Pullet Very Weak, White Head

[TeresaT]

Help Please. I have 6 Hens. I bought them on auction about 3 months ago. 3 of them have very red heads. One is still kind of young looking and her head is not very red. One has dark spots on her ears. But the one I am worried about is laying down a lot, very skinny and has a very white head. I don't know what her poop looks like since it is mixed with everyone else. There does seem to be some wattery (well no substance to it anyhow, its dried by the time I get to it), yellow/green leftover poop when I clean out the coop mixed in the shavings. She is so very skinny and very weak. She doesn't even run when I try to pick her up like she usually does. I Have had them for about 3 months now and they were all about 2 months old maybe when I bought them. None of them are laying yet (Should they be?) I have attached two pics of my weak one below and one of another that has a kind of white head that is taking over the redness. She is the one with the dark spots but she gets around fine. The pics are kind of blurry, but my camera batteries were dying so I couldnt get another pic just yet. Hope you can see ok. Thanks for your help.....again.

Sick Chick below:

The other one had a broken beak a while back. But she is doing great and her beak kind of grew back a bit. But her red head is getting white too. See below.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Have you checked them for mites or worms?
Being anaemic can make their skins pale because the mites are drinking all the blood.
Worms can cause problems because they eat the food that's meant for the bird's body.

 

[TeresaT]

Hi. Thanks for the quick reply. I think they do have mites. What is the best way to treat that on Chickens. How do I know if they have worms? Should I just treat them for it anyways? What is the best treatment for that? Thanks and sorry for so many questions. I really love my girls and want to take care of them quickly.

 

[SpottedCrow]

I think you can use Sevin Dust...but you can do a site search for dusting...

 

[jjthink]

Your description of the weak thin hen ("very skinny, very weak") would indicate a need to really really hurry with treatment.

You can do mite treatment right away because products should be available locally. As to worms, lots of info here on BYC if you do a search. Many products for this also available locally at places like Tractor Supply. I've used Ivomex Eprinex "pour on" - a very small amount (1/4 cc=1/4 ml) on skin back of neck for a bird approx. 5.5 pounds. I wish I knew if your hen had worms for sure because it's possible worming can be hard on a compromised being - but if she has worms, she may have to have it to survive.

In conjunction with treatment try bolstering her (their) strength with Avia Charge 2000 in water. Probably have to order that on line so in the meantime can give 3 drops of Polyvisol (for kids) per day for one week - drip very slowly and carefully along the beak line so she can swallow on her own and not choke. Give her a scrambled egg, sunflower seeds, whatever you can to get some decent calories in her.

JJ