Sick chicken

[Anne_]

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?

 

[Perris]

hello @Anne_ welcome to BYC
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

 

[Anne_]

hello @Anne_ welcome to BYC
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

She wasn’t eating yesterday at all that I could tell.

hello @Anne_ welcome to BYC
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

When she was out in the coop yesterday she didn’t eat that I could tell. She doesn’t seem to want to eat the crumbles that are in with her now either. I don’t have a scale to weigh her. Thank you for the reply.

 

[Eggcessive]

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.

 

[azygous]

Sounds like it could be a crop disorder. Read through this https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ and see if you see anything that meshes with her symptoms. You will also need to check her crop in the morning to verify a crop disorder. Then you can treat it.

 

[Anne_]

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.

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

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.

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.

 

[Anne_]

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

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.

Her crop feels maybe a bit puffy but I don’t know how it’s supposed to feel

Sounds like it could be a crop disorder. Read through this https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ and see if you see anything that meshes with her symptoms. You will also need to check her crop in the morning to verify a crop disorder. Then you can treat it.

i think her crop feels squishy and puffy but I’m not actually sure how it’s supposed to feel. I’m new to the chicken life.

 

[Perris]

thanks for the photos. In addition to what the others have said about crop etc., can I suggest making some holes low down in that container, because CO2 will be building up and she already has breathing issues, so we want to avoid that. Its heavier than oxygen, so the holes just have to be lower than her beak height when roosting, and ideally the box should be a little higher than the floor so the CO2 can fall away.

 

[Anne_]

I have the lid off now it’s just sitting on the tote sideways so she can’t jump out. Will that be okay?

 

[Perris]

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.