Running out of ideas on a rhode island red that's not thriving

[otoro]

We have a flock of 4. 3 Reds and 1 Aracana. All are 9 months old. One of our hens is named Lara (because she is/was very brave even as a small chick). As we moved into winter this year she has stopped laying.

She got sick about a month ago, and symptoms matched up with coccidosis, we treated with amprolium and she got significantly better. Crop feels a little stiff, comparatively but no foul smell. (We put ACV in their water on every fill). Comb is normal color, her eyes seemed to have gotten just a tad bit darker in color, but they are 6mo old or so, so perhaps still changing? No worms in her poo. Poo looks right color and consistency.

Sorry this is a bit disorganized.

Her issue is that she seems like she's becoming more of a 'runt.' She's by far the smallest chicken, and seems to have some problems with her feathers coming in all the way during the winter moult. Especially on the bottom of her belly, around her vent, and various other areas. Looks like feathers are trying to grow but not fully developing. She is often by herself, and struggles to put on weight. She shivers often, and I caved and put a small pad heater in the coop to help keep her warm during the colder winter nights.

She has completely stopped laying, and is more lethargic than usual, but not as bad as when we treated for coccidosis. She is still eating, but not doesn't eat a lot. She is lowest on the pecking order, but is also quite a sweet little chicken. She is our most intelligent bird, and the one I have the best relationship with.

I'm hoping it's not failure to thrive, one of those less common cases where the chicken makes it to adulthoot, but struggles. Looking for any advice and suggestions on what I can try, I'm really running out of ideas on what could be going wrong.

 

[coach723]

Just ready through your entire thread. I think she's having a hard time with molt, for whatever reason, sometimes it really knocks them back. I have one that had a really hard time with molt this year and was really looking like she felt awful, she's almost done and has perked up considerably. If you haven't done so I would definitely add a feeder or two, so she has more opportunity to get to feed. I would also switch feed for two reasons. One: a higher protein feed may help, Two: I also had a bird that just didn't digest a particular feed well at all, once I switched to another feed she did much, much better, put weight on and really bounced back. Just like people, they are all different and some have difficulty with some ingredients. None of those things will hurt, so I would give them a try.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes there will be one who just does not thrive as well as others, even the same breed, though they get the same feed and care. There is at least one strain of coccidiosis that can be chronic, and necrotic enteritis is another possible illness that can occur after coccidiosis. It is treated with common antibiotics, such as Tylan, amoxicillin (Fish Mox online,) penicillin, metronnidazole (Fish Zole,) tetracyclines and others. A local vet could examine some droppings for enteritis with a gram stain or stool culture. That may or may not be the problem. Chickens who have been exposed to Mareks or lymphoid leukosis can also be weak and affected by common illnesses due to low immunity. Feeding her separartely in a dog crate daily, then letting her out, may help if she feels threatened by others.

A lot of people recommend fermented feed here, making it sound like some much improved way of feeding. I believed a lot of the hype (just like ACV) when I first started with chickens, so started using it. After seven months, I stopped. There was no difference in my chickens, but I couldn’t tolerate the mess of spilled food killing the grass. It is great for a weed killer though. In summer, spoilage can be easy, while in winter I had to keep 5 gallon buckets of feed fermenting, since it freezes outside. My chickens got fat, had more runny poos because of all the water they were getting in the feed, and it was a lot of work mixing a new batch and keeping the thing going. I had 70 chickens at the time, mind you, so it might be easier with the smaller flock I have today.

Lab work for a chicken is expensive, but I would get some droppings check. She also may have a reproductive disorder, less common in pullets, but it does happen if you read the emergency forum here. I hope that you can figure it out, but if she continues to go downhill, I would get a necropsy through your state vet to find out what was wrong.

 

[Eggcessive]

ok, hopefully it's not that because we did the higher 5 day dosage, and her poops are firm now. could it still be in there chronically with firm poops?

I would say that with a treatment, she probably doesn’t have coccidiosis. ACV in the water is a personal choice. I used it some years ago, but stopped, since I just feel it is not necessary. I just feed mine clean water and chicken feed. I used fermented feed several years ago for about 7 months, and stopped.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Looks like molting to me too.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would switch to an all flock feed with 20% protein, and put out a bowl of crushed oyster shell.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would go easy on the meal worms. I have read too many can be hard on the kidneys.

If you are concerned you can dust her with a pyrethrin or permethrin based poultry dust. DE does nothing for external parasites.

A pale comb this time of year is normal especially if a hen isn't laying, so in itself isn't necessary a bad thing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Still spending 1 on 1 time with Lara pretty much every morning, still not much of a change. I feed her chick starter 24% exclusively, and give her lots of mealworms. She doesn't seem to drink much on her own compared to the other birds, so I also give her a 50/50 pedialyte and water mixture to try and squeeze in some extra nutrients.

Still not laying, and still has that pale comb ( I've read those are related often ).

I agree with the others. Go easy on the mealworms. Your 24% protein chick starter may be making the poop a bit more stinkier, but in the photo that looks like cecal poop which is always stinky to begin with.

She is molting. Most birds do not lay eggs while molting. Their combs turn pale, shrink or shrivel up.
Here's a good article with photos and details about molting:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/molting-what-is-it-and-how-to-help/

 

[otoro]

hello,

wanted to provide some updates on Lara, as it's been a bit of time.

looks like she is all better! last week she seemed to really start to pull out of it, I noticed that she was starting to get more coloration and fullness in her comb and wattle, and she is back to laying eggs! appetite is healthy and her winter feathers are in.

here are a few new pics. thanks all for the help, advice, and support.

 

[coach723]

I'm so sorry for your loss, and that it happened on a holiday. Thank you for the update. Reproductive problems are unfortunately not uncommon, and it can be hard to pinpoint the definite issue until necropsy. As difficult as it was, I think you made the kindest decision for her.