Sick chook

[Novochickadee]

Hi All,

I am looking for suggestions of what could be wrong with my chicken and how I can help her get better. As I spoke about in my introduction, chicken care is so much more than I realised and since being infested with mites and having one sick chook who cannot walk or stand, I know that I need to learn more about them and especially how to help my precious one.
Anyway, I found her yesterday beside my retaining wall. I jsut thought she was enjoying the cool shade there and did not want to get up. I called her and she did not come, instead she let me know where she was. I picked her up and gave her a dusting and dropped her expecting her to fly down, but she just dropped with a thud. The following is a list of symptons she has...
- cannot walk or stand
- not eating or drinking
- feet curled up under her
- scooting along on her belly
- very red bottom area and underneath area.
- droopy comb
- occasional her head flops forwards
- otherwise she is alert and looks relatively healthy.
-green diarrhoea which absolutely stinks.

I force fed her a small amount earlier and also slowly poured tiny amounts of water into her beak. She then did a big poo, (shown in photo's). I then read I should give her vegemite in her water, so I did and put some worm stuff in it. I also force fed her some natural yoghurt. I will wait and see in the morning how she reacts to that. I am hoping for the best.

Another thing I need to know is...... HOW DO i GET RID OF THESE MITES THAT HAVE NOW INFESTED MY HOUSE, DOGS AND MYSELF. My dogs have been getting washed everyday for the last 4 days as they have been itching like mad. It is not working, obviously because they just keep jumping back on from around the house and yard. What do I do?

 

[Welshies]

What are you feeding your chickens? Are her feet healthy looking?
As for mites, mite spray can help but don't overuse. How often do you clean your coop? Cleaning it more often helps the issue.

 

[sylviethecochin]

For the hen: I would start with some elecrolyte supplements (1 pint water, 1tsp. baking soda, 1 tbps corn syrup/sugar/molasses) and some a low-iron vitamin supplement (available at most pet stores and usually also at Walmart.) Don't force-feed unless you absolutely have to--they can choke. I've called in the experts. They may be able to ID the disease(?) and recommend treatments.

For the mites: You may not be dealing with chicken mites. They can't live on humans or dogs, but they will crawl and itch all over you until they die. Find out what types of mites you have. Many are invisible to the naked eye. Some live on chicken's butts and are completely visible as they build up huge egg colonies. Some live in the nests and on the bottom of the perch and only come out to feed when the unfortunate chicken lands. Whatever the case, you'll have to find out what you have in order to most effectively treat it.

General control:

Dust baths. Get a big tire or a pit or an isolated dry area and put sand and wood ash in it. The chickens will scratch around in it and love it.

Chemical additives:

Permetherin (a derivative of pyrethrin) based sprays are the cheapest and most effective route. I use a dog-spray with that and s-methoprene as the active ingredients and it works very well as a control when I spray the nest boxes and the perch. (Hartz Flea and Tick, if you're curious. As it's not been tested on chickens, I won't recommend it.)

Another thing you can do is spray your entire coop with diluted bleach, ban all the chickens for the day, and air it out completely in the meantime. It's not fun.

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is often recommended as a parasitic cure-all. It's also (according to studies) highly ineffective except possibly as a control measure when you have a low concentration of mites. It causes breathing problems in high concentrations. But it's organic and so hundreds will swear on it. Wood ash is cheaper.

Sevin is very harsh and is only a last-ditch measure, but it is cheap and very effective. It's highly poisonous, handle with care and very carefully read the instructions before using.

@casportpony
@Eggcessive
@Ravynscroft

 

[Latestarter]

That poop makes me think possible coccidiosis... @casportpony is the poop pro . Some pictures would really help with trying to diagnose. Has she lost a lot of weight? Have you checked her temp? How long has she been like this/how fast did this situation/her present condition occur? Hopefully some of the pros will be along despite it being a pretty big holiday period.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

I am assuming your location is somewhere in Australia or New Zealand?

Your girl may be suffering from heat exhaustion as well as a serious mite/lice/flea infestation. Australia has both sticktight and European chick fleas. And yes, mites and fleas will attempt to get blood from you. Lice also cause skin irritation.You'll have to clean and treat the chickens, coop and run.

You have some good suggestions from slyviethecochin, to get you started. You can also find information as to approved treatments in your country, online.

If it is hot where you are, here is my input:

Attention must be given to the hen that is ailing. She may be weak with anemia from the insects feeding on her. As a result, her heat tolerance is low and she may have heat exhaustion, as well. Red irritated belly skin is depressing her too.

Vitamin supplement & electrolytes have been suggested by, slyviethecochin, please do these.

Next, a soak in a cool Epsom Salt bath. Fill a dish tub 3/4 with cool water, add 1 cup Epsom Salt. Stir to dissolve. Have a towel and some (petrolatum based) vitamin A&D baby ointment ready. Let the hen soak for at least 5 minutes. Place her on the towel and dry her off, apply the ointment on her reddened belly skin and legs. She can finish drying off somewhere safe, in the shade. The magnesium sulfate in the water will nourish and soothe the hen. It will also kill many of the insects on her. Do this for her about 3 times the first week, then once the following week.

While bathing her, feel her belly, take note of any swelling, as this is not normal.

She is probably scooting on her belly to soothe the itch.

