Not Sure What's Goin on with My Hen

[luvmigrls]

Chickmate- How is she doing? I have read the symptoms and suggestions because I am looking for an answer for one of my girls. If anyone out there can give me some advice I would be eternally grate full. I have looked at the links that a flock master gave but could not determine what she might or might not have. She appears to be molting but is doing something that I have never seen the others do. When when walks forward, she bows her head parallel to the ground and goes back wards. She will straighten up and go forward and do it again until she backs into something, and acts a little disorientated. She can peck to eat and drink but does a lot of roosting, not laying. She looks a lot like the pic of the other hen but she is a Barred Rock abut 3 years old. I have 5 other hens that have not been laying very well for the past few months but I am blaming the smoke that we had here in Easter Washington this summer. But they are not molting or acting strange. Please any advice out here for me? Thanks

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Chickmate- How is she doing? I have read the symptoms and suggestions because I am looking for an answer for one of my girls. If anyone out there can give me some advice I would be eternally grate full. I have looked at the links that a flock master gave but could not determine what she might or might not have. She appears to be molting but is doing something that I have never seen the others do. When when walks forward, she bows her head parallel to the ground and goes back wards. She will straighten up and go forward and do it again until she backs into something, and acts a little disorientated. She can peck to eat and drink but does a lot of roosting, not laying. She looks a lot like the pic of the other hen but she is a Barred Rock abut 3 years old. I have 5 other hens that have not been laying very well for the past few months but I am blaming the smoke that we had here in Easter Washington this summer. But they are not molting or acting strange. Please any advice out here for me? Thanks

I'd suggest, first, that you review the link at the bottom of my post regarding how to diagnose diseases based upon symptoms. Now, don't just skip to the parts you suspect will apply in your hen's case, but actually skim it over a bit, so as to sorta train yourself as to what you're lookin' for. And, then? Go get her, and study her more closely, for anything and everything. Take pictures of whatever you find, and her general behavior. When you're all done w/ that? Come back that same document, and look up what you've found in it.

And, that's when you'll be able to provide folks w/ the best information possible, which give us all the better chance to be helpful ... and, finally? Start your own thread, for your specific problem.

 

[Stumpy]

Any update, Chickmate?

 

[Chickmate]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the kind thoughts and encouragement. Oprah is still doing great even though she looks the same. She is out with the flock right now pecking away in the woods. I feed her soaked cat food mixed with scrambled egg and a little buttermilk every morning before taking her out to spend the day with her peeps. At night after they all have gone to roost I bring her back in to her warm cozy carrier in the laundry room. The last two nights she has not eaten as much as the days before but I think it's because when I bring her in her crop is already very full. In the morning she eats like a starving lumberjack and is also drinking very well. Her poops are text book and she is constantly making her normal chicken sounds and is very alert. I'm thinking I should be feeling more weight on her when I feel her stern but she still feels pretty skinny to me. I hope it's not going to be a case of eating but not gaining weight. Never did hear back from the vet but at this point while she seems to be doing well I'll just let it go. She is feisty and keeping her place in the flock which was one reason I wanted her to go out with them if she could. I also wanted her to get the advantage of fresh air, bugs, greens and grit in her crop. I just can't fathom why the new feathers that are coming out fall off or break off. In the morning when I take her out of the carrier the towel is full of tiny little black specks and tons of crumbled feather shafts. I have stood and stared at the specks forever watching for something to move and indicate that it's a mite, but to this day I have seen NO lice or mites on her. I have checked the ends of the shafts where the lice eggs collect and see nothing. I have dusted her with Sevin three times and wormed her three times. I don't want to do Sevin again while she is this thin and I really don't think she has worms. I am going to get some Adams flea and tick shampoo and give her a warm bath to try and get anything I'm not seeing off her. Aside from the way she looks you'd think she was completely healthy. Oh, she does hunker down a bit from time to time like they do when they are in molt. So, thanks for asking about her. I'll keep anyone who's interested up to date on her progress every few days.

