Sick hen

[okiegirl47]

Hello I'm new to keeping chickens. I've had two young adults who lay one egg each every day. I feed them laying feed, greens either turnip or romaine, kitchen scraps of veggies and fruit and an occasional batch of earth worms as a treat and I move their enclosure every 2 weeks so they have wild greens and fresh ground to scratch in. I'm hoping they are well fed. One of my hens has recently become broody and will sit in her box all day and go long periods without eating. She stopped laying about a month ago and now is losing feathers. Is this moult or is she losing feathers because she's not eating properly? Also now she has a swollen eye which is bubbling and has some scabbing on that side of her face. I've seen her scratching it but I really don't know where to start and if all these symptoms are related or if she has 2 different things going on. Can anyone off any advice?

 

[Haehnchen1]

Have you checked her for lice/mites? Check around her vent and under her wings. You will see little skin-colored bugs crawling aroung. They like to congregate where the feathers meet the skin and chew the feathers. This could be why she's losing feathers. When my chickens go broody they tend to not take dust baths, and this is crucial in keeping mites/lice at bay. We give them a dust bath of diatomaceous earth with a little bit of seven dust in it. It works well if you put it in an old stocking and pat their vent area and under the wings with it. As for her eye, perhaps the lice have really gone to town there, but that doesn't seem likely. Hopefully somebody else has some input on that. Let me know if you find any mites or lice. Good luck!

 

[okiegirl47]

Thanks for the info! I will check her tomorrow to make sure but this could be a likely cause as we have been getting a lot of rain here too and aside from spending so much time in her box, due to all the rain here lately, the ground has been wet a lot and they haven't been able to take dust baths. I've been trying to figure out what to do about that because I know they need them. I'll have to try your idea out and see how it goes. I was even thinking about making them a place like a child's sand box that I could keep covered and dry. I know they really enjoy their dirt baths!

 

[Haehnchen1]

You could even get a covered kitty litter box and put sand, dirt and diatomaceous earth in it. If they are bantams that should be big enough.

 

[okiegirl47]

I think that would be a perfect size for my youngest girl and I have to keep her separated from the the two adult hens because of aggression. I think I will get the other two a covered sand box like the ones they sell for kids or even a kiddy pool that I can cover with a tarp. I already got some diatomaceous earth, I've heard a lot of good things about it. I did put some on my smallest hen the last two days and today she had a seizure. I hope that didn't have anything to do with it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does your hen still have the swollen bubbly eye? That sounds like a respiratory disease.

 

[okiegirl47]

It has gotten a little better. I visited by feed store and got some antibiotics to put in her water and have been putting Neosporin on her eye as well. She is still broody and won't get off her nest. I really think she may have gotten sick because she's not eating right. I did read a lot of posts about the bubbly eye being a symptom of a respiratory infection and the man who helped me at the feed store seemed to think the same. I hope the antibiotics help and I really wish she would snap out of her broodiness!

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have a dog crate, put her in that with no bedding, but with food and water for at least 3 days. When you let her out, if she goes back to the nest, put her back for another day or two. Cages with wire bottoms work best, but a solid floor works too.

 

[okiegirl47]

Thanks, I do have a crate and I will try that.