Is my pullet sick?

[Creede]

Greetings. I’ve got a new flock of chickens ranging at the ages of 6-8 weeks. They’ve been outside in the coop/run and sometimes let out in the backyard for 2-3 weeks now.

Recently, the temperature has increased to 90-98 Fahrenheit the past couples days.

My only crested cream legbar, is seemingly independent. However, I have noticed the last two days that it has been a little bit more so. She still moves around, eats, drinks, and jumps up on a high roost to sleep at night. When I’ve let them out the past couple days, she hangs back. Eventually she will mosey out into the backyard. It was a bit windy today, but I’m pretty sure I witnessed her stumble backward a time or two regardless.

Am I being paranoid, or is this something? Could this just be her personality, or is this heat stress? Something else entirely? Hopefully she’s not getting sick.

 

[KtheChickenGal]

That's good that you're keeping an eye on her, and that she's eating and drinking. Those are really hot temps. I would definitely continue to watch her, have you put any electrolytes in their water? Or given any fruit/ done stuff to keep her cool- fans, pans of water, etc? I don't think you're paranoid, especially if you've seen her stumble and know her personality, and have seen changes. What breed are you chickens?

 

[Bawkbok]

You're not being paranoid, you're being observant.
Heat stress is obvious when they stand with wings out away from their bodies and open mouth breath, their faces also turn a fire bright red. They sometimes make a single loud cluck sound which is them expelling air through their vocal chords in an effort to cool off.

We are also in the 90s and that is dangerous heat regardless of age, but I would think the younger ones might dehydrate faster than adults, but I don't know. I know all our girls struggle so we limit their free run yard time to the last two hours before sunset when the day "cools down" and there is more of a breeze. They don't like being confined to the run but we don't want to risk dehydration or collapse from heat exhaustion. The pullets would otherwise run around the yard acting like crazy teen agers, expending more energy, exacerbating the problem.
We have four fans running at all times, in the coop and surrounding the run and coop. We also provide cool fresh water multiple times a day along with cooling fruit like watermelon, grapes or berries which contain a lot of water.
We check on them more frequently, but limit the excitement factor by leaving them alone through the hottest part of the day other than to provide fresh water, aforementioned eats and at the same time, pick up poops which helps to reduce flies. Otherwise, they walk or lay about the run under a fan breeze to try and stay cool, still open mouth breathing / panting. We had a pullet who tends to dehydrate quickly, so knowing this, we pay particular attention to her. We've already saved her once by catching it in time.
Hopefully, sharing what works for us can offer some help for you. Summer is not here yet, so we are in for a long season.

 

[Creede]

That's good that you're keeping an eye on her, and that she's eating and drinking. Those are really hot temps. I would definitely continue to watch her, have you put any electrolytes in their water? Or given any fruit/ done stuff to keep her cool- fans, pans of water, etc? I don't think you're paranoid, especially if you've seen her stumble and know her personality, and have seen changes. What breed are you chickens?

I need to place electrolytes in their water, but I haven’t since they were chicks. They received some blueberries this evening (not cold/frozen). Forgot to re-ice today, but previous two days I placed a tub with clay bricks and ice water to stand on (ice water surface below bricks).

We have 10 chickens and all are a different breed. This includes CCL, Golden Comet, Easter Egger, Blue Cochin, Black Australorp, Black Sex-link, Rustic Rock, Rhode Island Redd, and White Leghorn.

I’ll add she’s been napping a lot. I didn’t state this earlier. More so than anyone else. Again, she will eventually walk around, eat and drink. Not really playing with others. She is the smallest, youngest and noticeably the bottom of the pecking order. She doesn’t seem to care (laid back and independent).

Our summers average 100-110 degrees, so this isn’t a good start if she’s struggling with temperature. I managed to install misters in the run. This hasn’t been used yet.

 

[Creede]

You're not being paranoid, you're being observant.
Heat stress is obvious when they stand with wings out away from their bodies and open mouth breath, their faces also turn a fire bright red. They sometimes make a single loud cluck sound which is them expelling air through their vocal chords in an effort to cool off.