 

[Chickmate]

Woo Hoo! Tonight when I went out to collect Ms. Oprah from the coop she was up on the roost with her sister Whoopie! She hadn't been able to get up there, or at least hadn't tried for the last several weeks. I brought her in and gave her fresh water but did not try to feed her as her crop was bulging. I'll give her some warm moist cat food/scrambled egg/buttermilk in the morning before she goes back out with the flock. I'm really praying I can get her past whatever the problem is. She seems to be doing better.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Woo Hoo! Tonight when I went out to collect Ms. Oprah from the coop she was up on the roost with her sister Whoopie! She hadn't been able to get up there, or at least hadn't tried for the last several weeks. I brought her in and gave her fresh water but did not try to feed her as her crop was bulging. I'll give her some warm moist cat food/scrambled egg/buttermilk in the morning before she goes back out with the flock. I'm really praying I can get her past whatever the problem is. She seems to be doing better.

For certain, I'd mix Apple Cider Vinegar into her water, at the rate of four teaspoons to the gallon (but not in galvanized containers).

The primary reason for this is that it helps to 'cut through' mucus and other coatings in the mouth, throat and intestines, so as to increase uptake of nutrients/vitamins. There's a bunch of other good reasons, and -- for certain -- it will do absolutely no harm to her.

Was gonna locate my other posts, in which I document my every reason, but remembered that Solutions Used for Poultry link in my signature ...


... and, if you need ridiculously detailed information about this, just holler back 'n I'll dig through 'n find my other posts for ya ~'-)

 

[chicknmania]

Don't cull her for a while. As long as she's eating and getting around that well and she's not contagious, why should you? Yes, feed her any goodies that she will eat, because our poultry
vet has always stressed how important it is that sick chickens eat! Anything they like, but do take it easy on the catfood, because it has a lot of salt in it and salt is not good for chickens.
Chickens like the moist stuff. We have an injured roo right now that we are treating, and I try to vary his diet with scrambled eggs, cream of wheat, oatmeal, chopped hard boiled egg, cottage cheese, yogurt, grapes, and tomato, I rotate them. But they like loads of stuff. Many vets are still learning about chickens. They are different than cage birds in some ways. Even avian vets are sometimes scratching their heads about what to do for the chooks. If I were you, I'd call the Chicken Doctor. He's at www.firststatevetsupply.com. I think you can only email him now, but he's awesome and has saved many of our birds over the years. Yours is a weird problem. I've never seen a molt like that, it sure does not look normal. And she should not quit laying at two years old.

 

[chicknmania]

Oh, and....if you decide to cull her...lots of vets will do it for just a small amount of money. I can't cull them myself, I'm a wimp.
We ask the vet. Or failing that, a friend who doesn't mind...

 

[Chickmate]

Well, two steps forward and 1/2 step back. She didn't eat much this morning but went out with the flock and when I brought her in her crop was full again, so that's good. She's in her luxury suite in the laundry room for the night. Her comb and wattles are redder than they have been in a long time, eyes and nostrils are clear and poops are good. She wasn't up on the roost tonight like last night though. She seems to like the cat food better than anything else, even the scrambled eggs. I didn't think about the salt problem so maybe I'll make her some oatmeal tomorrow morning and skip the cat food. I've tried the ACV in water but she didn't seem to like it and didn't drink as much as she does without it. I'll add it again tomorrow. I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only 'city girl wimp' who can't cull my chickens myself. I just can't do it. The vet quoted me $25 to euthanize her so maybe if it comes to that I'll take her to the farm vet who sees my dogs, he may be cheaper. She actually quit laying a year ago when she was just 12 mos. That's when she started limping and I assumed one of the roosters hurt her and that's why she stopped. I'm hoping if she gains weight and I can get her feather situation under control that she might start laying again. I have been handling, observing and checking her out far more than I ever have before. My chickens are not pets (well, except for Oprah) and I don't pick them up at all unless they are sick or I'm treating them for something. I have noticed that the leg she limps on is thicker and has a kind of lump or twist in it. I don't think this is something new but maybe it hurts her like arthritis and that's why she quit laying. I don't know, just trying to figure little Oprah out. I'm anxious to bathe her in flea shampoo to get rid of any lice or mites but have to wait for the next pension check to buy it. I did buy 40 lbs. of DE and set up a dust box in the coop a week ago but so far no one has had the nerve to get in it. So, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

 

[Beekissed]

Right now would be an excellent time to put that bird on some fermented feed and give her a good ol' fashioned dust bath with wood ashes. Been doing some wonderful things for other folks' chickens with feather loss, mites, lice, etc.