New to the chicken world- sick hen-please help

[Alden Chickens]

My son has 5 red mix pullets. They have just started laying in the last month or so. They are on layer pellets and occasional treats. They have indoor/outdoor access all day and are locked in at night. This morning there was one egg with blood on it and one listless chicken. Yesterday they were all fine. We picked up the listless one and looked her over and discovered her butt was all blood and without feathers. We separated her from the others and cleaned her up with some peroxide and covered her backside with blue kote. Because it is rather damp and chilly today we put a heat lamp near to make it a touch warmer for her but made sure she could move away from the heat if she wants. She is drinking some but doesn't seem tempted by anything to eat. What can we do for her and as long as she pulls through when and how can she be reintroduced to the others?
Just to give a little more information- Her comb and wattle are normal color and we did mix up some electrolyte solution and she drank some of that (more than she had been of just plain water) I put a roost in the crate were she is but she seems happier on the straw. This could be because it is a different size than what she is use to in the regular coop. She has not been tempted to eat cat food, sunflowers, banana or bugs or her regular food.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The previous is from Sat afternoon. This morning she was sitting on her little roost and had passed a little poop overnight sometime- don't expect much since she hasn't eaten. She drank some more electrolyte solution but still seems unwilling to eat.[/FONT]

 

[chickenzoo]

It could be a few things.
She could be egg bound and while laying down the others started picking her.... Check her a stuck egg by feeling between her legs to her vent.

She could have an infection....

Feel her weight by feeling her keel bone by her chest. Should be meaty not sharp..when was she last wormed?

 

[EFaye]

Sometimes it helps to take a sick hen outside in the garden and dig up a few worms. Also, try taking her by the other hens to eat. Maybe if she can see the other hens eating, she will too. Did you try feeding her bread? My chickens usually go crazy for pieces of bread out of my hand. Glad she is drinking, try to keep that up. Good luck.

 

[Alden Chickens]

I just felt her all over- she still seems "meaty" but not overly fat on the chest end and everything is soft when I do a little squeezing between her legs to her vent although she didn't think much of that procedure. I'm not really sure what I am feeling for as far as her being egg bound. She does seem to have a little more energy than yesterday although not ready to run a marathon we'll try putting her out for a while when it warms up some. Will also try some bread.
They have never been wormed- since we have never had chickens here before so they were put into a clean environment only about 3 months ago we didn't see a need.

 

[EFaye]

It sounds like you are really trying. I'm not really familiar with worming products and chickens. You could call a local vet to do a fecal sample and look for parasites. Even if they don't normally treat birds a knowledgeable technician would be able to identify if parasites were present. As for feeling if your hen is egg bound, her abdomen should feel soft and playable. Normally with egg bound chickens the lower abdomen is tight and you would feel a large egg present. It is possible for the egg to be broken internally and I don't have much experience dealing with that. She could just be stressed from all the trauma and needs a little more rest. Do take her out in the sun this afternoon so she doesn't get depressed and keep trying different foods. Maybe you could get her to an avian vet tomorrow if she's still not eating. You're doing a good job, keep up the TLC.

 

[chickenzoo]

How is her crop...is it liquid squishy or feel more like a.wet sand bag...?
Any smell from her mouth.....
You might want to put her on an antibiotic like penicillian encased it is an infection....

Id put some vitamins in her water also. I wouldn't give bread at this point..just soft food like scrambled egg... Or chick starter mixed with water into a mash.
When feeling for being egg bound...you are feeling for something that would feel like an egg put under a few dish towels..... that type of feeling.

 

[Alden Chickens]

She has been drinking the electrolyte mix but when we picked her up to feel her over she "threw up" all the stuff in her crop which , since she hasn't been eating, was just water. Could have been we put pressure on the crop while holding her. We put her out in the yard for a while but she didn't do much and didn't peck at the ground at all. She did pass a small amount of runny white poop. I have seen the suggestion to give her some antibiotics. We have some injectable Oxytetracycline, Penicillin and Gallimycin that we use with hogs and cattle. What is best for her antibiotic wise and how do we administer it? We also have some Terramycin that can be mixed into drinking water-any suggestions? As much as we like our chickens we can't afford to spend oodles of $ on just one.

 

[Alden Chickens]

chickenzoo, do you know of any other soft foods we can give her. We tried the scrambled egg, but that didn't tempt her more than anything else. Thank you.

 

[chickenzoo]

Oxy or Penicillian would do. Dose by weight but I would think 1/2 cc injected under.skin.
I always use baby parrot handfeeding formula on sick birds. You mix it with water. Try opening her beak and putting in the scrambled egg. Also if you can get poultry nutri drench vitamins...ita good to have on hand for all fowl. I worm with safeguard on any sick birds...was can bring a bird down but often you see some weight loss when that ill.

 

[chickenzoo]

Oh....baby food can also work.....creamed corn...mash potatos