sick hen please help

[schellie69]

One question are you offering grit also. I would go to a flock raiser and offer oyster shell to the one hen until you see eggs from your younger pullets once they start to lay then switch to a layer and if you still have the flock raiser you can mix them to use up the flock raiser. Good luck glad to hear that your hen is doing better.

 

[sneaton1]

they free range 4 hours a day so i dont have any grit. i figured they know what they need so they will find it. the sick hen has been walking around a little more and she actually flew today, so i hope thats a good sign. she scraches and pecks at the ground but dosent seem to eat as much as the others. she is drinking a little on her own too. the only symptoms still noticable are closing eyes more than normal but no discharge, lazyness but still walking and perching at night,and not eating and drinking as much as normal. i assume shes getting better but any advice is still helpful, none of the other birds are showing symptoms yet and its been a week

 

[sneaton1]

is there anyway this all could be caused from stress. the guy i got her from had her in a cage in the bed of a pickup truck when he came to meet me and then he pulled her out of the cage by her feet and she looked really stressed. ive been loving on her since i got her to make her feel at home,not to mention how much shes been babied since shes been sick(i hope when she recovers she remembers what all i did for her and feels bonded to me)

 

[burquechick]

By the time you see symptoms, all the other birds have already likely been exposed. But your bird might just have the flu and be fine. You won't know if egg production has been affected until you start seeing eggs. Sounds viral to me, so antibiotics wouldn't help in that case (but I'm not an expert!). If you do want to treat with antibiotics, I'd really consider getting a vet to look at her first. And next time, I'd recommend separating a sick chicken at the first sign of symptoms, it may not prevent the others from getting sick, but you can provide her with better care. Such as, extra heat if needed, peace and quiet from the other chickens, special diet or medicine, etc.

And, no, I don't think you'd need to get them extra grit. As long as they are pecking at the ground outside, they should be getting grit on their own.

 

[sneaton1]

she is still hanging in there. she has been drinking alot on her own and eating some. she has been pooping and its is slowly turning from green to the normal brown. is this the type of disease that people kill their whole flock because they are carriers? it never got really bad she was just a little under the weather. her discharge was only for a couple days and she was walking around the whole time

 

[burquechick]

Quote:
People kill their whole flocks when the infection is attacking their ability to lay properly. And this usually happens in commercial settings. I got one bird with this and I only culled her. The others were just fine, and it's been 2 years, so I'm pretty sure it's passed now. You won't know if you got something like that until your birds are laying. I wouldn't cull any birds until I saw the effects on the eggs. She's probably going to be fine. And, quite honestly, my bird was never actually sick, so it's probably a good sign that yours appears to be fighting something.

 

[sneaton1]

thanks for the response, ive been so worried about this. do you think my other two birds will get sick? if they dont show any symptoms in two weeks do you think they are in the clear? someone said it might be the flu, if it is the flu do the remain carriers?

 

[MotherJean]

For everyone (including the OP) here is the link to an extensive discussion of these respiratory illnesses. It's a long read, but well worth the time invested to read all of it.

(Chicken got a cold?) Added Info.(MS/MG,ILT,CRD,NPIP)

You may also be interested in reading:

Chickens do not catch colds

Those two links should answer most of the questions you may have, in particular, they discuss the implications of birds currently ill or recovering on the health and well-being of your current and future flocks.

 

[sneaton1]

praise the lord,she is completly back to normal. the other two chickens have showed no signs of illness so i assume it wasnt contagious. i just wanted to thank everyone who helped me thru this stressful time. i have learned so much from you guys

 

[burquechick]

That's excellent! Congratulations!