Sick Hen?

witjer

In the Brooder
7 Years
Aug 14, 2012
21
1
26
Hello, one of our hens seems to be sick. This is our first year with chickens so I am looking for some help. She isnt staying with the rest of the flock very slow moving. Keeps her head retracted and tight to her body. She doesnt respond to anyone approaching her or picking her up. My dog even wen right up to her and she did not respond. I checked on her this morning and I thought she was dead. I rolled her over and she just stayed like that but wasnt dead. Now we live in New England so the weather is cold. The other 5 hens are showing no signs of anything so im not sure its the cold. I put her up in the nesting box and turned on heat lamp (which I havent used all winter yet). Any help would be appreciated. thank you
 
The symptoms you describe can be caused by several things from illness to egg-laying problems, and it is difficult to know what advice to give you without a little more information. Answering the questions at the top of this page in this link will give us more information, so others on here will better be able to help you. I copied and pasted the questions below. Have an Emergency / Disease? Please read first!

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use

Welcome to BYC, BTW :)
 
OK thanks.

I dont know what type the bird is. We got it from Tractor Supply and they where just called egg layers. It is a completely white bird with red head. Lays brown eggs.
The behavior is as I described
Benn about a week now that we have noticed. Maybe two.
All other 5 hens are fine
I dont see any signs of trauma
Doesnt seem to be "running" toward food or treats as she used to.
I dont see any different looking poop in the coop but I will go examine more closely
No treatment so far other than heat lamp turned on today
We have a 10x10 enclosure with hardware cloth all sides. It has a raised wooden enclosre with nesting boxes inside. The whole thing is wrapped in plastic right now for winter except for the top and the door.
 
  • She needs to come into a warm house, now! If you leave her outside, she will probably die.
  • Give her a nice warm, quiet place to gain her strength. She should have access to a heat source, food and water.
  • Once she's nice and warm dust her for mites and lice with poultry dust, not DE.
  • Take some pictures of her poop and post them.
  • Weigh her and one of her siblings. I bet she weighs less.
  • Get some Corid (amprolium) and Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (fenbendazole). These are items that all chicken owners should have on hand.
  • She could have worms, coccidiosis or many other diseases.

Added.
 
Last edited:
I would separate her in a dog crate where you can keep a close eye on what she is eating, drinking, and her dropping. First though, pick her up, look her over around her vent for lice or mite eggs (yellow or gray specks at the base of feathers,) feel her crop for fullness that should not be there due to not eating. Then dip her beak into some water (with apple cider vinegar added 1 tablesoonful per gallon) and offer her some scrambled eggs. Try to keep her warm. She may be too far gone, and you may never know what was wrong. Chickens can die of many things that can't be prevented. I would not treat her for lice, mites, or worms unless I knew she had them. Worming now could kill her.
 
Last edited:
I would separate her in a dog crate where you can keep a close eye on what she is eating, drinking, and her dropping. First though, pick her up, look her over around her vent for lice or mite eggs (yellow or gray specks at the base of feathers,) feel her crop for fullness that should not be there due to not eating. Then dip her beak into some water (with apple cider vinegar added 1 tablesoonful per gallon) and offer her some scrambled eggs. Try to keep her warm. She may be too far gone, and you may never know what was wrong. Chickens can die of many things that can't be prevented. I would not treat her for lice, mites, or worms unless I knew she had them. Worming now could kill her.
Once she is warm, she should be dusted. I have seen many that did not have any visible signs, but had tons of lice hidden in the feathers and shafts.

She's going to need lots of fluids, dipping her beak in enough times will probably stress her out.

Warm is what she need to be and it *might * be the source of her problems.

I always do. The ones that were going to die, died, but it had *nothing* to do with worming or dusting. And yes, I had necropsies done by an avian pathologist at the state lab.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom