Hi all,
My husband & I both had chickens while we were growing up, so naturally, about 12 months ago, we purchased 3 of our own - Henny Houdini, Hepzibah & Hetty. Although we grew up with them, neither of us are experts in chicken health, which is how I came across BYC - one of my hens has become quite ill in the last week or so.
To give a bit of a background history, our 3 ISA Browns were already laying when we purchased them so we don't know how old they are, as they were raised with about 200 others as free range hens; coming to a smaller yard didn't seem to worry them (although Henny Houdini's name came about because when we first brought her home, she managed to escape over our 6 foot fence a couple of times!) & their health has not been any cause for concern, until about 6 months ago when Henny became lethargic, her tail was down & she had a pale comb. I isolated her from the flock, kept her warm, & made sure she ate well. She soon recovered her strength, and went on to lay a very rubbery egg. She hasn't laid any since, but has been her usual happy self, so I'm assuming she is perhaps too old to lay now?
Unfortunately, she has become quite ill again in the past week - similar symptoms to last time, but definitely a lot worse. For the last 4-5 days she has been weak on her feet & sometimes fell over if I tried to encourage her to stand/walk, her tail is down, & she's puffing her feathers up as though she is cold. Her poop is quite normal, although her crop feels practically non-existent (not the usual healthy squishy feeling). She has been enjoying water with apple cider vinegar, scrambled eggs with oregano, & bread (no crusts) soaked in olive oil over the last couple of days, & she regained some of her strength to the point that she was able to walk around the yard & forage yesterday (albeit she was quite slow & stopped often to rest), but she seems to have worsened today - she's lost her appetite, can't stand & she's got her eyes closed.
Is she just old & tired & at the end of her life, or can anyone give any advice/suggestions on what could be wrong & how I can help her, please?
My husband & I both had chickens while we were growing up, so naturally, about 12 months ago, we purchased 3 of our own - Henny Houdini, Hepzibah & Hetty. Although we grew up with them, neither of us are experts in chicken health, which is how I came across BYC - one of my hens has become quite ill in the last week or so.
To give a bit of a background history, our 3 ISA Browns were already laying when we purchased them so we don't know how old they are, as they were raised with about 200 others as free range hens; coming to a smaller yard didn't seem to worry them (although Henny Houdini's name came about because when we first brought her home, she managed to escape over our 6 foot fence a couple of times!) & their health has not been any cause for concern, until about 6 months ago when Henny became lethargic, her tail was down & she had a pale comb. I isolated her from the flock, kept her warm, & made sure she ate well. She soon recovered her strength, and went on to lay a very rubbery egg. She hasn't laid any since, but has been her usual happy self, so I'm assuming she is perhaps too old to lay now?
Unfortunately, she has become quite ill again in the past week - similar symptoms to last time, but definitely a lot worse. For the last 4-5 days she has been weak on her feet & sometimes fell over if I tried to encourage her to stand/walk, her tail is down, & she's puffing her feathers up as though she is cold. Her poop is quite normal, although her crop feels practically non-existent (not the usual healthy squishy feeling). She has been enjoying water with apple cider vinegar, scrambled eggs with oregano, & bread (no crusts) soaked in olive oil over the last couple of days, & she regained some of her strength to the point that she was able to walk around the yard & forage yesterday (albeit she was quite slow & stopped often to rest), but she seems to have worsened today - she's lost her appetite, can't stand & she's got her eyes closed.
Is she just old & tired & at the end of her life, or can anyone give any advice/suggestions on what could be wrong & how I can help her, please?
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