Please help! Young pullet is a lethargic orb.

[Deebot]

She is about 2.5 months old, so not laying age yet. I noticed today she was out and just sitting there all puffed up so I quarantined her and gave her some food (crumble and a little scratch to entice her). She did peck at it and ate some so she still has some appetite. I have some probiotic chick mix, should I give her that? I also read something about a molasses flush if she has bad stuff inside her - worth doing or just stick with probiotics?

Her crop did not seem full or impacted. She won't move unless I pick her up (but she does cluck and squawk a bit when I move her so she isn't totally unresponsive.) No visible injuries. I haven't seen her eliminate since quarantining her.

She free ranges with my other 6 and the rest all seem fine, including the one who is the same age as her/shares the baby coop at night.

 

[azygous]

Grit. Do your chicks have access to grit?

The chick may be constipated if it is getting table scraps and no grit. If you depend on them picking up natural grit from the soil, it's best to examine it and be sure it has gravel in it. Some clay soils do not.

If you suspect it's constipated, give it some little balls of chilled coconut oil.

 

[aart]

This is what I do when I have a poorly bird....

I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor:
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.
Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.



Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[Sally PB]

Here are some more questions/suggestions:

What are you feeding her, including all treats?
Is she drinking water?
If she does poop, get a picture of it, as that might tell us a lot about what's wrong.

I have some probiotic chick mix

Do you mean the stuff you mix in water? Sav-a-Chick, or maybe electrolytes?
Could she have eaten something she shouldn't have? Moldy food, perhaps?

 

[Sally PB]

I don't remember the exact kind off-hand but it is organic layer crumble, a decent brand (stored in a bin so I don't have the bag right now) but it's not moldy or anything

Layer is low in protein, probably around 16%. (Commercial poultry operations have found that's about as low -- read, cheap -- as they can go and have commercial production amounts.) Your non-laying birds do NOT need the calcium that is in layer food, and it can cause problems. I don't know if that is what's going on here.

A lot of people here (myself included) feed either an all flock or a starter/grower feed that has 18-20% protein, with either oyster shell (OS) or crushed egg shell in a separate container for the laying hens' calcium needs. They will eat it as they need it; non-layers or males will ignore it.

We give them table scraps but only like veggie butts/peels, nothing moldy or off. Usually just like, carrot peels from making our own food. I think the last thing they got was butternut squash peels and seeds/guts, a day or two ago.

These are certainly fine for treats, but I would not give this girl any right now. (BTW, treats, even "good" treats should make up no more than 10% of a chicken's feed.)

What I feed for treats is their regular food, wetted into a mash. They love it! It doesn't dilute their nutrition at all, and they think it's special.

It's also a way to give them some electrolytes/probiotics and know that they're getting it. There should be a table of how to make just a little (like a cup or pint?) of liquid on the back of the package you posted a picture of. Always have plain water available too.

I'm going to tag some of the more knowledgeable people here.
@azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @aart Can you make some suggestions?

 

[azygous]

From the looks of the poop, it's not too likely she has an infection. Did you mention she's low in the pecking order? If so, she may have been challenged too often at the feeder and is weak from hunger.

One way to determine if this is her problem is to give her sugar water and see if it perks her up. That will stimulate her appetite, and if she begins to eat with relish, she may just need food to strengthen her so she can go back to her flock.

Scrambled egg and boiled rice will get her interested in food, and if you have Poultry Nutri-drench, a little sprinkled over the food for a couple of days should get her back to normal.

 

[azygous]

I have two pullets around the age of yours. I raise my chicks in a special pen inside the main run. This is where the chicks are brooded from day one, and around age two weeks, I open pop holes from this pen into the rest of the run.

However, at this age, they are still much too young to fully compete with the adults at the feeders, even though I have several feeding stations. The pullets have their own food inside their safe have so they are assured of always getting enough to eat without being hassled.

The pop holes, or portals, are around 4 1/2 inches by 7 inches high and they accommodate chicks until they are nearly the size of the adults. By that time, they are handling themselves at the adults feeders pretty well.

 

[Deebot]

I have two pullets around the age of yours. I raise my chicks in a special pen inside the main run. This is where the chicks are brooded from day one, and around age two weeks, I open pop holes from this pen into the rest of the run.

However, at this age, they are still much too young to fully compete with the adults at the feeders, even though I have several feeding stations. The pullets have their own food inside their safe have so they are assured of always getting enough to eat without being hassled.

The pop holes, or portals, are around 4 1/2 inches by 7 inches high and they accommodate chicks until they are nearly the size of the adults. By that time, they are handling themselves at the adults feeders pretty well.

I do have a small hutch/pen they sleep in during the night, which is where I'll make sure they're getting constant food access in there now. I kept them in the pen full time for several days while the adults got acclimated to seeing them, however it's not inside the chicken coop/run itself. I think I've been lucky with integration before since we have lots of space and I try to raise them in batches of 3-4 so they're own little "flock" and don't get bullied as much. I'm very interested in the pop holes though, I might try that when I build a bigger run for sure! Having a run with two separate spaces would be great.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

2.5 months old, so not laying age yet. I noticed today she was out and just sitting there all puffed

organic layer crumble

I agree, I would get her on chick starter. Layer crumble generally has too much calcium for chicks.
Grit should be offered free choice.

Personally with her puffed up appearance. I would treat for Coccidiosis.
Corid can be found in the cattle section of TSC. Liquid Corid Dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water. I would not add anything else to the water during the course of treatment.

IF her crop is not emptying overnight, then I would also proceed to treat that as well.

 

[aart]

The pop holes, or portals, are around 4 1/2 inches by 7 inches high and they accommodate chicks until they are nearly the size of the adults.

I started with this size...my smaller hens could get thru.
Had to make them 3 1/2 wide.