I am VERY worried

[chanty]

I am trying to remain calm when I see chickens looking sick. I have a red hybrid chicken that has laid her firs year straight through, lost a few feathers on her hind end then stopped laying in June. Now she stands around lethargic with eyes closed. There are two others in the flock, anther hybrid girl that molted then went broody so stopped laying, I tried the broody breaker and she is back to normal. The last is a 3 year old waning chanteclerc who still lays about 3 or 4 eggs a week. I decided to get new hens and one looks very ill. She also stands around with head under wing eyes closing while the other 3 (one of which came from the same farm) skitter all around her when I come near. She was so out of it I walked up to her and picked her up. One eye remained closed the whole time (I don't see any liquid coming from the eye). What I have done is to put ACV in the water and put garlic powder and DE in the food. I really don't want to treat with antibiotics, chemicals etc., so I don't imagine many people will have much to say to help me as this I think is not a common way of treating sick birds, however is ANYONE out there has any suggestions for me I would like to hear them.

 

[casportpony]

Do a thorough exam, which includes checking the inside of their vents for stuck eggs. You should also get a baseline weight on them. If they start losing weight you'll need to address that.

-Kathy

 

[fallbrookchicks]

If they are standing around with tail down, kind of fluffed up feathers, uninterested in eating or drinking and don't show any signs of respiratory disease, I would guess it could be Coccidia. Very easy to treat with Corid if they are not too far gone. This disease can be picked up from new birds, wild birds, any ground.

Some people say to look for blood in the stool, but it does not always appear.