Silkie hen sick or just dumb?

[Crazy_chicken_lady1996]

Hi everyone,
Long time lurker here, I have a silkie hen that was…not always the brightest but now she is either getting dumber or sick… I got her as a day old and she was quite energetic, actually I thought she was a boy while she was growing up because she was always running around and fighting her friends however she always ate quite little and remained pretty skinny, she was always a picky eater… probably because I spoiled her as a chick. She only started eating more after she started laying about 5 months ago, and I saw that she was more active and demanding during this time. But then she went super broody so I locked her out of her nest box and boy was she mad, circling the nest box for days and not eating or drinking. This went on for about 1 and a half weeks. After she finally stopped acting broody she was already quite skinny from not eating or drinking much, and then she went through a hard molt… and is currently still growing back her feathers. She also got a swollen eye during this time… I gave her respiratory meds and eye ointment and she cleared up after a week but ever since then she hasn’t been eating as well as before. Often refusing treats and eating very little. I feel her crop all the time and it’s always empty. She also hasn’t been laying for the past 2 months since I broke her out of her broody spell. She’s always staring out into space or sitting on her tree stump asleep, but she isn’t showing any other signs of sickness… she’s quite skinny now and it’s making me worried, she will sometimes run around with her friends and do other chicken things but I’ve noticed she’s got way less energy than the others. Do you think she’s sick or just dumb? Sorry for the long story, thank you to those that read the whole thing!!

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like she may have had a respiratory disease with her swollen eye. Symptoms can sometimes come back again. Does she seem to see okay? Are her feathers blocking her eyesight? If I were you I would give her 1/4 tablet daily of human vitamin B complex which could stimulate her appetite. Then I would take her aside each day, and offer her some scrambled egg, wet chicken feed in a little bowl, and you can alternate canned cat food and tuna. If your feed does not contain probiotics, I would give some or add a bit of plain yogurt or buttermilk to her food. Silkies are easily bullied and are low in pecking order, so she might have to work to get food. Placing an extra feeder out for her could help.

 

[Crazy_chicken_lady1996]

It sounds like she may have had a respiratory disease with her swollen eye. Symptoms can sometimes come back again. Does she seem to see okay? Are her feathers blocking her eyesight? If I were you I would give her 1/4 tablet daily of human vitamin B complex which could stimulate her appetite. Then I would take her aside each day, and offer her some scrambled egg, wet chicken feed in a little bowl, and you can alternate canned cat food and tuna. If your feed does not contain probiotics, I would give some or add a bit of plain yogurt or buttermilk to her food. Silkies are easily bullied and are low in pecking order, so she might have to work to get food. Placing an extra feeder out for her could help.

Thank you for your quick and detailed response! I trim my girls eye feathers and she is usually the one bullying the smaller silkies from the food she is a little mad lady. But yes! I will start with the vitb, scrambled eggs and yogurt. I always put vitamins in their water but I don’t really know if it does much…