We are also in the 90s and that is dangerous heat regardless of age, but I would think the younger ones might dehydrate faster than adults, but I don't know. I know all our girls struggle so we limit their free run yard time to the last two hours before sunset when the day "cools down" and there is more of a breeze. They don't like being confined to the run but we don't want to risk dehydration or collapse from heat exhaustion. The pullets would otherwise run around the yard acting like crazy teen agers, expending more energy, exacerbating the problem.
We have four fans running at all times, in the coop and surrounding the run and coop. We also provide cool fresh water multiple times a day along with cooling fruit like watermelon, grapes or berries which contain a lot of water.
We check on them more frequently, but limit the excitement factor by leaving them alone through the hottest part of the day other than to provide fresh water, aforementioned eats and at the same time, pick up poops which helps to reduce flies. Otherwise, they walk or lay about the run under a fan breeze to try and stay cool, still open mouth breathing / panting. We had a pullet who tends to dehydrate quickly, so knowing this, we pay particular attention to her. We've already saved her once by catching it in time.
Hopefully, sharing what works for us can offer some help for you. Summer is not here yet, so we are in for a long season.

I haven’t noticed the reaction to heat stress as you described. Will keep an eye out for that. Limited to evening free range is good advice. Usually not at home during the day anyways. Our run is almost completely shaded all day. Recently installed misters to use in the future. No cool water or treats have been given. This is all good pointers. Our coop has a fan blowing in and an exhaust pulling out. As well as three open windows. I will have to look into installing a fan for the run. Thank you for sharing

 

[Creede]

Okay, today the girls received electrolytes and a cold clay brick to stand on. There’s always shade and they didn’t get to free range until the evening.

Trudy (CCL) hasn’t got worse, but she still doesn’t appear 100%. She still eats, drinks, preens a little bit, but mostly lays down. Somewhat following the flock, pecks around a bit, then lays and looks around. I’ve seen her lean back on her legs and stumble almost a couple times. Her posture when standing doesn’t always seem sturdy. I held her for a while and her eyes seemed attentive. She made noises when a bird would fly over, moved out of the way when my dog wanted to sniff her.

Should I be concerned?

Here’s a few pics. She’s a lot smaller than her peers. Is this a trait of her breed or something that correlates with a potential issue? She was always a smaller chick in comparison.

 

[Creede]

She was last one into the coop. Honestly, it seemed difficult for her to climb the stairs into it. Wasn’t urgent about following the flock and took a while to manage up.

I gave her some nutridrench for poultry (~0.25ml soaked on some oats). Hopefully this will get her feeling better by morning.

Anything else I can do to help?

 

[KtheChickenGal]

That's good that she's eating and drinking. Hopefully nutri- drench will perk her up. I often give my chickens yogurt, fruit, and scrambled eggs if they seem sick.
Definitely keep an eye on her, separate her if that makes you feel any better.
I've had chickens with the same-ish symptoms, and they perked up after I gave amprolium (even if it's not coccidiosis, it
seems to help)

She was last one into the coop. Honestly, it seemed difficult for her to climb the stairs into it. Wasn’t urgent about following the flock and took a while to manage up.

I gave her some nutridrench for poultry (~0.25ml soaked on some oats). Hopefully this will get her feeling better by morning.

Anything else I can do to help

 

[Creede]

That's good that she's eating and drinking. Hopefully nutri- drench will perk her up. I often give my chickens yogurt, fruit, and scrambled eggs if they seem sick.
Definitely keep an eye on her, separate her if that makes you feel any better.
I've had chickens with the same-ish symptoms, and they perked up after I gave amprolium (even if it's not coccidiosis, it
seems to help)

Interesting, do you think this could potentially be coccidiosis? What does separating look like? Bring her in the house in a brooder setup? I’m afraid I don’t have a quarantine setup. The more I read about chickens health issues it appears we need to install something.

 

[KtheChickenGal]

Interesting, do you think this could potentially be coccidiosis? What does separating look like? Bring her in the house in a brooder setup? I’m afraid I don’t have a quarantine setup. The more I read about chickens health issues it appears we need to install something.

I don't necessarily think it's coccidiosis, but amprolium has helped my chickens before even if they had something else.