrate sold at most feed stores can be mixed with water and used in a spray bottle or garden sprayer for treatment of facilities, and it works for the chickens in warm weather. The dust is safer for chickens in cool weather.

 

[LaFleche]

Great advice here, and if you follow it closely, she should recover soon.

While she is in the house, maybe also trim back her head feathers around her eyes and to the front to allow for unobstructed view and better orientation.

Polish and Silkies often starve and dehydrate due to lack of orientation and vision caused by their overgrown crests.