Hey everyone, one of my girls has been suffering from lice for weeks, though she was still laying eggs with a bright comb and personality.. She has also always had sort of a weird walk and limp when she was younger that had since diminished. The other day I noticed she was standing on only one foot and could barely walk. I checked her and couldn't,find any obvious causes. I brought her in the house in a small pen in attempt to keep her off of the leg. I felt so badly,having her all alone, I tried to bring her back outside and the other hens started tearing at her.. Really nastily.. Not being able to watch that, I brought her back in. What should I do!? I've considered euthanizing her, but I feel guilty throwing in the towel so soon
Hello, Get rid of the lice if you haven't already done so, they are a misery for the bird. Are you possibly going to get more chicks? If so, you could try integrating her with them. Alternatively, she could become your 'house' chicken. Lots of people keep a solitary hen as a pet. As long as she has someone to interact with, she'll probably do fine. Recheck her leg to make sure she doesn't have bumblefoot or a small, inconspicuous injury. Best of luck with your patient, Sue
If she is infested with lice then more then likely they all are to some degree at least. What have you done to get rid of them? The birds need to be dusted with Poultry Dust every 7 to 10 days until you don't see anymore lice/mites. The coop has to be stripped and you need to either dust or spray it with something like Sevin, also every 7 to 10 days. That is the hatch cycle of the bugs and the dust/sprays won't kill the eggs. They can be hard to get rid of so treatment has to be aggressive and ongoing. I certainly would not give up on this bird without first getting rid of all the parasites. As far as reintegrating this bird? Try putting her in a pen with one of the lowest birds on the pecking order and see how it goes. If it goes ok then add another low order bird and just keep working your way up. It may take some time but it's worth it if you can get her back into the flock.
