Poor chicken - help!

The_Chicken_Dude · Mar 27, 2019

I have had similar experiences. Chickens usually separate other birds when they get sick. Your hen is probably getting pecked when she goes near them ,which explains the comb. When she tries to get on the roost they are probably stopping her from getting on it. She could be sick or at the bottom of the pecking order.

staceyj · Mar 27, 2019

WVduckchick said:
Had she laid an egg lately? How does her poop look?

A little Neosporin is fine to put on her comb too, or just a little Vaseline. But it will heal on its own fairly quickly, if it’s just been pecked. Could also be from the cold, minor frostbite if you are in a cold climate.

But it could also be pox or mites. If you could try gently scraping one of the black spots off, onto a white piece of paper, take a picture, then squish it with the back of your fingernail and see what it looks like.

I’m also curious about this spot, circled green. It looks a little raw, or is it just from the photo?
View attachment 1716090

Good eye ducky!
That looks sore as the Dickins.

garett17 · Mar 27, 2019

WVduckchick said:
Had she laid an egg lately? How does her poop look?

A little Neosporin is fine to put on her comb too, or just a little Vaseline. But it will heal on its own fairly quickly, if it’s just been pecked. Could also be from the cold, minor frostbite if you are in a cold climate.

But it could also be pox or mites. If you could try gently scraping one of the black spots off, onto a white piece of paper, take a picture, then squish it with the back of your fingernail and see what it looks like.

I’m also curious about this spot, circled green. It looks a little raw, or is it just from the photo?
View attachment 1716090

Not sure Bout the eggs they all lay in the same spot so picking her eggs out from other white eggs would be a challenge. Will have to keep watch on it. I noticed her poop the other day and it was a little hard. I will have to spend more time watching her to see.

garett17 · Mar 27, 2019

staceyj said:
Hi there. And welcome to BYC.
I have so many questions!

Yes. Please do post more photos. They tell so much.

A droopy comb can hint of lots of things.
Dehydration and poor conditioning is just one.
Being sick is another.

The others may be keeping her away from food and water. Do you just have 1 feeding station?
What do you feed them? (Looking for a protein percentage here)

Roosting on the couch at night, out in the open will certainly doom her to being picked off by a predator, and soon, so we have to figure this situation out.

How does her weight feel?
Normal or “light” for her size?
Is her keel bone sticking out?
How many birds roost together in how big of a space?

The edge of her wattle in the pic looks a bit like a touch of frostbite that’s healing but that may also be where someone grabbed her and pinched. Do you live somewhere cold?

The other areas look more like peck marks, but possibly not.
Chickens can be ruthless and can inflict horrible damage, even kill each other.

She’s seems docile in the photo.
Could you look inside her mouth for me and tell me if you see any sores or chunks of yellowish plaque anywhere inside her mouth or lips?

And you are sure that no one else in the flock has sores on these areas?

There is a contagious virus called fowl pox usually in warm weather or warm weather climates. It can exhibit as sores or ulcer-like oozy lesions around the head, face, eyes, and in/ around the beak and mouth.
There are two types wet and dry.
I’ll attach some reading about that at the bottom of my post.
Looking forward to your responses....

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/fowl-pox

I have 1 feeding station but 2 after stations. They free range during the day so I'm sure that's shes getting things to eat. She roosts on a couch on our back porch, which I'll then close the door at night and let her and the other back out in the morning. She feels somewhat light but she isnt a huge bird either. I'm not sure about the keel but I will check. They usually stick 3 to 4 in a group and have 4 different perches to get on. I knew some probably were peck Mark's from fighting but I wasnt surr all of them were, which is why I'm asking of course. Shes very docile so I will check her mouth for the sores you mentioned. It could be fowl pox, never experienced it before so I couldn't point it out in a line up. I got some better more zoomed in pics. I can get some more tonight . I live in florida but hasn't been really hot lately.