Polish Hen concern

[WI Flock]

I am a new chicken owner this year. We live in Chippewa Falls, WI. Raised silkies from eggs and have since grown to a mixed flock of 8. They are 7-9 month old layers. One is a polish hen and I have observed that she is the lowest on the pecking order Her beautiful crown has been pecked some. I have had her for about 3 months and she's always been a little quirky and shy, but within the last week I've noticed some concerning behavior. She seemed to walk a little funny... really high, almost uncertain steps and not very many of them. She roosted in the beginning, but now stays down on bedding with my 2 silkies. Today she "sat" and stayed near the food in a quiet corner by herself.. all day. I allowed every other bird to free range - she had no interest in leaving the coop. Her big tail feathers that normally stand tall were slouched and her eyes didn't seem right... My husband and I brought her in the house in the dog crate with a nesting pad, food and water. She drank a ton of water and started eating! She stood once, but doesn't seem to have the ability to well and walking is not happening at this point. I hope I've explained well, but ask me questions if you have any input and need more info! Pretty concerned about our sweet "Showgirl".

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm so sorry she's unwell. A few questions:

How's her poop? Is it normal?
Has she lost weight at all?
Any respiratory symptoms?
Is her crop emptying overnight?

 

[WI Flock]

Thank you, Angus.
To answer your questions:
How's her poop? Is it normal? - the last I witnessed it was solid/normal, but small in size
Has she lost weight at all? - not that I can tell - I have called her my "chickenist" chicken as she is often puffed up and seems colder than the rest since winter hit... but with the exception of one week we've had a very mild winter so far.
Any respiratory symptoms? - Not that I'm aware of.. her vocalizations are like "chirps" or "squeaks". Maybe it's not normal? She does a lot of open mouth movements too.
Is her crop emptying overnight? I had to educate myself about this! I don't know how to check with all her puffed feathers?! She's skiddish...up until today, so it's been difficult to assess any part of her besides distant observation.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you, Angus.
To answer your questions:
How's her poop? Is it normal? - the last I witnessed it was solid/normal, but small in size
Has she lost weight at all? - not that I can tell - I have called her my "chickenist" chicken as she is often puffed up and seems colder than the rest since winter hit... but with the exception of one week we've had a very mild winter so far.
Any respiratory symptoms? - Not that I'm aware of.. her vocalizations are like "chirps" or "squeaks". Maybe it's not normal? She does a lot of open mouth movements too.
Is her crop emptying overnight? I had to educate myself about this! I don't know how to check with all her puffed feathers?! She's skiddish...up until today, so it's been difficult to assess any part of her besides distant observation.

Glad her poop looks good! However, being puffed up is concerning. That is definitely a sign that she isn't feeling well.

I'd definitely check her crop. It's surprisingly easy to check even under feathers. If you feel the right side of her chest last thing at night, you should feel a bump. Some hens get huge crops (softball sized), and some are more golfball sized. If she's a bantam, it'll be more like a walnut. If you need to dig in her feathers, you can. But when its full, it's pretty easy to feel. In the morning, when you feel that same area, it'll be flat. If you dig around in her feathers, you shouldn't feel anything in that balloon-y crop at all. If it's still partially full or feels bloated like it has air in it, then you know you've got a crop issue.

Best way to check is to withhold her food overnight and check her crop before you give food in the morning.

 

[Allthefloofs]

Poor girl! I don’t know if this is relevant to you, but I thought I would share our experience with adding a polish to a group of chickens that wasn’t raised with them. I have two flocks, a flock shared with my best friend and a personal one of my own that was curated after we had the first one going for a couple years. We added a polish to the first flock after a mutual friend needed a home for her. She was always lowest on the pecking order, which we expected, but they never stopped occasionally pulling out her crest feathers. At some point I noticed that she was at the fence with my girls (I have a polish and a Houdan) and so I rolled her over to my flock after talking it over with my friend. The first two days it was just the daytimes to see how she acclimated, but one thing I noticed is that she ate for 25 minutes straight the first two days, she was starving! Sure enough, on the 4th day I weighed her and she had gained a half lb! The other girls just didn’t let her eat. Three days was a record to move a single chicken over to a new group but she isn’t picked on, and she loves to hang with the crested ladies, and since my non crested gals were raised with the crested girls they just see it as normal. In your situation I might see if I had room for another couple crested girls so she has company and maybe add another feeder and waterer so it is harder to block her. I hope she recovers, I have a soft spot for my fluffy headed girls and I hope yours is okay. There might be other people that have different/more tried advice than I do, this is just what worked for us .

 

[Aunt Angus]

Poor girl! I don’t know if this is relevant to you, but I thought I would share our experience with adding a polish to a group of chickens that wasn’t raised with them. I have two flocks, a flock shared with my best friend and a personal one of my own that was curated after we had the first one going for a couple years. We added a polish to the first flock after a mutual friend needed a home for her. She was always lowest on the pecking order, which we expected, but they never stopped occasionally pulling out her crest feathers. At some point I noticed that she was at the fence with my girls (I have a polish and a Houdan) and so I rolled her over to my flock after talking it over with my friend. The first two days it was just the daytimes to see how she acclimated, but one thing I noticed is that she ate for 25 minutes straight the first two days, she was starving! Sure enough, on the 4th day I weighed her and she had gained a half lb! The other girls just didn’t let her eat. Three days was a record to move a single chicken over to a new group but she isn’t picked on, and she loves to hang with the crested ladies, and since my non crested gals were raised with the crested girls they just see it as normal. In your situation I might see if I had room for another couple crested girls so she has company and maybe add another feeder and waterer so it is harder to block her. I hope she recovers, I have a soft spot for my fluffy headed girls and I hope yours is okay. There might be other people that have different/more tried advice than I do, this is just what worked for us .

Could be that, too. Might try multiple feeders/waterers. But the puffed up thing is still concerning...

 

[WI Flock]

Good idea. Showgirl came with 5 other original flockmates from a flock of 18 in our town. It is one of her "sisters" that I witness doing the bullying.
Reading more about NMites... when she was in our warm home tiny bugs emerged. . Seems logical that could that cause her puffed up state?? I dusted her and the crate with a little D earth. That's all I have on hand. Will definitely be adding to dust bath areas outside.

 

[WI Flock]

Remembered I had taken a pic of her

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She seemed to walk a little funny... really high, almost uncertain steps and not very many of them. She roosted in the beginning, but now stays down on bedding with my 2 silkies. Today she "sat" and stayed near the food in a quiet corner by herself.. all day. I allowed every other bird to free range - she had no interest in leaving the coop. Her big tail feathers that normally stand tall were slouched and her eyes didn't seem rig

she is often puffed up and seems colder

She does a lot of open mouth movements too.

Is her crop emptying overnight? I had to educate myself about this! I don't know how to check with all her puffed feathers?! She's skiddish...up until today, so it's been difficult to assess any part of her besides distant observation.

when she was in our warm home tiny bugs emerged. . Seems logical that could that cause her puffed up state?? I dusted her and the crate with a little D earth. That's all I have on hand. Will definitely be adding to dust bath areas outside.

Tiny bugs would be lice or mites. It would be good to get a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust and treat her. DE is not going to take care of an active infestation.

I agree, I would check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight. Get some photos of her poop. She's fairly "new" to your property so getting a fecal float to check for Coccidia overload and worms is also something to consider. The puffed up state is concerning - but it can be a number of things - Coccidiosis does come to mind.

Since she's been in the coop and around your other birds it would be wise to treat housing and check your other birds over for lice/mites too.