Maybe a start of something bad??? Advise please!

[ZetaPet]

I have a RIR that has isolated herself from the rest of the flock and she is sitting in a strange way. I have checked to see if I could feel an egg, but It was soft, Crop seems to be in order, and vent looks clean, aside for her feathers around her vent looking a little messy, I can't see anything wrong. She just started this behaviour this morning, She is one of my more lively chickens so I know there has got to be something wrong, any advise??

 

[ZetaPet]

Gleet Maybe???

 

[ZetaPet]

Anyone???

 

[CoatsCrew]

I'm dealing with something similar. My young rooster is withdrawn and listless. He isn't eating well. Although his poop looks normal from what I can tell. His tail feathers are rough, but his vent is clean. There are no signs of mites. His brother began with the same symptoms three weeks ago. It quickly became wry neck. I treated with Vitamin E, selenium and prednisone. He did not survive. I'm afraid this could be the start of the same thing again. No other symptoms. I feed layer feed and supplement with corn, sunflower seed and scratch. I also cook barley, Richard and oatmeal for them. I hate to blindly treat with antibiotics. I'm at a loss.

 

[CoatsCrew]

Have you checked her vent area for mites? That can cause them to be listless and have a messy bottom.

 

[CoatsCrew]

Rice, not Richard.

 

[ZetaPet]

No mites, just checked her again, no change. I think I'll start out with treating for gleet , it can'thurt, right?

 

[CoatsCrew]

I would definitely try giving her a bath, apple cider vinegar and some yogurt. I also have read that molasses can help. The bath would clean up any mess so that maybe you can see any problems better. It is so hard to guess with chicken health. It drives me crazy! I'm constantly guessing with my own flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have a RIR that has isolated herself from the rest of the flock and she is sitting in a strange way. I have checked to see if I could feel an egg, but It was soft, Crop seems to be in order, and vent looks clean, aside for her feathers around her vent looking a little messy, I can't see anything wrong. She just started this behaviour this morning, She is one of my more lively chickens so I know there has got to be something wrong, any advise??

Could you post a picture of how she is sitting, or describe it with details? If her vent is clean, then she doesn't have vent gleet, a fungal or bacterial infection. If she has diarrhea, then she may have coccidiosis. You can clean her vent area, trim any extra feathers, put some probiotics in her water, and make sure she is eating while checking her droppings. Worms are common in most chickens, and Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer are good ones to use to treat worms. A vet can do a fecal float for cocci, worms, and bacteria if you have one available that will examine a sample of droppings.

 

[ZetaPet]

I'll try to get pictures tonight, but I found her in the coop this morning look fine again, I think. I didn't have a lot of time to observe her. But She was standing straight and right next to a massive brown egg. I also caught her eating a frozen egg

. I will inspect her later today, but I gave the whole flock ACV and yogurt just in case. We don't have roosters, but I chicken sitted two big boys for a couple days and they were all over the girls. The temp also dropped in the last two days too. I don't know, Freakin chickens!! But I'll definitely get some pic's up later today!! Thanks guys!!!