Pale comb/wattles, very thirsty, no appetite?

[jeronica]

Quick update- she seems pretty much fine now. I threw some strawberry tops in the coop earlier and she went running after them with the other girls. She has definitely laid at least one egg since I noticed her symptoms. Her color is almost back to normal and she is socializing well.

I am, however, going to pick up some lentils or BOSS to supplement their protein a bit

 

[subhanalah]

What do you think it was? Egg bound?
What sort of treatment did you do?

 

[jeronica]

No, I never got any indication that she was egg bound... from what I can tell she was dehydrated. I just went with a wait-and-see approach, made sure she had plenty of feed and water, and checked on her several times a day. Each time I checked, she seemed to be a little more improved, so hopefully that's all it was. If it happens again I might take her to the bird and exotic animals vet, which is only about 15 minutes away.

 

[subhanalah]

What are your temperatures like? How many food and water stations do you have and how many birds?

 

[jeronica]

The day she went pale we'd had a run of several days where it hit 80 or above, and unseasonably dry for us. Then the next day it cooled down and we got a few showers.

I only have 5 birds, 1 feeder and 1 water station. I fill the water every day, twice a day if it's really warm (like when it was 80). I try to keep an eye on it so it never runs dry, but sometimes it happens if I'm working late. I usually top up the feeder every other day, but I always check to make sure there's still grain in it.

I have been searching for a bigger waterer to get us through the summer. I'm thinking one of those 5-gallon buckets with the nipples underneath. My boyfriend is pretty sure he can make one for us.

 

[subhanalah]

I think you probably need more stations rather than a bigger one. If she is the lowest in the pecking order, the others in the flock could be preventing her from drinking adequately (if at all) that may also be what happened to your hen during the winter. We're they cooped up during that time?
It may say the waterer is good for 10 chickens (or whatever, I don't know what yours says it is lol) but that is when you are dealing with much larger flocks. The fewer birds you have, the more waterers per bird are needed.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I just checked the label on the feed bag, and it does claim to be minimum 16% protein, coming from peas and fish meal. They have been on this feed since they started laying, and before that were on Scratch and Peck corn and soy free grower from 8-20ish weeks. And of course I had them on their chick starter before that. I choose this brand because it's free of GMOs....
Edited to add: I should mention that I am probably the last person to go for the culling axe

We only have five chickens, and they are more like pets than livestock....

There is a thin line between treating a chicken ailment and allowing a Typhoid Marry hen to infect your whole flock. I never advised you to cull your hen but I did say that this is my own ounce of prevention that I think has saved me a ton of cures.

good luck and keep us advised on how your hen is progressing.

 

[subhanalah]

Solway water nipples. You can get 5 for $13.00 shipped on ebay.

One bucket with multiple nipples may or may not be adequate, but two buckets with two each would be ideal