DeLorean00
In the Brooder
- Oct 17, 2016
- 8
- 5
- 19
Hello, everyone! I am new here, I have been lurking for a long time and reading all about everyone's chickens and learning a lot. I am a new chicken owner and I have 2 New Hampshire Red hens that I have as pets. I have raised them by hand since they were 4 days old and they are my best buddies.
However my favorite hen Big Red she is 11 months old and has been having a very serious health issue and I am trying to figure out what is happening, what I might do to prevent it, or what I might be doing wrong.
What has been happening is that I put her in her coop at night and she is fine, I put fresh scratch and water a few meal worms as a treat. The next morning when I come out she isn't able to stand and I see she hasn't been able to eat or drink throughout the night as she often likes to do. She is so weak that when I try to help her up she shakes and falls back down. Her tail is tucked down and her vent is covered in poop she wasn't able to move away from her nest to poop. She is hot to the touch and has no strength at all. This has happened 3 times now.
So right off I think egg bound, especially with the tucked tail. Each time she has done this she has laid an egg within 24-48 before and she always lays her next egg 12-20 hours into the sickness. But to be safe I always check her vent and give her a nice warm bath to soak. I can feel an egg sometimes but it is where it is normally when she is about 4 hours away from laying, so she does not seem to be egg bound any of the times she has been sick. Now inside her vent she is hot. Much hotter than normal. Her poop is extremely runny, large, and very strong almost coppery smell to it. It is white green and black.
Each time she has gotten sick I have taken a week off and nursed her back to health. I have to start by making her comfortable and cleaning all the poo from around her vent, next I make it so her water and food is right with her so she doesn't have to stand to eat, and every few hours I take her and stand her up and hold her up until she has time to make a poop. I also give her half a children's aspirin every 4 to 6 hours. It takes her a couple of days of me helping her eat and drink and move and she starts to be able to stand again, then she is able to walk, slowly and carefully at first. It kills me to see her go through this.
I feed her daily Purina Scratch Grains, crushed oyster shells, poultry grit mixed in, meal worms as treats, fresh sweet corn on the cob, and steamed corn off the cob. This time before getting sick I had given her watermelon and some cantaloupe but not anytime before.
She sleeps inside my house in a coop that is filled with wood shavings and she makes herself a little nest in the corner. I have been told she might be better off with a roosting bar so I have bought one. I change the shavings every week or so but it could be possible she is getting sick from contact with her own waste but I try not to let it bad. I clean her water dish every day so there is no grime left in it and she always has fresh clean water.
She does free roam the backyard from time to time and I it is possible she is eating something back there she shouldn't be. But aside from that, I am at a loss.
This is a massively long post. I don't expect everyone to read the whole thing, but I wanted to put as much information as possible in it so maybe someone can point me in the right direction. This hen is more to me than just live stock, she is bonded to me and I am bonded to her, she follows me around like a puppy I am not willing to give up on her.
Thank you all so much for any help you might offer!
However my favorite hen Big Red she is 11 months old and has been having a very serious health issue and I am trying to figure out what is happening, what I might do to prevent it, or what I might be doing wrong.
What has been happening is that I put her in her coop at night and she is fine, I put fresh scratch and water a few meal worms as a treat. The next morning when I come out she isn't able to stand and I see she hasn't been able to eat or drink throughout the night as she often likes to do. She is so weak that when I try to help her up she shakes and falls back down. Her tail is tucked down and her vent is covered in poop she wasn't able to move away from her nest to poop. She is hot to the touch and has no strength at all. This has happened 3 times now.
So right off I think egg bound, especially with the tucked tail. Each time she has done this she has laid an egg within 24-48 before and she always lays her next egg 12-20 hours into the sickness. But to be safe I always check her vent and give her a nice warm bath to soak. I can feel an egg sometimes but it is where it is normally when she is about 4 hours away from laying, so she does not seem to be egg bound any of the times she has been sick. Now inside her vent she is hot. Much hotter than normal. Her poop is extremely runny, large, and very strong almost coppery smell to it. It is white green and black.
Each time she has gotten sick I have taken a week off and nursed her back to health. I have to start by making her comfortable and cleaning all the poo from around her vent, next I make it so her water and food is right with her so she doesn't have to stand to eat, and every few hours I take her and stand her up and hold her up until she has time to make a poop. I also give her half a children's aspirin every 4 to 6 hours. It takes her a couple of days of me helping her eat and drink and move and she starts to be able to stand again, then she is able to walk, slowly and carefully at first. It kills me to see her go through this.
I feed her daily Purina Scratch Grains, crushed oyster shells, poultry grit mixed in, meal worms as treats, fresh sweet corn on the cob, and steamed corn off the cob. This time before getting sick I had given her watermelon and some cantaloupe but not anytime before.
She sleeps inside my house in a coop that is filled with wood shavings and she makes herself a little nest in the corner. I have been told she might be better off with a roosting bar so I have bought one. I change the shavings every week or so but it could be possible she is getting sick from contact with her own waste but I try not to let it bad. I clean her water dish every day so there is no grime left in it and she always has fresh clean water.
She does free roam the backyard from time to time and I it is possible she is eating something back there she shouldn't be. But aside from that, I am at a loss.
This is a massively long post. I don't expect everyone to read the whole thing, but I wanted to put as much information as possible in it so maybe someone can point me in the right direction. This hen is more to me than just live stock, she is bonded to me and I am bonded to her, she follows me around like a puppy I am not willing to give up on her.
Thank you all so much for any help you might offer!
