Sick Hen

[JewellChicks]

I posted a regular thread of this also.


Hello-

Can anyone help.

One of our hens has been sick. A few weeks ago we noticed that she has been lethargic and not joining the other chickens when they are out in the yard to scratch. She mostly stays by her self, sometimes another hen may be with her. A few days ago I saw her show some spunk chasing a bug. I was hopping she was getting better, but looks like not.

She has been picked on just a bit, but not too bad.

Her comb is very pail and droopy. She is very thin. I felt around on her and she is all bones. I felt for large masses or anything abnormal and did not notice anything. I did see mites. Some were quite large, larger then a flee. I was not even sure the large ones were mites. We treated her with DE yesterday. She is still lethargic she is not eating much. Today when I gave them breakfast she just sat by her self looking outside.

I am going to isolate her and treat her with more DE.

I am tempted to give her yogurt, egg yoke and feed mixture that I saw suggested on a thread I was reading.

I will check her out some more and let you know what I find.

We are relatively new to this chicken thing and I am not sure what to do for the poor gal.

 

[Judy]

She is going to need more than DE to stop an infestation. They can get extremely ill or even die just from parasites, if the load is heavy enough. This could be worms, lice/mites, or a combination.

However, I'm afraid there is a fair chance she has something underlying which is not curable, particularly if she is not laying, which I'm assuming she is not. Unfortunately, internal laying and cancer of the reproductive tract are relatively common, particularly in hatchery birds who lay very well.

I'll give you some links to some informative threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/818674/are-these-some-kind-of-egg-clusters/0_20#post_11897957

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-crd-parasites-are-rampant/0_20#post_7474233

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/639749/timeline-of-internal-laying-update/0_20

And post 92 in this thread, in particular:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers/80_20#post_6235380

 

[BigECarter]

I would skip the DE and go with something more effective like sevin dust. There is some debate that says DE can be used to prevent mites, but most people agree that it's not enough to treat an existing problem.

Looks like Flockwatcher gave some great advice while I was typing my response. I would add that it would be good to isolate her from the flock until she gets better, preferably somewhere warm. 85° is ideal.

E

 

[Eggcessive]

All good advice so far, and I would recommend that you worm her now. SafeGuard Horse Paste or Liquid Goat Wormer are very good--1/2 ml dose of either by mouth, and repeat in 10 days. Discard eggs for total of 24 days. Check her crop especially in the morning to make sure it is emptying, and it should have food inside in the evening. You might confine her inside the coop in a cage overnight to seen what her poops look like in case of diarrhea, blood, or strange colors.

 

[JewellChicks]

Thank you everyone. I did get safe-guard for goats. I do not have access to a computer when I was in town so I did not get anything for the mites. I will get some sevin dust later. Maybe I will put some DE on her for now. What about feeding. Is there something I can give her to give her some extra strength as she fights for life?

The 'isolation' cage I have is in the runner. So not very isolated. I can maybe move it, but it may not be warm enough. Is it okay to keep her in a kennel type cage while she recovers (like a dog/cat one you might use when you go to the vet)?

 

[JewellChicks]

Okay so I gave her the wormier she took all 0.5 mL just fine. I was not sure on the food so just gave her some of her normal layer feed that I soaked in water. By the time I got it out of the syringe it was mostly water, but she took the water. She was closing her eyes while I held her. Looks like I bad sign. Seven dust is on its way.

She is in the isolation cage in the runner. I am still thinking the cat/dog kennel may be best for the night time so I can keep her in the house where it is warm. We are in Hawaii, but I think it can get down to 60 deg F at night.

Is it okay if she joins the rest of the group later if her poop looks okay?

What about food? Should I give her the yogurt and egg yolk combo?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, I would put her back with the flock after you see a few poop samples. How old is she, and has she been laying? If she is 2 or more she could possibly have egg yolk peritonitis which is fairly common. I give sick hens a scrambled egg daily, low salt tuna, and a snack of dry cat food for extra protein. Buttermilk or a small amount of yogurt is good.

 

[JewellChicks]

Thanks.

She is about a year old. Right now she looks like she is 70... poor thing.

I gave her the yoke of a well cooked poached egg mixed with yogurt and a bit of honey.

I will go with the scrabbled eggs, tuna and cat food tomorrow.

When I put her in the isolated cage I filled up the water and put some softened layer food in a container... when I came back with the yoke, yogurt honey mixture most of the water was gone (I am afraid she could not get the the water well before). Not sure if she ate much of the food... did not look like it.

When I was holding her to drip the food on her beak I examined her crop and it was full and watery. I had not noticed that before so I am hoping it was just because of all that water. There is no bad smell coming from her.

She liked the yoke mixture and even pecked at some that had dripped onto my leg.

Her shoot looks fine, dry and normal no wetness or poop.

I just got the Sevin (5% dust). I think I will take her away from the rest of the group to dust her with this... it looks toxic.

Is she okay for the night in the isolated cage, it has walls on part and open on another part. She will not have her friends to keep her warm.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would do some research on egg yok peritonitis and internal laying. I can post some links in the morning.

 

[JewellChicks]

She is now tucked away with her Sevin dust on... mostly under wings and near shoot. I may need to put more, I was not sure how much to put on her and I did not want to over load her when she is down.

I put layer food and dry cat food in her cage and feeder.

Crop was full... maybe slightly less watery then earlier.

I will check her crop, feed her some scrambled eggs and yogurt tomorrow and report back.

Thanks so much. I hope she makes it.