Sick hen or old age?

[HeadRoo]

First off, I normally research prior to posting a question. However, I may not have the time needed so I am going to do this out of order.

I have a beautiful Welsummer hen who lives with a flock of 7 other mixed breed layers and a rooster. She is our oldest hen, but I do not know her exact age(probably going on 3 years old or so). She has not laid an egg in 6 months or so. I assumed that was driven by weather. For the past week she has not been as active as she usually is and the last 2 days she will not get out of the hen house. This morning she was in the back corner of the hen house and I thought she had passed. I picked her up and she came to. She didn't mind me picking her up and that is unusual for her as she is one of the ones who always likes to keep her distance. After I picked her up I examined her and she has definitely lost a lot of weight. Since she has a lot of thick feathers you cannot tell that without a physical examination. I have separated her from the group in case whatever she has is contagious. She will not drink or eat or even stand up for that matter. She won't even move her legs unless you pick her up and roll her over to examine her underside.

She does not free roam and is confined to a large run and a hen house. This run and hen house are predator and varmint proof. I noticed a week ago that she and another hen were getting poopy butt so they all went through a round of antibiotics. She had been acting funny a few days before that. They have been off of the antibiotics for 4 days now. All of the other chickens are just as active as normal, except for the Welsummer.

Coincidentally, our rooster has been extremely vocal. In fact, he would crow even if I was inside the run with them(which is odd for him). He has been crowing to the point of getting hoarse. My wife thinks he has been trying to tell us that there is something wrong with his flock. I don't know about that, but he has been quiet since I removed the Welsummer from the rest of the flock. Interesting theory anyway.

I am not sure if this is age related or a sickness, but I would be most grateful if anyone had any ideas to share.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Have you wormed them?

Also check for mites/lice and keep your coop sprayed/dusted every so often, as there are mites that come out just at night that can get in a henhouse (red mite).

 

[HeadRoo]

Yes, at the end of last summer. It is my understanding that if you are going to worm your flock, once a year is the frequency. Is that correct, or do I need to do it again?

Also, upon my examination I noticed no mites or bugs on her. That's not to say she doesn't have something going on internally.

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

Don't think its old age, even though you don't know her exact age 3 or 5 ish isn't that old. We have one that's 7 or 8 and she's just a little slower than the others. Your gal seems sick. Could be egg bound, start into nicer weather when production picks up. Anytime they start or slow down laying can cause it. The loss of weight would lead me to think a parasite of some sort though, even coccidiosis can sneak up on you in spring. You could try a round of Corid, couldn't hurt. What antibiotic did you use? Adding probiotics would help after any medication and might help her pull through until you find something that will bring her out of it. Try giving some scrambled eggs too, to keep her strength up. Your rooster seems attentive, I wouldn't dismiss his change in behavior either!

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

http://www.midamericaagresearch.net. Is a lab tests for cocci and parasites. It's fairly inexpensive,and won't risk the chance of over worming and parasites building resistance. You just mail a sample on ice and a few days later have results. You could at the least eliminate the parasite theory that way .

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Yes, at the end of last summer. It is my understanding that if you are going to worm your flock, once a year is the frequency. Is that correct, or do I need to do it again?

Also, upon my examination I noticed no mites or bugs on her. That's not to say she doesn't have something going on internally.

I have to worm every six months because if I don't one or two of my hens start looking depressed and then I find a worm in the poo.

But going on the diarrhea, loss of weight, depressed attitude, it could be another illness or it could be worms...but wormers are hard on hens and can kill a weak hen. So since she is so very weak I would consider treating for coccidiosis as Pine Hill Farms suggested- it was a very good suggestion IMO - it could save her life if that is it. Older hens can get coccidiosis if immunocompromised or exposed to new soil. Worms (or illness) could cause the immunocompromised status.

If it were me I would worm again. But do be aware it could kill your hen. But if it is worms it could save her! Checking a fecal sample is a good idea if you don't wish to worm right now. Some vets will do this fecal float test for a fee as well (just bring the poo). False negatives are possible. They can also check for cocci.

You will have to dribble alongside the beak with a syringe, the medications, in order for her to receive treatment. Don't pour them down the throat unless you are tube feeding her, to avoid aspiration. I have never tube fed a hen but there are threads on how to do this if you need to.

I am sorry that I don't know what is wrong with your hen. Hopefully something works that you give her. There are so many things that can take a hen down and she sounds so very sick!

