Hello, I've only just become a member of byc but I've read and researched and followed for just over 2 years, as long as we've had chickens.
1) Twinnie is just over 2 years old and a red (bought from TSC--production red?) and she's thin or feels lighter but about 4 lbs.
2) Last night she went to the coop to sleep much earlier than normal and was sound asleep when I went to lock them up. I even called her name a few times but had to touch her to rouse her. This a.m. she was the last hen out of the coop; she's lethargic and was doing a lot of standing around. Her crop was full this a.m. too, but that's new today.
Also today she is less responsive even to calls for treats; tried tempting her with strawberries, which ordinarily she loves, but she wasn't interested in eating. She was also away from the rest of the flock and she's been "wandering away" from them a bit over the last couple of weeks.
Other symptoms which have been around... She's missing feathers on her head- almost looks like a mohawk. She's missing feathers on her check/belly. Her tail feathers look "ratty" to me and have been. We didn't respond much to that thinking it was moult.
We had a bout of lice coming into spring which we treated and she hasn't shown signs in weeks.
She's also been laying sporadically but we figured that could be due to the lice and/or the moult.
3) What I wrote above is just since last night. There have been other problems as I mentioned above for a couple of months.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? We only have 5 hens and no.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I know coming out of winter we had a bought with lice but she hasn't had signs of that for weeks.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She's always been a good eater, even aggressive when it comes to treats: through winter they get weekly treats of yogurt or tuna fish and greens. With spring, she/they get any greens we don't eat, any fruit or berries that have gone off and once a fortnight some protein boost like tuna, sardines, or yogurt. Also, we regularly use ACV in their water. Even yesterday she responded well to a lettuce core and strawberries. Today she didn't respond to strawberries. Don't know if she ate coming out of the coop today.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Not sure yet.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Brought her in to isolate and observe. Put out water with Nutri-Dent and electrolytes and a bowl of crumble.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Despite living in a rural county, there aren't many resources. We have one vet who will deal with birds but she's pretty new (inexperienced) and doesn't see chickens often. We'll do whatever we can and if we have to will try the vet.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. Will try to post later.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. We have 5 hens another 2 year old red, an older 3+ or 4+ year old Buckeye, and 2 Speckled Sussex who are probably 3 and 4 years old. We have a coop: 2 levels, 2 roosts, proper ventilation. Not sure of size but on the upper level roosts all 5 can sit on one roost with space. They also have the run of the fenced backyard; we live in city limits and backyard seems big (don't know the square footage).
I would appreciate any suggestions or help. I've spent the morning on the computer on several sites e.g. BYC, Tilly's, etc. and reading our chix books and magazines trying to diagnose. I feel something is off and I've been watching her for a couple of weeks--giving extra protein and seeds regularly just in case. I tried to be thorough and descriptive in my answers to help. Our chicken history isn't long but we've had a lot of trial and error. We started with 6 chicks 2 years ago and lost 3 within 9 months due to a lethal combination of flighty birds and neighbor dogs; we've brought in or rescued heritage birds (including 2 roosters) on 3 separate occasions-lost some and had to get rid of some. We lost another red early this spring--she'd been a runt always smaller than the others and starting laying much later--she always looked like a pullet and she was always slight but we liked her and she was a good layer despite her small size; we think the winter was hard on her and she got egg bound and we didn't catch it soon enough.
Ok if you do read this whole missive I would be grateful. Thank you.
1) Twinnie is just over 2 years old and a red (bought from TSC--production red?) and she's thin or feels lighter but about 4 lbs.
2) Last night she went to the coop to sleep much earlier than normal and was sound asleep when I went to lock them up. I even called her name a few times but had to touch her to rouse her. This a.m. she was the last hen out of the coop; she's lethargic and was doing a lot of standing around. Her crop was full this a.m. too, but that's new today.
Also today she is less responsive even to calls for treats; tried tempting her with strawberries, which ordinarily she loves, but she wasn't interested in eating. She was also away from the rest of the flock and she's been "wandering away" from them a bit over the last couple of weeks.
Other symptoms which have been around... She's missing feathers on her head- almost looks like a mohawk. She's missing feathers on her check/belly. Her tail feathers look "ratty" to me and have been. We didn't respond much to that thinking it was moult.
We had a bout of lice coming into spring which we treated and she hasn't shown signs in weeks.
She's also been laying sporadically but we figured that could be due to the lice and/or the moult.
3) What I wrote above is just since last night. There have been other problems as I mentioned above for a couple of months.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? We only have 5 hens and no.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I know coming out of winter we had a bought with lice but she hasn't had signs of that for weeks.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She's always been a good eater, even aggressive when it comes to treats: through winter they get weekly treats of yogurt or tuna fish and greens. With spring, she/they get any greens we don't eat, any fruit or berries that have gone off and once a fortnight some protein boost like tuna, sardines, or yogurt. Also, we regularly use ACV in their water. Even yesterday she responded well to a lettuce core and strawberries. Today she didn't respond to strawberries. Don't know if she ate coming out of the coop today.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Not sure yet.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Brought her in to isolate and observe. Put out water with Nutri-Dent and electrolytes and a bowl of crumble.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Despite living in a rural county, there aren't many resources. We have one vet who will deal with birds but she's pretty new (inexperienced) and doesn't see chickens often. We'll do whatever we can and if we have to will try the vet.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. Will try to post later.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. We have 5 hens another 2 year old red, an older 3+ or 4+ year old Buckeye, and 2 Speckled Sussex who are probably 3 and 4 years old. We have a coop: 2 levels, 2 roosts, proper ventilation. Not sure of size but on the upper level roosts all 5 can sit on one roost with space. They also have the run of the fenced backyard; we live in city limits and backyard seems big (don't know the square footage).
I would appreciate any suggestions or help. I've spent the morning on the computer on several sites e.g. BYC, Tilly's, etc. and reading our chix books and magazines trying to diagnose. I feel something is off and I've been watching her for a couple of weeks--giving extra protein and seeds regularly just in case. I tried to be thorough and descriptive in my answers to help. Our chicken history isn't long but we've had a lot of trial and error. We started with 6 chicks 2 years ago and lost 3 within 9 months due to a lethal combination of flighty birds and neighbor dogs; we've brought in or rescued heritage birds (including 2 roosters) on 3 separate occasions-lost some and had to get rid of some. We lost another red early this spring--she'd been a runt always smaller than the others and starting laying much later--she always looked like a pullet and she was always slight but we liked her and she was a good layer despite her small size; we think the winter was hard on her and she got egg bound and we didn't catch it soon enough.
Ok if you do read this whole missive I would be grateful. Thank you.
