Sick chicken

[Working hard]

Hi all - we went away for one night and came back to one of our hens looking like this. She’s eating but definitely not feeling well. Coccidious? If so, do I treat the whole flock? Could she have been bullied? Our Wyandottes can be mean. The flock is a year old and does not free range bc of an abundance of predators.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard, doughy, or puffy soft? It should fill up during the day, and then be mostly empty by early morning after fasting all night. Are her droppings normal, and pictures are sometimes helpful. What are you feeding?Make sure that she will drink some fluids. If you offer some moistened chicken feed and some scrambled egg or a small amount of tuna, see if she eats.

 

[Working hard]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard, doughy, or puffy soft? It should fill up during the day, and then be mostly empty by early morning after fasting all night. Are her droppings normal, and pictures are sometimes helpful. What are you feeding?Make sure that she will drink some fluids. If you offer some moistened chicken feed and some scrambled egg or a small amount of tuna, see if she eats.

She is a year old. Hard to tell if she has been laying recently as I have 6 white egg layers and have gotten 4 or 5 the past few days. She is very skittish so I will try to catch her when my son comes home. We are feeding her Scratch and Peck crumbles and whole grain fermented feed daily. No change in her diet. Treats are veggies and grubs - sparingly. I will give her some scrambled egg and see if she perks up.

 

[Eggcessive]

A lot of hens may stop laying by that age, and can have reproductive disorders or even cancer. If she has any salpingitis or infection, she might have a decreased appetite and her droppings may be different. Those, too can lead to the crop not emptying normally. If they feel poorly, it is easy for them to be pushed around or even kept from food and water by the others. Once they go to roost in the evening, it may be easier to take her off, and place her in a dog crate with food and water to monitor her for a day or two.