Please Help My Mother Hen! ):

[Me&Chooks]

Okay, well recently we recieved 6 fertile eggs off our neighbor that has a number of roosters, (we have none..yet) and we gave them to our first ever hen that is frequently broody. She has been doing great and adores her chciks to pieces, (only 5 hatched out of the 6). The chicks are currently around 11 weeks old and are thriving, no concern with them. But more than other a week ago I realized the mother (Chucky

) was giving me a strange look and looking as thought she was looking through me not at me. Going into there small run we made for them, i realized she couldnt see! At least not very well, she kept missing the food and pecking just above it, so we are presume shes partly blind. She has improved and we sperated her now and then from her demanding chicks and her eyesight has improved either that or her memory is fantastic. Her eyes are nice and clear by the way. But now we have another probelm with her, we were giving her scrambled egg every other day builing up her strength as she had sorely neglected herself looking after her chicks letting them eat EVERYTHING. Literally. And now I think somethings up with her crop? She has a pasty vent which is YELLOW so scrambled egg? Her crop has been full for 2 days but it is slowly gradually going down..very slowly, she is drinking though i have to place her right in front of the water bowl and she appears to see very well. So have we just fed her too much? Has she got a blockage from stuffing her face with the egg? She is worse today and although can stand and walk her movements and slow and she often stares into space..
Please give me advice on what to do ):

And one more thing (Sorry xD) Last week my last ex battery hen died out of the blue, I think she had a stroke, came home one day she was on the shed floor with her head tilted right back and it shaking rapidly side to side. She only stopped this when i stroked her head making it go down and she seemed to like realize where she was and would cluck lightly. But then after 2 days when we were going to put her down, She was on my lap then suddenly she stood up started flapping her wings and shaking then sat down again, head went back and she was gone. It was heart breaking but I would like to know what went wrong..she was perfectly healthy and has been for 3 years with us (despite she had a constant dirty vent)

Thanks x

 

[chickeepoo]

I'm sorry for your hen and for you

I'm not sure what she has if anything, but the last time I had a hen with serious problems was a 6-mo old Buff Orp who stopped aiming correctly for her food and whose vision seemed to be fading. 2 others from the same group died previously no matter what we did, one with tumors on her face, so we suspect it was Mareks. I wish now I'd sent one of mine for a necropsy to tell me exactly what was going on. There are so many things it can be, and a lot of them aren't fatal, so hang in there- I hope she feels better soon and you can get someone who can nail a diagnosis for you.

 

[geebs]

parasite... check for parasites.... Internal and external... lice and mites. leg mites and worms... DE and apple cider vinegar...