Sick hen - any advice appreciated

[longday]

No noise - just the visual.

 

[longday]

Also worth mentioning is that she seems otherwise quite excited to be outside - sharpening her beak, fixing feathers etc.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Open-mouth breathing can sometimes be an indication of pain and/or stress, though it can be just a plain old problem with congestion other times.

There are some ideas on the Flock Peacekeeping page on my website (linked in my sig) that might be helpful for re-integrating her into the flock.

I wish you the best

 

[longday]

Thanks again for the response. There was some minor "to-ing and fro-ing" between them, and she kept her distance for a while, but then they were all friends again. I think because she was top chook before she was ill, she sorted it out pretty quickly, to the point that they're all snuggled together in the coop for the night.

I just think it's such a miracle that she made it through after being on death's doorstep just a week ago. Thanks again to everyone for the support and advice.

 

[longday]

Oh, and SpeckledHills, I've bookmarked your website. Thanks so much!

 

[schnebbles]

good to hear! It'a amazing what we do for our chickens.

 

[PoultryPedia]

longday-- You are welcome Very glad to hear she's doing well & settling back in smoothly!

 

[HomeSnail]

Glad to hear she's doing well!!

 

[longday]

Update

I thought I'd share an update since you've been so kind in helping Ruby through her illness. Since I put her back outside, she's ever so slowly improved. For quite a while she was still thin and her comb was shrivelled and grey, although she seemed to still have an appetite and seemed happy. In the last 3 weeks or so, I've noticed she seems to have put all her weight back on again and it seemed her comb was growing a little and getting more colour.

About a week ago she was scratching around in the nest, arranging it to her liking etc. Finally, about 4 days ago, she started laying again! She's so far been laying every day.

Thanks again for all the advice and support.

LD

 

[PoultryPedia]

Hooray! That's great she's rebounded to the point of laying again, too.

Thanks for sharing. It's always nice to hear how things go long-term.