We got a coop and some Buff Orpington chickens hatched in March. Two were a little bigger and two were a little smaller. They were raised by a grandma and her grand kids in Illinois.
One of the smaller ones seemed sick, and we got a sulfa drug powder and did six days In the water. A second smaller one got sick quickly and died. The first one sick (Hope) seemed better for a week but has gotten worse again. She never got back to 100% like the two that never got sick at all. She is weak, she eats and drinks but stands still a lot. She used to have some bloody poo but not since the meds. Now she has runny brown poo.
After discontinuing the sulfa we have been putting powdered vitamins and probiotics for chickens in their water. We have hand-fed some garlic after reading an herbal chicken advice in a magazine. They all like the garlic. I have given a few drops of apple cider vinegar in water a few times. I gave unsweetened Greek yogurt a couple of times, but not since completing the Sulfa drug.
We are using organic feed, and very small red grit. They have a two-story coop and a chicken run space around the outside made of about 30 feet of fence.
The sick chicken Hope has a little flecks of poo stuck in her feathers. She has gnats sometimes hanging around near her. She seems lethargic. She keeps her eyes closed sometimes. Her bottom is not visibly blocked.
A 4-H person said we might need to repeat the antibiotics but "not yet" he said a couple weeks back, and I have not been able to reach him since to ask what advice now that she is sick again. The feed store says maybe we can't do much more for her if she is just a weak bird. They did not sell her---we got her at the Kankakee Chicken swap. So they don't know her history and have not met her.
How can I help her?
One of the smaller ones seemed sick, and we got a sulfa drug powder and did six days In the water. A second smaller one got sick quickly and died. The first one sick (Hope) seemed better for a week but has gotten worse again. She never got back to 100% like the two that never got sick at all. She is weak, she eats and drinks but stands still a lot. She used to have some bloody poo but not since the meds. Now she has runny brown poo.
After discontinuing the sulfa we have been putting powdered vitamins and probiotics for chickens in their water. We have hand-fed some garlic after reading an herbal chicken advice in a magazine. They all like the garlic. I have given a few drops of apple cider vinegar in water a few times. I gave unsweetened Greek yogurt a couple of times, but not since completing the Sulfa drug.
We are using organic feed, and very small red grit. They have a two-story coop and a chicken run space around the outside made of about 30 feet of fence.
The sick chicken Hope has a little flecks of poo stuck in her feathers. She has gnats sometimes hanging around near her. She seems lethargic. She keeps her eyes closed sometimes. Her bottom is not visibly blocked.
A 4-H person said we might need to repeat the antibiotics but "not yet" he said a couple weeks back, and I have not been able to reach him since to ask what advice now that she is sick again. The feed store says maybe we can't do much more for her if she is just a weak bird. They did not sell her---we got her at the Kankakee Chicken swap. So they don't know her history and have not met her.
How can I help her?
