Sick chicken... Need help! What is wrong?

[YETIandNESSI]

Hi. I have a young hen and she is acting sick. She is acting weak and lethargic. She lives with one other chicken and I was concerned that the other chicken was preventing her from eating or that she had an illness. Is anyone able to tell me what they think is going on? I will gladly answer any question that could help determine what is going on. Thanks

 

[gtaus]

Hi. I have a young hen and she is acting sick. She is acting weak and lethargic. She lives with one other chicken and I was concerned that the other chicken was preventing her from eating or that she had an illness. Is anyone able to tell me what they think is going on? I will gladly answer any question that could help determine what is going on. Thanks

If you have an isolation cage, I would put your suspected sick hen in that cage and feed/water her separately, watch her closely for a few days, and she how she responds. If ill, putting her in a separate cage may help your healthy bird stay healthy. If your sick bird is just not getting enough to eat and drink, then you might consider using 2 separate smaller feeding pans/trays for your birds so both get a chance to eat.

I have 10 young hens and have a hanging feed with food available 24/7, so I never worry about lower ranked hens getting something to eat. They might just have to wait until the others are done eating, but since the food is available 24/7, I have yet to see any fighting over food.

 

[Happy Henny]

Hi. I have a young hen and she is acting sick. She is acting weak and lethargic. She lives with one other chicken and I was concerned that the other chicken was preventing her from eating or that she had an illness. Is anyone able to tell me what they think is going on? I will gladly answer any question that could help determine what is going on. Thanks

Does her poop look normal? Does she have blood in her poop? If so she may have Coccidiosis.

 

[YETIandNESSI]

Thanks everyone for the help. My chicken is now better. Never found out what actually happened but I am glad that she is back to her old self.

 

[gtaus]

Nice to hear a happy ending. Thanks for the update.

 

[Happy Henny]

You may want to think about what changed that helped her so it doesn't happen again. Was it access to food and water, was it nutritional supplements that you gave her, did you bring her into a warmer place. Just trying to help.

I dont know where you live or where your birds are kept but in fridged winter cold weather chickens need a flock to keep warm. Two birds would not be enough. Maybe that was the problem. You may consider moving them in with other chickens or a warmer location or I've heard of people putting a flat panel heater in their coop. (Please dont use a clamp lamp it may start a fire.) Also maybe insulate the coop but make sure it has some ventilation for them though. Scratch grain given to them in evening will help them to generate a little more heat at night. I Hope this helps. I'm glad to hear she is feeling better.