Sick Hen with Chicks

chbrady

Hatching
Mar 19, 2015
2
0
7
I have a 6 year old bantam. She has three day old chicks, and has obviously been in a brooding cycle. Since the chicks hatched she has been very listless, and had some squirty green poos, which I attributed to transitioning from broody to "normal". However, today, she was unstable, weak, and lethargic. Her comb was pale yellow. I've given her water and electrolytes via syringe. She ate a few bites today that I observed, but she has not been interested in food. Subsequently, she has had some clear squirts, and one this evening that is white-ish / yellow-ish. She is bedding down near a heat lamp I set up directed into the coop. Not really sure what to do from here.. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Welcome to BYC. You may need to place the chicks in a brooder with a heat lamp if she is too weak or run down to care for the chicks. Feed her some scrambled egg, grou. meat, tuna,gamebird feed, scratch, or whatever she will take it, but the higher protein, the better. Probiotics would also be good. If a vet is available you may want to take her in or get a stool sample checked in case she has worms or an E.coli overload. Vitamins may help increase her appetite.
 
So, sadly I lost my hen in the night. I had placed a brooder light up as backup and in case she was having trouble regulating her own temperature. She had bedded down with the chicks near the light but this morning I found she had moved to her nesting basket and passed seemingly in her sleep. The chicks are fine. In fact another hen has taken them on.
I know it is difficult to diagnose these things but I guess I'd still like to understand what happened to her. My best hypothesis is that she developed diarrhea as a symptom of starvation and my attempts to hydrate her were too little too late. When I was wondering how much water to give her and trying to rule out various ailments, I had felt that her crop was squishy with fluid in it. Not very enlarged or strange -but wondered if she was absorbing what she had taken in. She was keeping her tail high and pulsating her vent with some frequency.
Is it at all common for hens to have difficulty (malnourished?) coming off the nest?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom