Sick Dominique Hen

[Cowpoke]

Hello All,
I have a Sick Dominique Hen. She is 18-months old, I have 6-hens all from the same hatch; and a Roo, from another strain. I raised them from day old chicks. About 2 months ago, they all seemed to be molting...loosing feathers like crazy. Egg production went way down..and still is! I feed a combo of laying pellets and hen scratch. In order to help the chickens get their feathers back, I stated feeding a small hand full of Calf Manna (for chickens); for more protein and hope more feathers. Most have gotten their feathers somewhat back. All but 1 other and this sick one.
This sick one has lost a lot of weight, and is pretty much bald on bottom and not much better anywhere else. I found her just standing in one of my nest boxes. It is now, recently cold outside, so I brought her in the garage to isolate her and put a heat lamp
on the cage.(It is cold in the garage). She just stands there with her neck bowed and her neck feathers ruffled. Her feet and legs are somewhat swollen and she is still loosing feathers. She has no desire for food nor water, that I can tell. I have been forcing electrolyte and probiotic mixture down her, with a syringe and wd-40 tube attached. Also forcing Poultry Nutri-Drench down her. She hadn't pooped any yesterday, but after administering the aforementioned meds, I saw two poops today....mostly watery clear, with a little greenish/ brown lumps in it.

Today( 2hrs ago) I have put Vaseline on her feet and legs and forced Duramycin 10 down her. She still just stands with neck bowed
unless I need to catch her, then she will straighten her neck up and run a little. Seems to still be loosing feathers when I catch her.

Does anybody have a clue to what is wrong with this chicken? Treatment suggestions? Any help will be Appreciated!!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. She still looks to be in the middle of her molt. Some hens take much longer (up tp several months) than others to complete a molt. I would also check her closely for lice and mites especially under her vent. Worms could also be a problem. The calf manna is supposed to be good. I would probably go ahead and worm with a product such as Valbazen, then dust for lice and mites. Repeat both in 10 days.

 

[Cowpoke]

Thank You! I will try what you suggest. And then I will post back, to let you know....and others for seeing this condition.

 

[Cowpoke]

Thank You Eggcessive!

I wormed her with Valbazen, as you suggested. Now I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next few days. I also dusted her with Hi-Yield Garden and Livestock dust. The Feed store says they don't make Sevin anymore and this is the same thing...........I don,t know but I did see that it immediately killed Silverfish. I have not seen any Lice nor Mites, but just in case.

And a special Thank You to casportpony and kuntrygirl for the very helpful informative posts and advice on tube feeding. I tried everywhere to find a catheter without success and took casortpony's advise and used fish aquarium tubing for a feeding tube to the crop (craw). I tube fed her Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula for baby birds and macaws (from Petsmart), mixed in some Duramycin 10 and some Poultry Nutri-Drench. Then forced some electrolyte and probiotic/water mixture down her (Save-a-Chick, from TSC). We will wait and see how she is doing tomorrow.

I'm still worried about all this feather loss for such a long time.....and looses more every time I pick her up.

 

[Eggcessive]

Look at the ingredients on the dust--it may be permethrin which is also good. They still make 5% Sevin dust, but it is easily found in garden centers, which this time of year are closed. WalMart usually has it near their garden supplies. She is really having a hard molt, poor thing. You sound like you are really trying hard to help her.

 

[casportpony]

How is she today?

-Kathy

 

[Cowpoke]

Hi Kathy,

About the same. I was about to take a guess of her having Coccidiosis and to start by administering Corid. But I found spaghetti looking worms in the poo this morning. So I'm thinking it took a while for the Valbzen to start working. She will not drink, but will eat bread from your hand, but will not bend down and eat it off of the floor. I thought she may have been egg-bound, so yesterday gave her a warm bath and stuck my gloved, lubed finger up in there 1-1/2 inches and felt nothing.
I guess I will just keep pouring the vitamins and Duramycin to her and let the wormer work. Unless you have another suggestion.

Thank You So Much for your concern!!!!!

 

[Cowpoke]

Oh, one other thing; green and white poo with thin spaghetti looking worms...about 3 worms in one poo.

 

[casportpony]

I would start weighing her daily in grams on a digital kitchen or postal scale. According to a quick search I did, Dominique hens weigh an average of 5 pounds (2268 grams). Any weight loss is a sign that her health is deteriorating.

-Kathy

 

[mg15]

Poor girl. I hope she gets better. The tube feeding is the best for her. I would tube at least 60 to 80 cc's a day. Just to keep my girl going. Also like Casportpony said, weighing her is very very important.