We have six backyard chickens, three olive eggers and three Orpingtons, all a bit under two years old; their coop is well insulated, run covered for the winter. No new introductions have been made. They're all inoculated against Marek's. I think this chicken, Padme, is lowest on the pecking order, but they've never been particularly aggressive towards each other, even when opportunity presents itself during molts and such. She's one of the olive eggers.
A few weeks ago we had a night of really terrible cold, in the negatives Fahrenheit, and all of the other chickens were just fine up on their perches, but Padme slept in the nestbox and got black frostbite on the tips of her comb. I brought her inside, let the comb warm up with no interference in a 75° room, applied a little Theracyn and kept her inside overnight before putting her back out the next day once it had gotten back in the 30s and her comb was dry. Last night and the night before, I found her nestled in the run underneath the stairs to the coop instead of inside; Sunday night I opened up the coop and put her up on the perch, thinking she had just been bullied out, and she seemed alright the next day. Last night I was a little more apprehensive to see her in the run after dark again, but tried getting her onto the perch. She fell right off it into my hands as soon as I tried to let go; I brought her inside right away. When I inspected her feet, they were a bit pink and felt cold. Assuming it was frostbite again, I avoided too much handling and set up a large dog crate (solid bottom) with a soft towel, food and water dishes. She's been in there since, in a warm 75° bedroom during the night and moved today to a sunroom- no drafts, 68°-72°, unfortunately able to see and be seen by two dogs and cats but I can't do too much about it today.
She's definitely acting much sicker than mild frostbite- she seems unable to move her feet, is very lethargic, squinting eyes, fluffed feathers. She doesn't resist handling at all, which is very unlike her, she's normally very skittish. The toes of the feet aren't rigid, I can move them, but left alone they seem to curl into a fist. I notice when I pick her up and go to put her down on her feet the toes spread and she seems ready to put weight on them, but just never does- as soon as I let go she sinks down to a seated position and the toes curl up. She steadies herself with her wings. In case I'm still looking at frostbite, I gave the feet an Epsom salt soak and gently cleaned, and will apply a beeswax balm a little later.
There is appetite, she's been eating last night and today. As of writing this post, she took treats from the hand, but was uninterested in treats in her bowl. Her crop is full of grain in a normal way, not distended, not liquidy. Her underside feels hot and I noticed a bright red/orange color to it (I don't know what color it is normally, to my chagrin now). Her poop looks normal, her vent is clean, but she hasn't gone nearly as many times as I would have expected- just two times since I brought her in last night.
None of the chickens have been laying since December when they molted except one of the Orpingtons, who just stopped but is healthy. I don't expect them to start laying again for a little while yet, but I'm still open to the possibility of a laying issue. All of the other chickens are looking and acting healthy, nobody has frostbite, everyone is eating and drinking normally.
I'm going to try and look for a poultry vet, but it might be a while until I'm able to get to one, if I can. Right now I'm looking at home treatment and diagnosis, if possible.
(PS- With respect, please don't suggest culling offhand- these is a tiny flock of spoiled backyard chickens, not stock.)
A few weeks ago we had a night of really terrible cold, in the negatives Fahrenheit, and all of the other chickens were just fine up on their perches, but Padme slept in the nestbox and got black frostbite on the tips of her comb. I brought her inside, let the comb warm up with no interference in a 75° room, applied a little Theracyn and kept her inside overnight before putting her back out the next day once it had gotten back in the 30s and her comb was dry. Last night and the night before, I found her nestled in the run underneath the stairs to the coop instead of inside; Sunday night I opened up the coop and put her up on the perch, thinking she had just been bullied out, and she seemed alright the next day. Last night I was a little more apprehensive to see her in the run after dark again, but tried getting her onto the perch. She fell right off it into my hands as soon as I tried to let go; I brought her inside right away. When I inspected her feet, they were a bit pink and felt cold. Assuming it was frostbite again, I avoided too much handling and set up a large dog crate (solid bottom) with a soft towel, food and water dishes. She's been in there since, in a warm 75° bedroom during the night and moved today to a sunroom- no drafts, 68°-72°, unfortunately able to see and be seen by two dogs and cats but I can't do too much about it today.
She's definitely acting much sicker than mild frostbite- she seems unable to move her feet, is very lethargic, squinting eyes, fluffed feathers. She doesn't resist handling at all, which is very unlike her, she's normally very skittish. The toes of the feet aren't rigid, I can move them, but left alone they seem to curl into a fist. I notice when I pick her up and go to put her down on her feet the toes spread and she seems ready to put weight on them, but just never does- as soon as I let go she sinks down to a seated position and the toes curl up. She steadies herself with her wings. In case I'm still looking at frostbite, I gave the feet an Epsom salt soak and gently cleaned, and will apply a beeswax balm a little later.
There is appetite, she's been eating last night and today. As of writing this post, she took treats from the hand, but was uninterested in treats in her bowl. Her crop is full of grain in a normal way, not distended, not liquidy. Her underside feels hot and I noticed a bright red/orange color to it (I don't know what color it is normally, to my chagrin now). Her poop looks normal, her vent is clean, but she hasn't gone nearly as many times as I would have expected- just two times since I brought her in last night.
None of the chickens have been laying since December when they molted except one of the Orpingtons, who just stopped but is healthy. I don't expect them to start laying again for a little while yet, but I'm still open to the possibility of a laying issue. All of the other chickens are looking and acting healthy, nobody has frostbite, everyone is eating and drinking normally.
I'm going to try and look for a poultry vet, but it might be a while until I'm able to get to one, if I can. Right now I'm looking at home treatment and diagnosis, if possible.
(PS- With respect, please don't suggest culling offhand- these is a tiny flock of spoiled backyard chickens, not stock.)
