Sleepy Chicken Disease?

[BjsBestGirl]

Is there a disease which is described by a chicken that sleeps all day? I have a 6 week old hen who is sick. she just lays on her side and sleeps all day. today is day 2 of being sick. she doesnt eat or drink. she is VERY skinny. She doesnt have diahrea (that i have seen). she does NOT appear to have any breathing problems. she seems to be extremely weak in the legs. she has a twichy neck (when she looks up, her head falls a bit then looks up etc) as though her head is too heavy. Any ideas? I do know if she is not better after this shot of spectrum in going to end it. But i just want to make sure, that even when she is better or dead, i know what illness it is incase any others have it.

p.s. i just had to kill one of my ducks yestrday who i suspect had toxoplasmosis. It doesnt seem like the same thing besause the symptoms in the duck were different: it wasnt acting sleepy or droopy, it ate and drank everything you gave it up until it died. i have the hen separated from everyone else to minimize the risk of spreading what ever disease it is.

 

[MotherJean]

I hear ya. Been right where you are many times over the years of keeping chickens. I posted this reply over on similar thread. Hopefully, reposting here doesn't get on the wrong side of the moderators.

I wrote:
There's folks who will disagree with me (some adamantly), but when in doubt I medicate with a broad spectrum antibiotic like terramycin (Duramycin). I isolate and only give the antibiotic to the sick bird and continue to look for observable symptoms for a more definitive diagnosis. If a bird isn't showing improvement in a couple of days or I start seeing evidence of cocci, then I will stop the antibiotic and treat with Sulmet or Corrid. And, of course, if I come up with a diagnosis that can't be helped by either drug, I stop both and go a different way.

Like I said, there's many who will vehemently disagree with my methods, but it works for me a good percentage of the time. When it doesn't, I generally assume that the unknown disease or condition was probably beyond treatment (at least without the aid and expense of a Vet). I subscribe to the medical ethic of "first, do no harm." Neither of these treatments are harmful even if they are ineffective. The bottom line is, if I think a bird is going downhill and likely to die, I'd rather do something that fails, than to do nothing because I'm afraid of making a mistake.

Not saying my approach is the right one or the only one - just throwing it out there for your consideration.

 

[PunkinPeep]

A chicken who is sleepy and lethargic and doesn't want to eat is simply a sick chicken. She could be sick with a variety of things.

Since you said she's very skinny, i would suspect that maybe she's having a digestive problem. Have you felt of her crop? If she isn't eating, it should be empty. There may be a blockage causing an impacted or sour crop.

It sounds like she is very weak. But if it's her crop, this can likely be fixed.

She needs you to examine her thoroughly to get more clues and symptoms in order to really diagnose her.

 

[BjsBestGirl]

sorry, i thought i mentioned it. Her Crop is empty! her eyes seemed normal. She is pinkish where she is supposed to be red; but i think that's cause she's still young. she has a yellow "nose". I gave her a shot of spectrum this morning; 1/2cc. and if she isnt completely better tomorrow, ill give her another small dose. I also gave her medicated chick starter and water with wormer in it. Well, Something must have worked ok. When I came home, she was up and VERY active. she wanted to go outside. her wings were still droopy but she was walking, eating, and drinking. her poop was VERY VERY green; like pine green, but no diarhea. Any ideas?


thanks

 

[OKbirdwatcher]

We also have a thin, weak, lethargic hen. Our first sick one since we got our girls just over a year ago. She's a 1 1/2 yr.-old Australorp.

We noticed about 3 days ago that her comb was very shrunken and pale and she was moving very slowly. In handling her yesterday, felt how thin she is. She is not broody; at least not in the manner our other Australorp is broody.

The only other thing I can note is that she molted on her back side in the winter (January maybe?) which I thought was unusual and she never has grown back any noticeable feathers. Still got her bare butt. I don't know if that is a symptom of long-standing problem or not.

She does eat and drink, if you put it in front of her so we are fussing over her with cottage cheese, yogurt, whole oats, etc...and periodically help her to her feet and she will walk a short distance and can move around some. But she has obviously not been going to the feed and water on her own.

We cannot find any other symptoms whatsoever and her comb and wattles have better color this morning.

We are absolutely clueless and any input would be much appreciated. Now I'm off to check on her again.....

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I would recommend posting this in a new thread so as to get more direct advice for your situation.

 

[OKbirdwatcher]

Thanks PunkinPeep. Will do.

 

[BjsBestGirl]

Still nothing? any ideas? my hen doesnt even have a comb yet so i know its not shrunken. she is still sick. im going to giver her another shot.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I want to say that i think it's a really bad idea to justs start medicating a bird without knowing - or having some good idea what is really wrong.

Have you isolated her?

If she's not eating, then she must, or she will definitely die. That would be my main concern. And i would keep a very close eye on her crop to make sure she's eating and digesting. Check her vent and make sure it's not inverted.

I would put her on vitamin water and boiled egg yolks to get her absorbing nutrition.

Hopefully, in isolation, she can rest better, and you can keep a closer eye so as to get some clue as to what's bothering her.

 

[chickenzoo]

i would dose her for coccidia, which is very common problem with chicks. Loss of weight, ruffled feathers, sitting in corner, pale color.. then very weak, then death. I use Corid from TSC