My hen is sick-HALP!

[scootergrrrl]

my hen has gone off her feed. she pecks at stuff but is not eating. she has been sick for about a week and is getting thinner. i checked her crop for impaction and it is empty. i have not seen her pooping. one day she stood all fluffed up but has been more perky during the week. any ideas?

 

[AmyBella]

Sorry that your girl is not doing well. There is a list of questions here- https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569... I would suggest answering them as completely as possible and posting it in this thread. The more information that you can provide about your hen, the better folks can help you!

 

[scootergrrrl]

she is a red sex link hen about 7 months old. she was laying well but then recently stopped. she has no respiratory symptoms, no trauma injuries, walks fine, no outward disease symptoms. she is just not eating. i will examine her behavior more this afternoon when i get home.

 

[AmyBella]

Could she be egg bound? (You can find lots of information if you do a search for this) Have you checked her over for mites or lice? Just a couple of thoughts...

I would suggest making a wet mash by mixing her usual feed with a teaspoon or two of plain yogurt... see if she'll eat that. (Yogurt is really good for their digestion, but you could also use applesauce, warm water, chopped tomatoes... anything she likes that will moisten the pellets or mash) There are vitamin and electrolyte formulas for chickens available at most feed stores if you want to give her a boost that way. I have also used poly-vi-sol baby vitamins (the liquid ones without iron) on my chickens for extra nutritional support. She needs to eat if she is going to get better!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Cage her so that you can know exactly how much she is eating/drinking and can watch her droppings. Some birds end up low in the pecking order and otehr birds block their access to food or water.

 

[scootergrrrl]

yeah i'm planning on separating her this afternoon. i'm just worried the other two won't accept her when i put her back.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
It can be a bit of a chore to get them to get along again after a long absence, but it's usually not a big deal if it's only a day or two. In anycase, one thing at a time. Let's try to get her feeling better first then worry about putting her back with the flock.

Oh, and

sorry it's because of an emergency. This is a great site and it's worth it to spend a little time looking around when you have the chance. I've learned tons of stuff that I've "filed" away for future ref.

 

[scootergrrrl]

i've been lurking and have used it as a resource. it's pretty great. hopefully we'll get her straightened out.

 

[scootergrrrl]

ok i think she is eggbound. it feels like there is a humongous egg there. i have her sitting in a tub of warm water which she likes. she was falling asleep. should i massage her abdomen?

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
You can massage her, but do it gently, you don't want to break the egg inside her. You can also take some vasaline and rub it gently around and even just inside (gloves or VERY clean hands) her to help her pass the egg. Sometimes the warm bath relaxes them enough that they can pass it without further help.

There are a ton of threads if you do a search for egg bound so you might want to read up on it to see if there are more treatment options available. I haven't had any of mine do that yet so am just repeating the advice that I've seen most often on here. Good luck with her and keep the updates coming.