Sick hen?

[Lucyluvchickens]

Hey y'all, I have a Mille Fleur d'Uccle named Millie, and she is married to her husband, Fuzz-Buzz, they have always done everything together, and they were both at the bottom of the pecking order. Well, now we moved across the US, and I took them both. We just got two hens to start off our new flock, and now Millie and Fuzzy are at the top of the pecking order. Fuzz-Buzz has started mating and flirting with the other hens, and Millie doesn't seem to like that

Anyway, she has started to be very quiet, and I haven't seen her drink in a while. She is always falling asleep and she stopped going with the others to find food. I'm not sure if she has and egg stuck in her that she can't get out, or if she's sick, (I looked in my chicken health handbook and there are hundreds of diseases, so I wasn't quite sure what to do about that) she will eat, but then she just falls asleep and she is refusing to drink water. Since we are in Texas and it's getting pretty close to summer, I was thinking that she might be dehydrated . She is also kind of falling over and gasping for are, she also usually hates me but when I tried to catch her she just stood there and didn't run away..what do y'all think?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Any time a skittish/aloof bird allows you to pick it up, it is very sick.
Do you have a good avian vet with poultry experience nearby?

Are there any symptoms other than not drinking and being lethargic?
As you know, there can be many things it could be so I can't speculate what it could be without some lab work.

You do know that chickens don't get married, right? Chickens are flock animals and don't mate for life like geese and wolves do. A rooster will take and breed as many hens as he has available. Most breeds can inseminate a minimum of 12 hens but more than that, the fertility of eggs can decrease. A 1:10 ratio is common and a 1:1 ratio is not that good because the poor hen will be overmated.

 

[Lucyluvchickens]

Any time a skittish/aloof bird allows you to pick it up, it is very sick.
Do you have a good avian vet with poultry experience nearby?

Are there any symptoms other than not drinking and being lethargic?
As you know, there can be many things it could be so I can't speculate what it could be without some lab work.

You do know that chickens don't get married, right? Chickens are flock animals and don't mate for life like geese and wolves do. A rooster will take and breed as many hens as he has available. Most breeds can inseminate a minimum of 12 hens but more than that, the  fertility of eggs can decrease. A 1:10 ratio is common and a 1:1 ratio is not that good because the poor hen will be overmated.

Lol yes I do know that chickens usually don't get married. But where I used to live, they were the only two of their size. And they literally loved each other. I know that roosters technically mate with other hens when put with them. But I have noticed her acting very down when the other hens came.

 

[Lucyluvchickens]

-but since I am a really weird chicken lady, I marry my chickens.

 

[0wen]

How long have you had the new hens and how long have they been together with the original pair? Did you do any sort of quarantine?

On symptoms... What does the sick birds poop look like? Can she stand? Walk? Any panting? Noise when she breathes? Drainage from beak or nostrils?

 

[Lucyluvchickens]

I have had the new hens for about 3 weeks or less. I know you are supposed to keep the new ones separate from the others for at least a weeek. But I only kept them in a cage for about a day or so. I let them all out to free range and they all did fine (btw the new chickens were really tame so they didn't run away) by that night they were all sleeping on a roost together.

I haven't looked at her poop, but also I couldn't find any lol

She can stand, but sometimes she will fall over and she will spread out her wings to help her balance. She did fly up onto the highest roost with the other birds though.

I don't think she's panting

I can kinda hear a little gurgle when she breaths

I don't think there is any drainage from the beak or nostrils, but her comb is a little pale and yellow

 

[Lucyluvchickens]

Now she's drinking a lot but now she's not eating

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quarantine, by definition is 40 days and as far from your birds as possible. Care for your birds first and then the new birds and then wash up before dealing with your birds again. Preferably changing shoes and clothing between.

 

[Lucyluvchickens]

lol she just laid an egg and now she's acting perfectly fine

...chickens...