Please help. Sick pullet.

[earthlove]

I am a new chicken mama and adopted two hens and an accidental rooster as chicks in April. I just added three more hens to my flock two weeks ago. All but one of my chickens is healthy.
Raisin, one of my original hens, is about six months old and as far as I know not yet laying. They free range in my yard during the day and are locked up at night. Raisin is an EE hen. Since I got the new girls, she has fallen to the bottom of the pecking order. I spend a lot of time with them. Yesterday she seemed normal. Today she is very lethargic and not that interested in food. She ate a few seeds out of my hand when she was in my arms and took a half hearted bite of my apple. Her crop seems normal, small with maybe just a little of the seed/feed she ate today. Not hard, no fluid. I haven't seen her poop yet. Her comb is a little pale, but that's pretty normal for her. Her feet were cold this am, but it has started to get a little chilly at night. She's just not her usual spunky self. She's been resting in my arms with her eyes closed. What should I do? I'm worried about my girl.

 

[fried green eggs]

Hi &

. I'm sorry your hen is not feeling well. If her comb is normally pale in color, she is not ready to start laying.The comb will get bright pink/red when hens start laying. It sounds like she is stressed so, not eating or drinking. My thought is that your should check on the hens after they have gone to bed. See if she is all alone or if she is allowed to snuggle with other hens to keep warm at night. You could try feeding her hard-boiled egg yoke for protein and plain yogurt & some sugar water. You may need to separate her or top hen/roo in pen to help her. They can get stressed easily and can go down hill quickly so, keep an eye on them.

I had a Ameraucana hen that started acting strange a couple weeks ago. She was laying in the corner of the run with her head in the corner. She was with the same birds she was hatched with. I went in and picked her up and she looked fine but would go back to sticking her head in the corner, the second she was put down. I went in the pen again and she flew up on to my shoulder. I knew she was being picked on by the other birds then. I pulled her 3 brothers out of pen and put them in a empty pen. The next day she was acting fine with just the other hens. I keep them separated for a week and then added the low rooster (in pecking order) back in with her and the other hens. She went back to the corner to hide again but, after a hour or two, she realized she was OK and not going to be pecked on. They have been happy together without the extra roosters since.

 

[chickenzoo]

You might also treat for worms just encase they are depleting her. That is the first thing I do when a bird seems to become lethargic .

 

[earthlove]

Thanks, fried green eggs. I don't think it's the pecking order that gets her down. She's closest to the rooster and my most dominant hen. They are the originals and always together. I think it's a bug of some sort. I'm been giving pedialyte via syringe. She pecked at some seeds this morning. She spent the afternoon and night inside in a kennel last night. Slightly perkier this morning, so I'm hopeful. Phone call to the vet yesterday and the farmer that I got her from, both rec'd duramycin. Going to check the feed store for that this am. If they're out the vet will call in a script for amoxicillin. Anything else I can do? Has anyone had a hen come down like this and recover?

 

[dawg53]

Since Raisin is one of your original hens and not laying...I suspect basically 3 things; eggbound, lice/mites, or worms...or a combination.
Additionally you added 3 hens to an existing flock. That's a recipe for disaster. You should've quarantined the 3 new hens away from your birds for at least 6 weeks. That would give time for diseases to show themselves as well as you inspecting them for abnormalties and treating for internal/external parasites before introducing them to your flock. Hopefully the 3 new hens didnt introduce something to your existing flock.
If she's eggbound (she shouldve been laying by now) soak her in a container of warm water up to her sides for about 20 minutes. Gently massage her underside front to rear while she's soaking. The warm water will relax and expand her innards. Massaging will help move the egg along. Wear a disposable glove and put olive oil on a finger and insert your finger inside her vent lubricating it. That will make it easier for her to lay the egg. Hopefully she'll lay the egg if that's what the problem is.
Visually inspect her for lice/mites, especially around the vent area where it's moist most of the time.
Follow Chickenzoo's recommendation for worming as necessary.

 

[earthlove]

Just an update on miss Raisin, sorry so late. After 10 days or oral amoxicillin, she mad a full recovery!