Rescued hen

[LCsAChickenLover]

On Monday I picked up a random hen that showed up at my friends barn. I brought her back home and didn’t get to check for lice or fleas, she was pretty nervous after the 1.5 hr car ride and was having nothing of it. I did notice a few black spots on her comb (hopefully scrapes and not fowl pox) and slightly runny poop, but other than that she seems fairly healthy. Clear eyes, no sneezing and has shiny green legs. I put her in her own small sectioned off run area with a small coop to quarantine for 2 weeks, BUT she decided last night to fly out of the 6’ netting and join my other girls in the main coop. Great.
What should I treat her for and should I treat my flock as well? Twice a year I add DE to their scratch that we batch together, which we just did last week so they’re getting that as a dewormer. Is that enough?

 

[azygous]

I would worm her with a legitimate worming med. DE doesn't do squat.

Any other contagious disease at this point is moot since she's already exposed the flock to whatever she may be carrying.

 

[coach723]

When quarantining, for future reference, they need to be far enough away from your exsiting flock that they are not even breathing the same air, and you have to make sure you don't track things between the two areas on clothing or shoes or equipment. I would also worm her with either Safeguard or Valbazen.

 

[LCsAChickenLover]

I would worm her with a legitimate worming med. DE doesn't do squat.

Any other contagious disease at this point is moot since she's already exposed the flock to whatever she may be carrying.

Ok. Wait and watch then. Thank you

 

[hannah and the chickens]

The hen could have all kinds of things, coccidia and worms are just the tip of the iceberg. If you can, try to have a poop sample of the hen tested for coccidia and worms (most vets should be able to do that). If you know someone who owns a microscope you could even check yourself. That way you know wether you'll need to treat your whole flock or if you're "clean". If you want to be on the safe side, you can also treat the chickens against worms and coccidia without a test. Definitely take a legitimate med for that, DE doesn't help against internal parasites as far as I know.

I'd definitely check for mites and lice again, DE does help with prevention but if the new hen has a big infestation other treatments might be better.

Introducing new birds (even after quarantine) can always be a danger for your flock because they can carry viruses and bacteria without showing symptoms. Just make sure to watch everyone really closely.

If the poop of the new hen looks normal and just a bit runny, you could make her moro's carrot soup for a few days. That usually helped my chickens (and also my dog)

 

[LCsAChickenLover]

When quarantining, for future reference, they need to be far enough away from your exsiting flock that they are not even breathing the same air, and you have to make sure you don't track things between the two areas on clothing or shoes or equipment. I would also worm her with either Safeguard or Valbazen.

Okay thank you. I was switching shoes going into that particular area, but didn’t realize they shouldn’t breathe the same air...but obviously should have considering covid duh!

 

[LCsAChickenLover]

The hen could have all kinds of things, coccidia and worms are just the tip of the iceberg. If you can, try to have a poop sample of the hen tested for coccidia and worms (most vets should be able to do that). If you know someone who owns a microscope you could even check yourself. That way you know wether you'll need to treat your whole flock or if you're "clean". If you want to be on the safe side, you can also treat the chickens against worms and coccidia without a test. Definitely take a legitimate med for that, DE doesn't help against internal parasites as far as I know.

I'd definitely check for mites and lice again, DE does help with prevention but if the new hen has a big infestation other treatments might be better.

Introducing new birds (even after quarantine) can always be a danger for your flock because they can carry viruses and bacteria without showing symptoms. Just make sure to watch everyone really closely.

If the poop of the new hen looks normal and just a bit runny, you could make her moro's carrot soup for a few days. That usually helped my chickens (and also my dog)

Thank you! I will most likely treat everyone just to be safe since I was doing nothing with the DE in the scratch lol. Her poop is looking better already but will keep an eye on that too. I’ll keep the Moro’s carrot soup tip under my hat, I have a senior dachshund with a sensitive tummy and she loves carrots!

 

[WindingRoad]

I would worm her with a legitimate worming med. DE doesn't do squat.

Any other contagious disease at this point is moot since she's already exposed the flock to whatever she may be carrying.

I'd clip a wing too. Next time who knows where she'll fly off to.

 

[LCsAChickenLover]

When quarantining, for future reference, they need to be far enough away from your exsiting flock that they are not even breathing the same air, and you have to make sure you don't track things between the two areas on clothing or shoes or equipment. I would also worm her with either Safeguard or Valbazen.

I wasn’t able to find safeguard or valbazen near where I am located. All I could find for dewormer is VetRx and Backyard Chicken Zyfend A, I bought both. Can I use the dewormer while treating with corrid or should I wait to worm until after treatment?

 

[azygous]

Neither of those is an effective, actual poultry dewormer. They won't do anything other than make you feel virtuous for not using a chemical. If there are worms, they will be laughing.

Safeguard is an all around effective wormer, but you need to walk over to the horse supplies in the feed store to find it. It will work on almost all kinds of worms. Or order it here. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/safe-guard-25g-fenbendazole-single-dose-wormer/SLT150554/

Yes, you can safely use a worming med at the same time you treat with Corid.