Sick hen - need advice please

[Sam_91]

Hi there,

I’m fairly new to owning chickens and any advice would be fantastic.

I bought 4 brown hens at 16 weeks old and they where absolutely fine for the first month or so, however I decided to add 2 - 20 week old bluebells to my growing flock.

Ever since I have had issues with sneezing and runny noses, however the main issue is one of the smallest brown hens hasn’t opened her eyes for the past 3 days.

She has been inside, kept warm but she won’t eat or drink. I have read Coryza could be the problem.

Any advice would be great thanks.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. I'm sure the ER folks will be along soon to advise you.

Good luck
Pork Pie

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.
We are glad you joined this flock!
Jump right in and make yourself at home.

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[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our Fun-omenal community!!! Best wishes and good luck with your flock!

 

[N F C]

Sorry to hear you have some ill birds. Here's a link to the ER forum, someone there should be able to help you.

Best of luck!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
As has already been mentioned, you should begin a new thread in the ER forum where you will get the help you need with your sick girl and the rest of your flock. Good luck.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - hoping for a resolution to this problem.

 

[N F C]

Sorry to hear you have some ill birds. Here's a link to the ER forum, someone there should be able to help you.

Best of luck!

I see I missed putting the ER link in my post, sorry about that!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

I see your thread has been moved to the ER forum, wishing you the best of luck with your birds @rebrascora can you pop over and offer your thoughts.

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like your new birds came from a place where they had been exposed to a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma (MG) or infectious bronchitis (IB.) IB virus causes frequent sneezing and runny nose. There can be a slow down in egg laying or wrinkled egg shells. In MG, you may see bubbles in the eyes, or watery eyes and clear nasal drainage.

It doesn’t sound as bad as coryza, unless you see thick eye and nasal drainage, sometimes a bad odor, and pus in the eyes.

Since she is acting lethargic, I would probably go ahead and treat her with an antibiotic, such as Tylan 50 injectable given orally. You will need a 3 ml syringe with 18 or 20 gauge needles to get it out of the vial. Remove the needle to give it into the beak a drop at a time. Dosage is 1/4 or 0.25 ml per pound 3 times daily for 3-5 days. A 5 pound chicken would get 1.25 ml. Here is a good link to read about symptoms of most common diseases:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044