Sick Chicken

ntankovich

Chirping
6 Years
Aug 8, 2013
43
1
77
I wanted to see if anyone had any idea what could be wrong with my hen.
She's about three years old and a couple of days ago started to act rather confused. She'd go to corners of the yard and stand there or under our kids slide. She doesn't seem to want to eat anything at all or drink. She is not having diarrhea or seem to have any congestion. I put her away from the rest of the flock and she just sits there. I feel like maybe she's in some sort of pain because she makes noise and it's the same sound over and over. I've looked over her and see nothing.

We have had a lot of rain recently and I did see mushrooms in the yard. Wondering if that could be it or if it's something completely unrelated. She's mainly just extremely lethargic. We lost one bird earlier this summer to unknown causes. She got really slow had diarrhea and died but it was several months ago.
Any suggestions are welcome!
 
There are many possibilities. Parasites and cocci are one. Can you get a fecal float test done to rule these in or out? Many vets will do this even if they don't see chickens, some will not. Many times a very rainy period can cause a cocci bloom and older birds with weaker immune systems can become ill and the major symptoms are often lethargy and sitting or standing fluffed up. But the same symptoms are common in sick birds in general.
You say she doesn't have diarrhea, but are her droppings normal? Is her crop empty, full, squishy, hard, etc? Was she laying eggs before she became ill? Any swelling of the abdomen? Check below the vent between/behind the legs to see if it's normal, compare to other chickens if you are not sure. If it's water balloon-like (ascites) it could indicate an internal infection, internal laying, cancer or organ failure. Also a good idea to check for mites/lice anytime you have a sick bird.
 

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