Sick chicken

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Anne_

Chirping
Dec 16, 2021
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I have an almost 10 month old hen. She started breathing heavy with her mouth open yesterday morning. She won’t cluck and she stays away from the rest of the flock. She sounds like she’s wheezing as well. She doesn’t have a runny nose, she’s not sneezing or coughing and she doesn’t have goopy eyes. She isn’t shaking her head around either. She wouldn’t roost last night and I brought her in this morning. I fed her scrambled eggs and she ate them no problem. I’ve been giving her water with electrolytes in a syringe. Her poop is quite dark/green. The rest of the hens are fine. Will she get better on her own?
 
She has some feather damage on her lower back feathers. Has she been targeted by the others or a rooster? Could she have been injured? I would look into her beak and throat for anything unusual, an yellow material, mucus, or foreign object. Have you wormed her recently? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard, doughy, or puffy? Does she normally lay eggs, and are those normal? How is the ventilation in your coop, and are their any odors, mold, or damp bedding that might affect her breathing? Many hens will eat chicken feed made wet with water, as well as egg or tuna.
 
The black strip could be the choanal slit which is normal anatomy. Here is a picture of that:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/7453487/

Dog crates make good hospital crates. Those can be placed in the coop where they can remain with the flock to help prevent problems with reintegration.
 
hello @Anne_ welcome to BYC :frow
She's self-isolating, as she's feeling poorly and trying to avoid being attacked by the rest of the flock if they perceive her as a risk to their health. Has she been eating prior to the scrambled eggs? Green poop often means they haven't. Have you offered her more food? Have you tried weighing her (standing her on scales is easiest)? Can you post photo of her (esp head) and poop?

I shall call on some of BYC's most knowledgable members to see if any of them can help you, @azygous @coach723 @dawg53 @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock
 
Eggcessive said:
She has some feather damage on her lower back feathers. Has she been targeted by the others or a rooster? Could she have been injured? I would look into her beak and throat for anything unusual, an yellow material, mucus, or foreign object. Have you wormed her recently? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard, doughy, or puffy? How is the ventilation in your coop, and are their any odors, mold, or damp bedding that might affect her breathing? Many hens will eat chicken feed made wet with water, as well as egg or tuna.
Click to expand...
Her feathers have always looked like that at the back. The coop is well built and ventilated and I don’t use straw as bedding I use
Eggcessive said:
She has some feather damage on her lower back feathers. Has she been targeted by the others or a rooster? Could she have been injured? I would look into her beak and throat for anything unusual, an yellow material, mucus, or foreign object. Have you wormed her recently? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard, doughy, or puffy? Does she normally lay eggs, and are those normal? How is the ventilation in your coop, and are their any odors, mold, or damp bedding that might affect her breathing? Many hens will eat chicken feed made wet with water, as well as egg or tuna.
Click to expand...
I’ve never seen her being picked on before and I don’t have a rooster. Ive never free ranged my hens either so they don't get into much in their run. I use shavings inside the coop from the coop and I’ve never noticed any bad smells etc. I also clean the poop out of the coop once a week. None of the other hens are having breathing issues. I do put straw in their nesting boxes. I have straw in with her now because I ran out of shavings. It’s hard for me to look in her mouth but I see a thin black strip on the roof of her mouth that seems to go to the back of her throat?? I’ve only had chickens since April so I’m fairly new to it all. I will try wetting her food.
 
Perris said:
no not really. All the CO2 she's exhaling will be filling the tote from the bottom up, and pushing up and out oxygen as it does so. You'd be better off putting the tote on its side and putting something breathable over the open side so she can't get out but can get
Click to expand...
Perris said:
no not really. All the CO2 she's exhaling will be filling the tote from the bottom up, and pushing up and out oxygen as it does so. You'd be better off putting the tote on its side and putting something breathable over the open side so she can't get out but can get oxygen.
Click to expand...
Ok.
Perris said:
no not really. All the CO2 she's exhaling will be filling the tote from the bottom up, and pushing up and out oxygen as it does so. You'd be better off putting the tote on its side and putting something breathable over the open side so she can't get out but can get oxygen.
Click to expand...
thanks for the help. The tote is on its side now. I’ve tried giving her a small amount of olive oil and water then messaging her crop. After this I have no idea. I’ll have to wait and see how she is in the morning then make a call on what to do I guess.
 
When I remove broodies from the flock to break them, they do alright after about 5 days. After that, they may get pecked a little more. If they gone for weeks, they may be forgotten, and you would have to gradually reintegrate. But every flock is variable.
 

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