Unwell chicken

[Amelia121]

Be very careful trying to do this.
Here's some tips:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Thankfully she seems to be drinking the syringed water from her beak if I pop a little bit on the end! Thank you for the link though, will definitely do that if she stops drinking the water.

 

[Amelia121]

Hi again, all day I’ve sat with paulo and

Hi @Amelia121 and welcome to BYC!

What you describe sound like sour crop, you may want to read this info for treatment advice:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threadloom/search?query=sour crop&tab=620

As it is the time of year, you could check her carefully for poultry mites and lice as well, as these parasites love to attack sickly birds and the mites can leave a chicken anaemic in no time sucking their blood.

she seems to be gasping for air every now and then and jolting her beck aggressively. Her trachea also is p

So you rescued three worn out high production hens, that would have otherwise been butchered?

You have done a very good job caring for them, as can be seen comparing their condition of then and now.

The problem with these hens often is, that they are prone to reproductive disorders (internal laying, peritonitis, ovarian cancer, water belly etc.) that often entail crop issues as well.

Regarding their diet I would recommend to stop the corn and all other treats and just feed layer pellets plus additional eggshells. Oyster shells and grit should always be availabe.

Hopefully your Paulo will recover with the right treatment for her crop issue.

EMERGENCY

I’ve just checked Paulo’ poop (I’ve been checking all day for signs of worms) and I’ve found two worms. They are yellow-white in colour. Ones about 1 and a half cm and the other is about 4 or 5. Both thing.

 

[LaFleche]

So your next step should be thoroughly de-worming her: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threadloom/search?query=de-worming&tab=620

 

[LaFleche]

How is Paulo doing by now?

 

[Amelia121]

So your next step should be thoroughly de-worming her: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threadloom/search?query=de-worming&tab=620

Already started, thank you! She seems to be improving

How is Paulo doing by now?

After days of massaging her crop and syringing her food and water every hour, she’s doing so much better!!! We are all amazed at how she’s bounced back, we were all convinced we didn’t catch the worms and sour crop fast enough and she would pass. Her behaviour is back to where it was, she has her cheeky little personality back however, her comb is still pale pink. I’m also having trouble reintroducing her to the flock. The other two chickens are really going after her, my mums friend is dropping a dog cage around so we can separate the chickens in the same area, so they can see her but not harm her. Also, we are going away this weekend so we want to try and get them all comfortable with each other by Friday! Do you have any tips?
Also thank you for your help! Couldn’t have saved her without all of it

 

[LaFleche]

Glad she is doing better!

The other two chickens are really going after her,

Also, we are going away this weekend so we want to try and get them all comfortable with each other by Friday! Do you have any tips?

Crate the more aggressive hen for 2-3 days and let Paulo roam with the more docile hen. This often helps as it will cause a hierarchy shift.

 

[Amelia121]

Glad she is doing better!





Crate the more aggressive hen for 2-3 days and let Paulo roam with the more docile hen. This often helps as it will cause a hierarchy shift.

I have put the aggressive hen in the cage, she seems very stressed and keeps poking her head out. Going to leave her in there this afternoon while I clean their coop. I’ll keep taking her out and testing how she is afterwards. As I said, she seems extremely stressed

 

[LaFleche]

I have put the aggressive hen in the cage, she seems very stressed and keeps poking her head out. Going to leave her in there this afternoon while I clean their coop. I’ll keep taking her out and testing how she is afterwards. As I said, she seems extremely stressed

You can bring the cage to a nice and quiet are where she will not be able to see the other two hens. This will help to mellow her. I would not let her out, she will instantly attack your Paulo again in this agitated condition.

 

[Amelia121]

I have put the aggressive hen in the cage, she seems very stressed and keeps poking her head out. Going to leave her in there this afternoon while I clean their coop. I’ll keep taking her out and testing how she is afterwards. As I said, she seems extremely stressed how to make a chickens comb r

You can bring the cage to a nice and quiet are where she will not be able to see the other two hens. This will help to mellow her. I would not let her out, she will instantly attack your Paulo again in this agitated condition.

Brilliant, thank you. She’s outside now in her cage (in the shade,) but I’m going to bring her in for tonight and a bit of tomorrow morning and see how she is again. Thank you again for the great advice ahha

 

[Amelia121]

You can bring the cage to a nice and quiet are where she will not be able to see the other two hens. This will help to mellow her. I would not let her out, she will instantly attack your Paulo again in this agitated condition.

We have a small problem, the other hen (ostrich) who wasn’t pecking paulo has now started. She doesn’t chase after her like the other did, however when in close proximity, she pecks her quite hard and paulo freezes. Her comb is still pale, but I figured with time as she grows stronger, it will sort itself out. What can I do about ostrich now pecking her? She’s frozen in fear whenever she’s near…