My 16-month old GL wyandotte has been droopy for two days now. She spends a lot of time just plopped on the ground and although she is my most skittish hen, she now lets me touch her and pick her up. When I put her down or when she jumps down from a roost, she seems to have trouble landing. Her tail is down, but not all the time. There are no signs of an injury. She laid an egg yesterday for sure--it was normal looking. I have collected two poop samples that I know are hers--neither has visible worms in it. Both fall in the range of "normal" and I have seen nothing unusual on the droppings board from overnight the last two nights. She is not wheezing. Her eyes are normal and I don't notice any significant bleaching of her comb--but it's a pea comb, so I can't tell if it's droopy. She is eating both crumbles and grass. Today I gave her some bread soaked in plain yogurt and she gobbled it up. Worms? If so, is the wazine route the only way to go? Could mites cause these symptoms? I haven't done a super thorough check of her skin yet. If it's not worms, could it be a belly ache from eating a piece of a pole bean plant? I'm not sure that she did eat it, but the hens have been sneaking into my garden and wreaking havoc, so maybe she ate something she shouldn't have and didn't have the sense to spit it out??? Any thoughts???
My first guess would be worms. You should start with wazine and probably follow up with another wormer like ivermectin. Look on the FAQ page for how to do this; I'd have to. You certainly won't always see worms when they are present. Usually it is a really bad infestation if you actually see worms. Because of her age, I think worms are likely.
