Sick chicken?

[AwesomeFacer]

Hi, all:

Let me preface my question by saying that it's been hot and humid (90s and a t-storm last night) for the past 3 days here in upstate NY and that my chicks have been free ranging for about two weeks. They're about 6 weeks old buff orpington hens.

This afternoon my fella found one of our girls with one eye closed. He held her; she was lethargic but nt obviously damaged and opened the eye while he examined her. An hour later, about 7:30 tonight, she has both eyes closed, is asleep in the yard with her head under one wing, and is lethargic and unresponsive to (gasp!) strawberries. The others are cutting her a wide swath but aren't being mean. I counted her breaths per minute: she was at 28 and a peer, also resting, was at 24. Her temp didn't seem different from others either.

Here's a pic.

Any suggestions? I'll be interested to see if he puts herself to bed tonight, or if she's considering herself out for the night.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have extra water stations out in the shade during the hot weather? If she is low in the new pecking order she may not be getting to water or food. The biggest worry with 6 week olds is coccidiosis. I would go ahead and treat them all with Corid (amprollium) because once more start showing symptoms, it can be too late. Symptoms are lethargy, puffing up or hunching, diarrhea with or without blood, and poor appetite. Blood doesn't have to be present in the stools, but if you see any get the Corid right away.