Sick little hen

[ilovechickens56]

I have a d'uccle hen that is approximately 18 months old. She has always been the loudest and most active girl in the flock. Late yesterday afternoon I went out to check on "The Kids" and found her to be ill. She was laying in the corner of the house and wouldn't move. Her best friend has been broody and she has been staying pretty close to her so I didn't think anything of it at first. When I did get her up she just stood there with her feathers puffed out and wouldn't move.

I took her in the house and examined her. Her eyes are clear, no discharge from her nose. Her crop feels normal and I checked her tummy and her vent and they seem to be fine too. She doesn't have parasites (we went through that a couple of months ago, so I have been very careful of late) and I checked this morning and she doesn't have diarrhea.

The girls egg production has slowed down a good bit lately, but I contributed it the extremely hot days we have been having. I haven't changed their food and they have had plenty of water.

I have separated her from the other girls, just to be safe. She is the cutest little thing and I will be heartbroken if anything happens to her. I am also concerned about the other girls, but right now everyone else seems to be fine.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[MSBG]

The heat stress could definitely be the cause since you have pretty much ruled out all other causes.

Try to cool her down and here is a link that may give you some ideas of things you can do if it is the heat.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search?q=heat+stress

Wishing you all the best!

 

[LovedMyAlydar]

Every so often we get a hen that does this. Have no idea what it is. We had one of our Marans who was 1.5 years old get sick like this and we put her out of her misery. That was when it was still cold, back in March. Then in July we had one of our Production Reds get like this. Before we could make the call to put her down, she passed away. Like you said, nothing obvious to the naked eye seemed to be wrong with her. One day she was fine and 2 days later she was gone. Comb was nice and red, rear end looked fine, not limping around, just poofy feathers and very lethargic.

None of the other birds seems to be bothered by whatever happened to her. What I think, and this is just my opinion, is that the hatcheries are kinda like a puppy mill. They grind out chicks for stores and mail orders. Who knows what kind of genetic issues might be at work and causing some problems like I have seen with a few of my chickens. Then again, maybe it's just rotten luck for me.

I am not too concerned, I loose more to foxes, hawks and the neighbors dog. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Have you added any new birds or moved them to new ground, where coccidiosis might be a problem? Have you wormed her lately? Is she eating and drinking? I would offer her some scrambled egg, and put electrolytes and vitamins in her water. Probiotics, or a tiny bit of buttermilk or yogurt would also be good.

 

[ilovechickens56]

Thank you. I gave her some pedialyte last night and this morning ad moved her to the basement where it is cool. I'm hoping it will help.

 

[ilovechickens56]

No, we have had the same group since last December. Nothing in their environment has changed. I have not wormed them in a while, I had thought about that and will try it. I really couldn't tell this morning if she was eating or drinking, we have been giving her pedialyte since yesterday afternoon as often as we can with a dropper. I just wonder if I should worm her while she is so weak or wait a couple of days?

 

[ilovechickens56]

I know, we have lost one before, but it was gradual. This was so sudden, not sure what to think.

Thank you