Supplement for a hard molt with fowl pox?

[HSMOM]

I have a hen that has fowl pox (not severe, just a few dry lesions on comb/wattles) and she just started a hard molt 2 days ago. She looks really bad....she's thin and has large bald areas. What can I do to promote faster healing, refeathering and boost her immune system? I have the whole flock on Purina layer pellets, I give mealworms and birdseed (with black oil sunflowers) as a treat. I just started giving them kitten chow once a day to hopefully boost protein but worried that it might not be good for them. I don't have any eggs to give them as I am down to 0-1 per day. Sending hubby to Tractor Supply tonight to get something but not sure what is the best. I called and they do not carry Feather Fixer. Thanks

 

[casportpony]

I give mine turkey starter, it's 27% protein. The TSC near me has Purina Gamebird Starter, which is 30% protein, either will help.

-Kathy

 

[HSMOM]

my hen is not doing very well. She is in a really hard molt and still has dry pox....when she raises her feathers on her neck and back she is nothing but a porcupine under them. She is covered in pin feathers so I know she is just miserable. She stopped eating and stayed in her nesting box for a whole day. So I moved her to the shop, put her under a heat lamp because our nights were in the 20's. She seems content but not interested in eating pellets, scrambled egg, cat food, melon, or scratch. She will however eat mealworms.....dried or live. She ate 35 live ones in one sitting. I know that she is getting way too much protein at one time doing that but it's the only thing she will eat and she is very skinny. She also has milky poops. Her comb and wattles are still a nice color but really concerned about her being so skinny. Thinking about putting her back in with the flock tomorrow since it will be in the 60's just to see how she will do. Any thoughts or suggestions? I have seen her attempt to lay on her side and she has to stand right back up, she will do this like 4-5 times before just giving up and standing. I guess it is painful to lay down on those pin feathers. I am trying not to pick her up either because I know that hurts, I have gotten some Nutridrench in her once but haven't tried again b/c I don't want to stress her and she won't drink it mixed in her water.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Kelp. Granulated or powdered, it's the number one thing I've ever used for general health, and raw garlic is the number two.

You can buy it in bulk at produce stores and feed-barns and it only takes a pinch per bird per day. So, if you have them on a automatic feeder, that's a little bit more work in your day, but it saves on so much more work when it comes to disease. If you hand-mix their feed or wet it down, it's a simple thing to add. I also recommend fermented or at least soaked grain. They'll eat less than ever while getting far more out of it. I soak my grain overnight and throw it out to them after mixing kelp through with fresh raw garlic. Never seen a single case of cocci, which is something raw garlic can cure in even advanced cases. It's antiviral, antiparasitic, speeds healing, antibiotic, antifungal, etc.

Kelp is just seaweed, (just in case you didn't know, sorry if you did; some folks don't know is all); it has all the vitamins and minerals in the correct balance, and it regulates the thyroid and endocrine system, which is what controls moulting, regrowth, etc, all systems of the body are regulated by hormones.

I've found it basically stops hens from showing any bare patches when moulting, but it can take a year to show the full benefit as when you start a chicken onto kelp from a lower-nutrition diet, their body goes into cell-replacement mode and they may change appearance to a vast degree, i.e. eyes, crest/face/wattles/skin, legs, claws, all feathers, beak etc may all change color. Kelp brings out the true phenotype which remains hidden unless sufficient nutrition is available, which is almost never the case on most premixed commercial feeds.

You will, over a few generations of having poultry on kelp, see chicks hatch faster, be stronger, healthier, calmer and smarter, with greater fertility, less disease, much faster feathering with stronger, shinier feathers, staggered moulting (i.e. they only drop feathers one by one and replace them one by one, instead of losing the lot at once) and a lot of other benefits. I can't recommend it highly enough but it does take time to show what it's doing; however, once you have them showing benefits, if you stop giving it, they will show in a few months what they're missing.

It's a carminative, meaning it 'reddens' them, basically increasing circulation until peripheral circulation is at the correct rate, and it goes without saying that better circulation helps everything in the body to function better; oxygen is vital for life, therefore weak circulation represents decreased vitality. Red faces and crests (on non-black-skinned poultry) is a standard sign of health which many poultry these days lack, even though they're considered healthy nonetheless, and indeed to some extent they are... There are many levels of health. I prefer putting in the extra to keep my poultry at the highest level, as a dirt-cheap diet leads to expensive disease. But it doesn't actually cost that much more to keep them healthier than standard.

Kelp's cheap compared to many other supplements, and powerful. I haven't seen anything that does what kelp does. With humans it can reverse gray or white hair to normal color, which gives you an indication of its potential. It raises the IQ of pretty much anything that consumes it, by a few points, if consumed regularly. With children with Down's Syndrome, if kelp is fed regularly, it results in a normal appearance and much better cognitive outcome than those not given kelp. I can vouch for that personally as I have a relative with DS who has been treated with kelp according to that bit of anecdotal info, over the course of over a decade, and he's grown into a normal looking kid, from a very DS appearance. He's also very sharp, makes jokes and converses pretty normally, worlds away from being totally uncommunicative and unresponsive as a baby.

I'm not sure about giving them kitty kibble, as kittens have a higher need for fats than poultry and so it can be harmful; also it's cooked fats and oils, which are best avoided for most creatures, including us to some extent.
Quote: What are the main ingredients in these feeds? What percentage of fats? I suspect she's receiving additives she doesn't need. Cooked fats can clog a bird's body, or most animals' bodies, really. Also cat food has higher levels of some vitamins/minerals/trace elements etc which can be harmful to poultry.

But, having read your last post, something is wrong and it's not the pin feathers. Where you describe her laying on her side and getting right back up again, multiply, this, and her chosen dietary restriction from even grains, shows something more is amiss. Her high desire for raw protein indicates she is trying to have a natural diet to rebuild on. Sick or injured birds often crave raw protein and almost nothing else. If it's raw, it's easier on their bodies.

I suspect she may have an internal injury. She may have been bullied by others or broken her breastbone with a badly timed or directed jump down from a perch; sometimes they do that. Putting her back out with the others, also, could tempt them to attack as she is covered in visible raw protein --- the blood-filled pinfeathers. All it can take is for one to burst or be pecked out and the others may attack. They can learn cannibalism just like egg-eating.

I would cage her where she can see them, and they can see her, to prevent them forgetting who she is and her forgetting the flock; this can avoid much stress/injury when re-introducing an animal. Sunshine is vital for healing as well, and keeping her indoors may be detrimental to her endocrine response regarding the feathers. However, I don't know what it's like there but you may need to get her a coat of sorts. Some folks sell them. I would supply her with a cosy nest box too.

I'm not sure what's wrong with her, sorry, but I would recommend you gently feel her abdomen and crop and see if she's bloated or feels excessively empty. Does she limp at all? Is there any excess heat in any patch of her body? A chook generally only lies on its side in the sunshine when sunbathing, and sometimes when snuggling with a group. Any other time, it should be considered a symptom of something being probably structurally wrong, either an injury or an internal obstruction.

Sorry to offer a negative opinion, best wishes, I hope you find what's wrong and are able to fix it.

 

[casportpony]

When I have one that's not drinking/eating enough it gets tube fed Kaytee Exact Baby Bird Food no less than two times a day. Tube feeding helped save several of mine that were molting and had had dry pox, wet pox or wet and dry pox.

Crop feeding videos

These are using a crop needle, not a plastic tube.

This one uses a tube like I use

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Two great threads on how to tube feed:

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-for-visuals-very-detailed-post#post_11652991

-Kathy