Sick Hen, Not sure what to do

[msierch77]

I'm still fairly new to this whole backyard chicken raising. I have a small flock of 6 Buff Orpingtons that I have had for the past 2 years. Everything has been great up to this point. The past few days I noticed that the comb of one of my ladies was pale (almost whited over) and a bit droopy, her feathers were a bit out of sorts (but all my chickens have been molting lately) and she was mostly keeping to herself and not pecking around very much. I attributed this to her molting, (as I was told could be the case from some of my neighbors that keep hens.) Lately my flock as a whole has been laying less, I might get 1-3 eggs a day now. But I live in NJ and thought it was just from our change of seasons and the fact that they were molting.
Anyway, this morning I found her lying against the waterer outside of the coop in their pen, wet (it rained last night so I'm thinking she may have been there all night.) She didn't get up and come to greet me and look for food like they all do every morning that I go out to tend to them. I removed her from the pen and put her in a carrier on my covered porch with food and water, but she is dying and will pass soon.
I'm concerned about the rest of my hens, (and myself honestly.) Any ideas on what it could be and how I can prevent it in my other hens or what other precautions I should take.
Thank you!

 

[NovaAman]

Ah, sorry about your hen...

I'd say, if you have the stomach to do it, do a necropsy on her. Might be something as simple as an overload of parasites in her system... Then you'd know what to do. Or, take a fecal sample to the vet, get a worm check done. Doesn't matter really if they don't do birds, they can still check poop and see if it is worms. Worms are worms... Should be about 25-30 bucks. Does she feel any lighter than the others? That'd be a good indication too of a parasite.

 

[NovaAman]

Oh, and welcome to byc. This is a great site to make friends and learn.

 

[silkiechicken]

Could be lots of things really....

Did she lose weight, what are her stools like, does she have an injury you can't see, is she egg bound, has she become an internal layer?

Moulting, 2nd year flock laying less... both normal things and nothing to be concerned about.

 

[Luesi]

Hello msierch77,

So sorry to hear about your hen. I would make sure she is warm and dry from now on and put her with a heat lamp separate from the others. I had a sick hen and put her in a dog kennel inside the pen and started giving her wazine dewormer, electrolytes and vitamines (liquid for exotic birds) Than I started feeding her with a recommended medicated feed from our local feed store, and she is getting much better...But mine was hen picked to the raw flesh and I think the mosquitoes where killing her out here. Her come is still sideways and a bit pale, so I keep her separate til she is ready and healthy. I hope somebody here will answer you with lot more help!! Good luck C.

 

[msierch77]

Thank you all! Sadly, my girl just passed. I will give her a look over to see if she has any parasites that I can see. And I will take some stool samples to my vet tomorrow morning. And give the coop and pen a good cleaning and fresh bedding. She's always been a bit smaller than the other ladies but still had some weight to her. Sadly, I'm not sure if she has been laying at all. Like I said egg production has definitely slowed down and I honestly can't tell who's laying, as they all look identical, are very private about their laying and choose to lay all in the same box (even though there is a box for each of them, lol.) I'll keep a close eye on the rest and hopefully I will not lose anymore

 

[Luesi]

sorry to hear of your loss....they are like family

 

[soler]

it's terribly sad

You could ask your vet if they could send her in for a necropsy at the state facility - this should be low cost or potentially free and it would shed light on the matter.

If you have never wormed them, you really should worm them. Normally once a year minimum is recommended.