Sick chicken?

[Mommatls27]

Hey all. I have a 13-14 week old speckled Sussex that has been acting weird lately. She stays by herself most the time and she feels about half the weight of the other hens of the same age. She does eat and drink, but she definitely doesn't assert herself when I give treats and sometimes the rooster chases her off. When every one else comes running, she's usually the last. They all sleep in a big pile on the top roost, but the last 2 days she's been in the bottom roost. She doesn't forage as much as the others do but prefers to just sit and watch. About 6 weeks ago the joints on her feet and legs looked swollen but that went away, and then 3 weeks ago she had what looked like bruises on her ankles. The bruises aren't completely gone, but they don't look like they are getting worse. I want terribly worried about her till I picked her up after holding one of the other girls and noticed how little she weighs. I'm not sure if she's sick, or what I can do to help her.

 

[Dona Worry]

Has she been wormed? How many chickens do you have, in how much space? How many feeders and waterers?
Pictures?

 

[Eggcessive]

The swollen joints and bruises sound like some sort of infection. Bacterial synovitis (mysoplasma syynovitis or another bacteria such as staph,) or viral tenosynovitis could be possibilities. She may be just a weak chick, or possibly suffering from coccidiosis. I would be tempted to give her a round of Corid in her water for 5-7 days, and give her some vitamins and probiotics afterward. Dosage is 1.5 tsp of Corid powder, or 2 tsp (10 ml) of Corid liquid per gallon of water. Chopped egg, tuna, liver in addition to wet chick feed would be good to feed her to build her up.

If you see swelling of joints again you may want to treat for mycoplasma with an antibiotic such as Tylan or Baytril. If you lose her, I would send her refrigerated body into the state poultry lab for a necropsy, to look for what was wrong. Here is some contact information for your state vet:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Here is an article to read about swollen legs and lameness:
http://articles.extension.org/pages/68294/causes-of-lameness-in-poultry

 

[Mommatls27]

Has she been wormed? How many chickens do you have, in how much space? How many feeders and waterers?
Pictures?

I have 9 chickens that free range on a half acre all day. They have 2 waterers and a big feeder that they have access to all day. I put apple cider vinegar in their water and give them cucumbers regularly. (I've read that cucumber seeds and pumpkin seeds are natural dewormers for chickens.)

 

[Mommatls27]

The swollen joints and bruises sound like some sort of infection. Bacterial synovitis (mysoplasma syynovitis or another bacteria such as staph,) or viral tenosynovitis could be possibilities. She may be just a weak chick, or possibly suffering from coccidiosis. I would be tempted to give her a round of Corid in her water for 5-7 days, and give her some vitamins and probiotics afterward. Dosage is 1.5 tsp of Corid powder, or 2 tsp (10 ml) of Corid liquid per gallon of water. Chopped egg, tuna, liver in addition to wet chick feed would be good to feed her to build her up.

If you see swelling of joints again you may want to treat for mycoplasma with an antibiotic such as Tylan or Baytril. If you lose her, I would send her refrigerated body into the state poultry lab for a necropsy, to look for what was wrong. Here is some contact information for your state vet:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Here is an article to read about swollen legs and lameness:
http://articles.extension.org/pages/68294/causes-of-lameness-in-poultry

I thought her swollen joints were from gout, at least that's what seemed like the most likely after doing some research. I just thought it odd that the bruises showed up so much later after she had the swelling. Do I need to separate her if I start treating her with corid or tylan? If it is gout that she had/has, is giving her all that extra protein from the eggs and tuna going to make it worse?