Sick Australorpe

[retiredmary]

I have a black australorpe that is about 1-1/2 years old. About a week ago, she came down with what I call laryngitis because her chatter which was usually very vocal quit and when she tried to chatter, it came out muffled. She was fine when she went into the coop for the night but in the morning, she wouldn't come out. I knew something was wrong. She wouldn't eat her pellets and just nibbled at the grass. She is drinking water. She keeps scratching at her beak and trying to clean something off or out but when I looked, I couldn't see anything really obvious. She has a small crust at the upside of the nostril but throat (what I can see of it) looks good. She will eat soft cooked vegetables, watermelon, and other soft fruits and vegetables along with scratch but won't touch the pellets. She is losing a good amount of feathers from her breast area. If allowed, she will go into the roost and stay there most of the day. I wormed all the chickens about 3 weeks ago and have treated with diatomaceous earth twice but still scratching. She also has a constant hickups/ticks while up and moving. She is dead quiet when laying down. The other chickens have not gotten whatever she has. I kept her separated for 3 days.
Anybody have any ideas?

 

[demonic]

I have a black australorpe that is about 1-1/2 years old. About a week ago, she came down with what I call laryngitis because her chatter which was usually very vocal quit and when she tried to chatter, it came out muffled. She was fine when she went into the coop for the night but in the morning, she wouldn't come out. I knew something was wrong. She wouldn't eat her pellets and just nibbled at the grass. She is drinking water. She keeps scratching at her beak and trying to clean something off or out but when I looked, I couldn't see anything really obvious. She has a small crust at the upside of the nostril but throat (what I can see of it) looks good. She will eat soft cooked vegetables, watermelon, and other soft fruits and vegetables along with scratch but won't touch the pellets. She is losing a good amount of feathers from her breast area. If allowed, she will go into the roost and stay there most of the day. I wormed all the chickens about 3 weeks ago and have treated with diatomaceous earth twice but still scratching. She also has a constant hickups/ticks while up and moving. She is dead quiet when laying down. The other chickens have not gotten whatever she has. I kept her separated for 3 days.
Anybody have any ideas?

maybe she has mites. Does she show interest in the pellets but can’t eat it? I would put warm water on her bowl of pellets and see if she eats that. My hen did the same exact things you describe when she had lice, however she didn’t lose feathers.

 

[retiredmary]

maybe she has mites. Does she show interest in the pellets but can’t eat it? I would put warm water on her bowl of pellets and see if she eats that. My hen did the same exact things you describe when she had lice, however she didn’t lose feathers.

I thought the diamotacoues earth would take care of the mites and lice if that was what she had. I didn't see anything at the base of her feathers but I will check again. What do you use for mites and lice?

 

[demonic]

I thought the diamotacoues earth would take care of the mites and lice if that was what she had. I didn't see anything at the base of her feathers but I will check again. What do you use for mites and lice?

DE is helpful but doesn’t neccesarily get rid of them. The most recommended item for mites and lice here in backyard chickens is poultry and garden permethrin. However for my hen I didn’t use permethrin because I couldn’t go to the feed store and I didn’t see anything online. (pretty sure now u can get it online) so I ordered a product off amazon called Davis pure planet poultry spray. It seemed to work pretty good before my hen died of reasons unrelated to the lice

 

[retiredmary]

Thanks much. I will go get some and try it. Did your chicken have voice problems also when she she tries to chatter? She doesn't show any interest in the pellets at all but I will soak them in warm water and see if she eat them. Thanks again.

 

[demonic]

Thanks much. I will go get some and try it. Did your chicken have voice problems also when she she tries to chatter? She doesn't show any interest in the pellets at all but I will soak them in warm water and see if she eat them. Thanks again.

My hen was very vocal but when got the mites didn’t even try to make any kind of noise at all so I don’t really know. Again I still recommend u get the permethrin if you can rather the Davis poultry spray because I can’t say it 100% worked, but if you cant get it it’s definitely an option.

 

[retiredmary]

Ok. Thanks again.

 

[retiredmary]

Thought I would let you know I tore the coop apart and cleaned it thoroughly, and treated it for mites, lice, etc. and even treated all the chickens again just to make sure they didn't have parasites. This did not help my black australorpe. I was sure she was going to die since she found a nest and stayed there 90% of the day. When I would pick her up, she would shake like she was in pain. I didn't have the heart to cull her since she still had the sparkle in her eyes. 3 days ago, she started spending more time with the others free ranging and yesterday, she was came out of the roost with the others. She is acting normal again. Right after she got sick, I found a small dead snake in the yard. It was the same color as a rattler but since it was dead, I threw it away and didn't check for the kind. I'm wondering if she got bit. If anyone has had a chicken snake bit and can lend any information, I would appreciate it. Thanks Much.

 

[Swbertrand1]

She is acting normal again. Right after she got sick, I found a small dead snake in the yard. It was the same color as a rattler but since it was dead, I threw it away and didn't check for the kind. I'm wondering if she got bit. If anyone has had a chicken snake bit and can lend any information, I would appreciate it. Thanks Much.

So glad to hear she's acting normally again.
I have no experience with this, but I'm almost 100% certain that if the chicken was bitten by a rattlesnake, that chick would surely have died. Chickens are far too fragile, in my humble opinion, to survive the levels of toxin that even a juvenile rattler can impart on its victim.

 

[Swbertrand1]

PS: Coop cleaning is a necessary part of keeping chickens. We clean ours of all the bedding each week, replacing with new. It gets a heavy cleaning twice per year where we wash everything down and let it dry before putting new bedding in. We don't seem to have any problems with parasites in the coop...