Hey all so this isn't related to hatching hope you all don't mind but I wanted to bring my question to some of the most helpful people I know.
I have a pullet that is acting odd/under the weather. She is coming on five months and I'm worried about her with the way she is acting today. Her name is Jasmine, and she is 50% black orp(25% English) her Mommy was a white mix that laid pink eggs daily. I think she has some leghorn in her but her comb seems to be a peacomb like Mom. She was given to me by another BYCER and was part of the group of 6 chicks I lost half to cocci at 7 weeks. They were treated and the other three survived.
She has her head tucked in, feathers ruffled, tail down, she also shakes her head periodically. Her crop is full but pliable she did eat a bit of fried egg I gave her. There is no rotten or off smell from her mouth. Mostly she's just lethargic and did not leave the coop today. Her vent is clean and appears normal. She doesn't seem to have any lice or mites, although I'm not sure what it would really look like, but no bugs dark dander or nits. And both of her sisters that are orps are fine. Her eyes are bright and there is no discharge from her nostrils.
Should I worry about an impacted crop? Could she have cocci again? Please help I'm a very worried Momma and I already feel like I failed with these wonderful chicks I was given. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
That sounds like the same thing i had going on a while ago , i treated it like cocci and i took the infected one away from the others then i bleached the entire chicken area and waters as well
Do they feel light? Or like their breast bone is out but they still eat and drink ( atleast till they got lethargic ) cause mine did that they walked away eating drinking acting normal then the next day i noticed their wings were hanging a bit then the next day they were lethargic and heads tucked much like ur describing and one walked really slow
Has she started laying yet? Do you have any cocks/cockerels in the coop? If she is close to laying or recently started and you have any boys in the coop, especially young, hormone-filled ones, they may be harassing her to the point that she can not get anything to eat or drink. Pick her up and see if she feels light. I would get her some good organic, plain yogurt (homemade kefir is even better if you have access to some) and mix it with some hard-boiled egg yolks. Mix some in with a little of her regular feed. Try to hand feed her a few times a day to make sure she is getting enough. Also make sure to give her water. It could be cocci again if she was not affected enough the first time through to build up an immunity or it may be a different strain than the first time. You could treat her for cocci again. I don't think it would hurt her. Good luck and let us know how she does.
X2!
Poop normal? Balance issues? It sure wouldn't hurt to treat her for cocci again, though she should have an immunity to it by now.
How cold is it where you are? Sometimes they puff their feathers out and stay still when it's cold.
OK wow thank you all for the responses. I'm going to try to answer everyone's questions and give you any more info I can think of.
The temp here is about 35* right now(southern WI) they were locked up all yesterday due to sleet and nastiness here but have otherwise been free ranging normally except when we have had bad weather. She seemed maybe mildly off to me yesterday but DH2B didn't think it was anything and now today she seems a bit worse. She's a very tall regal little girl usually so seeing her head tucked is quite a difference. She was eating crumbles out of a feeder last night no problem, not 100% sure if she drank. She has also shown some interest in treats, but not like usual, today. She is pretty high on the pecking order despite the sisters being the youngest flock members, and no new birds have been brought in since they were introduced.
I have not seen her poop so I can not say to that, although I have seen a few mild diarrhea-like poops but thought they may have been cecal. No bloody stools from anyway and her white and black flecked feathers are completely clean around he vent.
We have never wormed our flock, but again our oldest birds don't turn 1 until April or May. To be honest I am not sure what to use since everyone has a different opinion and some things are not approved for use in chickens and thus withdrawal would be the life of the bird. So any help on that would be great as well.
To my knowledge she has not layed yet and I have never seen any of our cockerals try to breed her, or seen her getting harassed. We currently have two oegbs, two silkies, and one silver laced wyandotte cockerals. I believe the only one that could breed her is the wyandotte, not that the others wouldn't try if they got the chance. I have also never seen her squat or seen her or her sister get grabbed or try to be bred. Thankfully all of our cockerals are quite the gentleman with our ladies.
She doesn't seem to be having balance issues and I did see her slowly trot over to cuddle her sisters earlier and she did run a bit when I tried to grab her(always been a bit flighty then turns to a Sweetie in your arms) but she is usually quite the forager and loves to run around.
I did forget to mention that my DH2B did find her sleeping out on the ground just before dark day before yesterday when the rest of the birds were heading in. It had been a sunny day but was getting chilly and the sun was almost completely down.
The flock is in a building that was used as a "cooler" in years past for show cattle. They are on shavings and a bale of straw that was given to them to play in when we had some -30* wind chill days.
How would I know if she could have an impacted crop?
I will add more if I'm forgetting anything or if you want some more info please let me know. Any help is greatly appreciated as always thank you all
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