My Rhode Island Red is ill.....

[linda2012]

O no, my Rhode Island Red is not doing well. She is about 3 1/2 yrs old and she stopped laying about 2 months ago, as well as my Silkies. But I read that if you put Cayenne pepper in their food it could jump start their egg laying. Well it worked for my Silkies but Red well it didn't work for her. Then I started thinking that there maybe something wrong with her. So I decided to give my chickens some worming medicine in their water. Cuz someone had diarrhea and I wasn't sure which one. I have 11 chickens altogether. 4 Buffs, 1 Barred Rock, 4 Rhode Islands and 2 Silkies. Well I never did see any worms. I'm not sure if I gave them enough cuz the guy at the feed store where I purchased it wasn't much help. But she's been eating well but her booty is very messy. But she always hasn't been very good about her hygiene. Red has always been the queen of the flock. But the past week I've noticed she's been more quiet. And today, grant it, it was very hot out she wasn't eating or drinking. She stayed in the corner of the coop all day. So we seperated her from the rest of flock and she didn't try running from us or nothing. We put her in a seperate coop and she didn't move from the spot we sat her down at. Does anyone know what could be wrong? Should I just put her down, cuz I don't want her suffering? Is it her age? Can someone give me some advise? Thank you.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Is her bottom really messy with poop?? Like oozy poop??

 

[earlybird10842]

Uh oh! just bumping this post.

 

[seminolewind]

I think chickens can find a hundred excuses not to lay, sick, hot, cold, molting, worms, mites, .......... at this time of year, alot of my hens are not laying. It's hot. And a few are molting.

It kind of sounds like one of mine, she wouldn't come out of the corner, she wouldn't run from me. I brought her inside and she stayed in my dining room for a week. She drank gobs. I think the heat got to her. It did take a week for her to recover.

 

[linda2012]

Her bottom is messy with dark green & white poop. I checked on her this morning and she is just sitting there. It looks like she hasn't moved all night.

 

[Jeannieb4]

Linda,
I know this is not of any help because I also am new but I wanted to say that I hope your lady red gets better. I am a medical person, but I know almost nothing about chickens and when they get sick I feel so stupid and helpless. I just wanted you to know that my thoughts are with you!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Ok she might have something called vent Gleet which is a yeast infection. Check these symptoms.

http://ultimatefowl.atwiki.com/page/Vent Gleet

 

[dawg53]

Inspect her for lice/mites as well.

 

[Ellochicken]

try to clean off the poop with some slightly warm water, just a little above room temperature, and take some napkins and Q-Tips and clean it off, rub the Q-Tips on the poo until it softens up, then remove it with the napkins, has she been pooping OK? Or is she not? Try to get her to drink some water and eat a little food, dont put anything in her food, but a good mix for sick birds is plain Greek yogurt and their original food.

I Hope Your Red Feels Better Soon!

-Ellochicken

 

[linda2012]

Oh my gosh I think you might be right. She might have a yeast infection. My husband and I were gone on vacation for a week and my mom was caring for my chickens. She said she gave them a loaf of bread that she found on our counter tucked away behind some other breads and she fed it to them. She said something about being moldy. I told her you didn't give them moldy bread did you? You can't give them moldy bread. She said she didn't but now I'm thinking otherwise. Red has some of those symptoms, that is described in that link. Her poop is super smelly! She's not eating or drinking. And I just checked her underside and it's not hard cuz I thought maybe she was egg bound. I'm going to give her some molasses and water instructed on that link. Oh no, my poor lil Red. Now I wonder if I should give all the other chickens some molasses in their water. Cuz she fed that moldy to bread to all of them. I guess it can't hurt right?