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.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

How's her poo?

 

[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?

 

[Deebot]

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.

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?

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.
Generic scratch that has corn and grains in it, but not often.
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.

I guess she could have gotten into.. something mysterious but she is low man on the totem pole so if she found something the chances are extremely high that the other birds would have had some too. We have a fenced acre and our compost bin has never been of interest to them so I'm not sure what they could have found.

This is the stuff I have, its not Sav-A-Chick brand but same idea.

I am keeping an eye on her for poops. She's just sleeping/resting right now, but she does chirp when I stroke her head.

 

[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]

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.

 

[Deebot]

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.

I was giving them grit before they were free-range, I have not since. Rocky soil around here, plus lots of little gravel around the driveway where they like to peck. It's never been an issue for any of the other birds.
I was not averse to giving her coconut oil just in case - however she did finally poo! It looks... fairly normal to me? I dont see any worms, its not liquid.

(Warning gross pic, but we've all seen it before I'm sure...)

She has also been eating a bit more. I haven't seen her drink, but I haven't been watching her every minute. She still isn't moving around though.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Deebot]

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.

Yay, I'm glad it's probably not an infection! She has been pecking at the food a bit but I will definitely try the sugar water + scrambled eggs and see if she perks up.

She and another are only 2.5 months old so they do get challenged more - but our yard is big enough the duo generally will keep to themselves so they aren't constantly bullied. I do also give them their own food in a private run sometimes if I think they are getting picked on too much. I might have to give them their own private breakfast every day until they're fully grown & integrated to make sure this doesn't happen again.

thank you for your responses!! <3