Her poop is watery, and has little digested food, due to lack of appetite and food intake. For this, feed her some watermelon, diced black or red grapes. diced cooked meat protien, fresh greens, cooked grains: Brown rice, pearl barley, oat groats, wheat berries.

Good supportive care is just as healing, even more so sometimes.

Monitor her progress, or additional symptoms.

I pray all goes well.

God Bless!

 

[Novochickadee]

For the hen: I would start with some elecrolyte supplements (1 pint water, 1tsp. baking soda, 1 tbps corn syrup/sugar/molasses) and some a low-iron vitamin supplement (available at most pet stores and usually also at Walmart.) Don't force-feed unless you absolutely have to--they can choke. I've called in the experts. They may be able to ID the disease(?) and recommend treatments.

For the mites: You may not be dealing with chicken mites. They can't live on humans or dogs, but they will crawl and itch all over you until they die. Find out what types of mites you have. Many are invisible to the naked eye. Some live on chicken's butts and are completely visible as they build up huge egg colonies. Some live in the nests and on the bottom of the perch and only come out to feed when the unfortunate chicken lands. Whatever the case, you'll have to find out what you have in order to most effectively treat it.

General control:

Dust baths. Get a big tire or a pit or an isolated dry area and put sand and wood ash in it. The chickens will scratch around in it and love it.

Chemical additives:

Permetherin (a derivative of pyrethrin) based sprays are the cheapest and most effective route. I use a dog-spray with that and s-methoprene as the active ingredients and it works very well as a control when I spray the nest boxes and the perch. (Hartz Flea and Tick, if you're curious. As it's not been tested on chickens, I won't recommend it.)

Another thing you can do is spray your entire coop with diluted bleach, ban all the chickens for the day, and air it out completely in the meantime. It's not fun.

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is often recommended as a parasitic cure-all. It's also (according to studies) highly ineffective except possibly as a control measure when you have a low concentration of mites. It causes breathing problems in high concentrations. But it's organic and so hundreds will swear on it. Wood ash is cheaper.

Sevin is very harsh and is only a last-ditch measure, but it is cheap and very effective. It's highly poisonous, handle with care and very carefully read the instructions before using.

@casportpony
@Eggcessive
@Ravynscroft

Thank you very much, this is very helpful.

 

[Novochickadee]

Thank you everyone. This is all very useful information and I will be utilising a lot of it. I am so very grateful.

 

[Novochickadee]

I am assuming your location is somewhere in Australia or New Zealand?

Your girl may be suffering from heat exhaustion as well as a serious mite/lice/flea infestation. Australia has both sticktight and European chick fleas. And yes, mites and fleas will attempt to get blood from you. Lice also cause skin irritation.You'll have to clean and treat the chickens, coop and run.

You have some good suggestions from slyviethecochin, to get you started. You can also find information as to approved treatments in your country, online.

If it is hot where you are, here is my input:

Attention must be given to the hen that is ailing. She may be weak with anemia from the insects feeding on her. As a result, her heat tolerance is low and she may have heat exhaustion, as well. Red irritated belly skin is depressing her too.

Vitamin supplement & electrolytes have been suggested by, slyviethecochin, please do these.

Next, a soak in a cool Epsom Salt bath. Fill a dish tub 3/4 with cool water, add 1 cup Epsom Salt. Stir to dissolve. Have a towel and some (petrolatum based) vitamin A&D baby ointment ready. Let the hen soak for at least 5 minutes. Place her on the towel and dry her off, apply the ointment on her reddened belly skin and legs. She can finish drying off somewhere safe, in the shade. The magnesium sulfate in the water will nourish and soothe the hen. It will also kill many of the insects on her. Do this for her about 3 times the first week, then once the following week.

While bathing her, feel her belly, take note of any swelling, as this is not normal.

She is probably scooting on her belly to soothe the itch.

Her poop is watery, and has little digested food, due to lack of appetite and food intake. For this, feed her some watermelon, diced black or red grapes. diced cooked meat protien, fresh greens, cooked grains: Brown rice, pearl barley, oat groats, wheat berries.

Good supportive care is just as healing, even more so sometimes.

Monitor her progress, or additional symptoms.

I pray all goes well.

God Bless!

View attachment 1217215

I am from Australia.. The hot and humid part of Australia... Thank you so much for this information. It is great. She has been living in my bathroom the last couple of days. We have minor birds here and they are nasty vicious birds who attack even well animals, I would hate to leave her out to be attacked by these horrible birds because she is not well. For the first time ever I have put straw in their cage, I do not know if this is why I have a case of mites or not. I have got someone coming out to help me clean up my yard and do some maintenance jobs after the new year, I am going to get him to clear all the straw out of there and maybe replace it with sand as suggested, there is also a lot of weeds that have sprung up in there that need to be eradicated. The chickens are usually free range and just wander around the yard at will and the gate is left open for them to come and go as they please. There is no concrete in their coop, it is all dirt.

 

[Novochickadee]

That poop makes me think possible coccidiosis... @casportpony is the poop pro . Some pictures would really help with trying to diagnose. Has she lost a lot of weight? Have you checked her temp? How long has she been like this/how fast did this situation/her present condition occur? Hopefully some of the pros will be along despite it being a pretty big holiday period.

She hasn't lost much weight. I haven't checked her temp, I wouldn't know how to do that with a chicken. I will have to research coccidiosis. What other photo's should I take? This condition just seemed to hit her quite suddenly.

 

[Welshies]

Guys... could it be Marek's?