 

[HeadRoo]

OK, so I took her out in the sun so I could get a good look at her skin and feathers. I had my wife with me for help. We examined the hen carefully and did see a few bugs. These were not red as all of the mites I have seen, but they looked like common gnats. They may or may not be harmful, but I gave her a dust bath with Sevin just in case. This will help for future outbreak, but her current condition still needs to be addressed. I have a call in to my vet who deals with horses and livestock. He might be able to help. Also, I went to Tractor Supply website and they sell Corid, but for cattle. Can this also be used on chickens and at what rate? I am sure it has to be mixed differently for chickens.

I was able to dust 2 of my other birds, the run, the hen house, and nesting boxes in case it is a type of bug. I will get to the other birds as they let me close enough. Even my friendliest bird is trying to stay clear. This is obviously due to my lack of presence over the winter.

I also gave Freckles some scrambled eggs as suggested. She hasn't eaten any of them yet, but I am still working with her and also trying to give her some time alone as well.

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

Updated - Corid and Amprol (amprolium) Dosing ----- type that in the search box and a thread from here will pop up and give details. Sorry I'm on mobile device and couldn't figure out how to send as a link. I would do the 3/4 tsp per gallon if you are getting the cattle type from TSC.

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

If you're going to TSC they sell Nutra Drench Poultry Drench you might want to try. It's only $7 I think, might give her a boost.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

OK, so I took her out in the sun so I could get a good look at her skin and feathers. I had my wife with me for help. We examined the hen carefully and did see a few bugs. These were not red as all of the mites I have seen, but they looked like common gnats. They may or may not be harmful, but I gave her a dust bath with Sevin just in case. This will help for future outbreak, but her current condition still needs to be addressed. I have a call in to my vet who deals with horses and livestock. He might be able to help. Also, I went to Tractor Supply website and they sell Corid, but for cattle. Can this also be used on chickens and at what rate? I am sure it has to be mixed differently for chickens.

I was able to dust 2 of my other birds, the run, the hen house, and nesting boxes in case it is a type of bug. I will get to the other birds as they let me close enough. Even my friendliest bird is trying to stay clear. This is obviously due to my lack of presence over the winter.

I also gave Freckles some scrambled eggs as suggested. She hasn't eaten any of them yet, but I am still working with her and also trying to give her some time alone as well.

The Northern Fowl mite kind of looks like a little dark bug...they look almost like a tiny little flea but they move very fast and will run up your arm when you gather eggs. They kind of like to hang around the vent and under the wings- make sure you dust there especially. It needs to be repeated in 7 days to break the life cycle. When I had NFM in my flock, I couldn't even find them on the birds- I found them on me and they were biting me, but only when I took a bath and they floated up dead, and at the bottom of my socks where they got squished and the blood came out of them (TMI huh!). So they are elusive little bugs and can be difficult to locate- and they move so fast that it is just incredible. They do not breed on human blood though and will die without a poultry blood meal in 3 weeks.

The red mite is the one that lives in the coop and comes out at night. They live for 9 months with no poultry blood meal.

Lice are straw colored I have read-I have only dealt with the NFM. They need a retreatment of dust at 7 and 14 days due to the longer life cycle. They are not sucking lice. They live on the feathers/dander.

Make sure there are no untreated reservoirs in the coop or they will be back...so it is best to toss bedding/nest material each treatment of the coop and birds. I switched to sand in the coop so I don't have to throw anything out anymore (and the nest boxes). I just treat the sand with my dust. They say not to put the insecticides in the nestboxes.

Corid for cattle is approved for chickens (amprolium). I give the 9.6% Corid solution, 9.5 ml per gallon of water for 5 days as the sole drinking water. I mix a new solution daily and I don't administer vitamins at this time as it is a thiamine blocker. They also have a powder with a different dosage. I see improvement within 24 hours. There are 9 different strains of cocci that affect poultry. Corid only treats two of those strains, however it is well tolerated by my flock and has always worked. Sulmet treats two other strains but is hard on chickens, and then there is sulfadimethoxine, which is something I have never given.

Asking your vet is excellent if you can!! Many people cannot get a vet to treat their chickens at all.

http://www.clemson.edu/public/lph/ahp/disease_links/images/coccidia.pdf

The Corid is handy to have on hand anyway if you raise chicks. I just won't raise chicks anymore without some on hand. If you think you may not use it or use much of it, the powder will probably have a longer shelf life.