Sick Chicken? Please Help!

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

My 2 and a half year old Speckled Sussex is usually very active and in motion. But just starting a few days ago, she was active a lot less and her faced seemed to have gotten more pale (just a little), and today she just started sort of of leaning to one side and crawling like there's a really low ceiling that's pushing her down. She's also molting a LOT recently (she barely has any feathers on her wing, neck, tail, and even the floofy feathers on her butt! She didn't molt so much last year) and it is mid-November already with a average temperture of 33-56 farenhite daily where I am. Is it possible that it's just a cold? I had a chicken a few years ago that was acting like this (not slanting to a side though) right before she died the next morning. Please help!

 

[azygous]

Chickens in a hard molt can get into trouble, serious trouble, with their health. Yours may have run out of energy reserves, and yes, she could die from this. Consider this an emergency.

Bring her inside. Give her a large enough space with a heating pad where she can move against it or away from it according to her heat needs. The room should not be very warm since she isn't used to it. No more than 50F.

Give her warmed sugar water, 1 tsp to 1 cup, to drink with Poultry vitamins. Give her warm boiled rice, lightly salted, with raw egg stirred in to eat.

Probably she hasn't been eating enough calories to provide body heat and she hasn't enough feathers to conserve what she has. But do not try to warm her in a room degrees hotter than she is used to. It could kill her.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

We just added a heat lamp to the sleeping area today that's 65w, but I'm not exactly sure what degree it is. And we don't have poultry vitamins, do you know anything that is we probably have that could replace it? Thanks for all help!

 

[azygous]

Use a half teaspoon of molasses and half teaspoon of brown sugar instead of the regular sugar. Or if you have raw sugar, use that. These have lots of vitamins.

She needs her glucose elevated immediately. So do this now.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Thank you so much! I just went outside to see if the heat lamp is helping, and maybe not that much. It's about 39F right now and maybe 40-42F inside with the heat lamp. She is in the corner and is not getting a lot of heat. I was considering bringing her in, but it 65F in here and I don't really know how I should cool it down. Should I just leave her outside?
PS. How many cups should I give her?

 

[azygous]

Sixty-five isn't too warm, but hopefully no warmer than that. Bring her in for tonight so she can drink the sugary water. She should drink at least a fourth of a cup. Measure what she drinks, and if you need to, syringe it into her. Do it like this photo so you avoid the airway in the center of the throat.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Ok! Thank you again! This may save my chicken!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My 2 and a half year old Speckled Sussex is usually very active and in motion. But just starting a few days ago, she was active a lot less and her faced seemed to have gotten more pale (just a little), and today she just started sort of of leaning to one side and crawling like there's a really low ceiling that's pushing her down. She's also molting a LOT recently

I agree, I'd give her supportive care fairly quickly.

I've seen the low crawl/crouch in heavily molting hens. Sometimes I wonder if a pin feather is sticking them or hurting somehow. Usually just lasts a day, maybe two.

For vitamins, I'd go to Walmart or CVS (or similar) and get a bottle of B-Complex. Give her 1/2 tablet daily. If she's not eating well, then give her some feed mixed with buttermilk.

 

[micstrachan]

Please let us know how this little girl is doing. I had a chicken have a hard molt in the winter a couple years ago, and had to have her inside and tube fed for two weeks!

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Please let us know how this little girl is doing. I had a chicken have a hard molt in the winter a couple years ago, and had to have her inside and tube fed for two weeks!

I'll try to keep this thread updated. My family has already planned a five day trip for thanks giving before we realized that she has been sick. I took her in last night and she seemed to be a little better. I tried to feed her sugar water, but she just wouldn't drink it and we don't have any tubes. I'm not sure if she'll be able to heal before we leave for the trip.