mamalovescoffee
In the Brooder
I'll try to go through the requested information for this forum. I apologize if it seems disjointed.
6 mo. barred rock is just sleeping today. I didn't notice anything yesterday but I didn't watch them for very long. Picked her up to check her over & she's much too thin. Had previously been comparatively mellow, but still scratched around & ate & drank with the others. Just seemed friendly.
She's also panting some, with a little bit of tail bobbing if you're looking for it. Posture is a little hunched & droopy.
The other seven hens are behaving normally.
We came back from vacation (during which were days of heat advisories) 2.5 weeks ago to find 7 of our 8 hens with feathers missing from their backs, so the 8th got pinless peepers which has appeared to help. This sick one now appears to have even more feathers missing. Could just be because she's an easy target or because she's doing it herself. I can find no signs of bugs on her or any of the others.
Also when we returned from vacation an Australorp had terrible sour crop but she recovered (with assistance).
In addition, they all looked a little pale, which I initially attributed to heat stress. One barred rock in particular (not the currently sick one) was quite pale with a floppy comb & panting. Egg production had dropped to 2/day by a week ago but we gave them all Safe-Guard (fenbendazole) paste & they perked up, turned more red (except the one very pale one), and egg production is back to 6–7/day. I had been planning on giving them their second dose today. The pale one is still pale. The sleepy one had good color but looks a little yellow in the face today & her comb is on the limp side.
No bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma other than missing feathers.
I don't know what happened that may have caused the situation except that it's just been one thing after another since I got back from vacation. This is our first time with chickens. Is it normal to have nonstop crises in a flock of 8?
When I filled the feeder she went over but didn't eat, and when I gave them fresh water she looked like she was going to drink but didn't.
I have not seen her poop.
So far, we've felt around for a bound egg, brought her inside, and administered a homemade electrolyte solution. She did get very loud when isolated.
I need to be able to administer any
treatment myself.
The only other thing about this particular chicken is that her beak is a little different from the others. I suppose it's possible that she's just been slowly wasting away because she can't eat properly, but I don't think so. Maybe it indicates some nutritional problem? I'll try to attach a few pictures.
Our 8 young hens are housed in a Garden Loft on a deep litter of fall leaves & pine shavings on well-drained soil. We feed them organic layer pellets with oyster shell & granite free choice. Some scraps, but not much.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
6 mo. barred rock is just sleeping today. I didn't notice anything yesterday but I didn't watch them for very long. Picked her up to check her over & she's much too thin. Had previously been comparatively mellow, but still scratched around & ate & drank with the others. Just seemed friendly.
She's also panting some, with a little bit of tail bobbing if you're looking for it. Posture is a little hunched & droopy.
The other seven hens are behaving normally.
We came back from vacation (during which were days of heat advisories) 2.5 weeks ago to find 7 of our 8 hens with feathers missing from their backs, so the 8th got pinless peepers which has appeared to help. This sick one now appears to have even more feathers missing. Could just be because she's an easy target or because she's doing it herself. I can find no signs of bugs on her or any of the others.
Also when we returned from vacation an Australorp had terrible sour crop but she recovered (with assistance).
In addition, they all looked a little pale, which I initially attributed to heat stress. One barred rock in particular (not the currently sick one) was quite pale with a floppy comb & panting. Egg production had dropped to 2/day by a week ago but we gave them all Safe-Guard (fenbendazole) paste & they perked up, turned more red (except the one very pale one), and egg production is back to 6–7/day. I had been planning on giving them their second dose today. The pale one is still pale. The sleepy one had good color but looks a little yellow in the face today & her comb is on the limp side.
No bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma other than missing feathers.
I don't know what happened that may have caused the situation except that it's just been one thing after another since I got back from vacation. This is our first time with chickens. Is it normal to have nonstop crises in a flock of 8?
When I filled the feeder she went over but didn't eat, and when I gave them fresh water she looked like she was going to drink but didn't.
I have not seen her poop.
So far, we've felt around for a bound egg, brought her inside, and administered a homemade electrolyte solution. She did get very loud when isolated.
I need to be able to administer any
treatment myself.
The only other thing about this particular chicken is that her beak is a little different from the others. I suppose it's possible that she's just been slowly wasting away because she can't eat properly, but I don't think so. Maybe it indicates some nutritional problem? I'll try to attach a few pictures.
Our 8 young hens are housed in a Garden Loft on a deep litter of fall leaves & pine shavings on well-drained soil. We feed them organic layer pellets with oyster shell & granite free choice. Some scraps, but not much.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
