Very Sleepy Hen - not eating or drinking - extremely worried

[NicolaT]

Hi all.

HELP!! My Hybrid Hen 'Brownie' is about 23-25 weeks old now. She has been wonderful since we got her at 18-20 weeks old, along with 3 other hens. She was the first to start laying eggs and always the first to try new treats (fruit/veg etc) - full of life.

On Sunday there was a massive firework display nearby and since then she has been listless/sleepy and not eating. Up until yesterday she was staying in the nestbox sleeping. We keep getting her out thinking that she was broody (even though the 'book' says that Hybrid Hens are bred not to have 'Broodiness') and she would go to the water and drink for ages, then go back to sleep - but today she isn't even drinking now!

Last night we even got to cuddle her (none of the chickens even let us stroke them yet, let alone cuddle them!) for an hour whilst the others were let out of their long run and into our 120' garden for their hour of eating my grass and plants!! She seems to be breathing ok, it doesn't seem to be rapid or slow (but what do I know - they never keep still for 5 minutes to be able to study them!) - but she is just lying down (sometimes standing) with her eyes shut like she's given up on the world.

They are fed on good quality layers pellets, have a tray of oyster shell nearby if they need it and have 3 buckets of water in their coop. Her eggs have always been perfect and the shells the same. I'm rambling because the important thread at the beginning to read first says to give as much information as possible!!!

Yesterday afternoon we noticed that she had clumps of droppings stuck to her rear end, so I cleaned her with warm water and made shure every piece of dropping was off of her vent area.

I don't know what to do. She won't even eat any corn and she loves her corn!!!

Any suggestions would be grately appreciated. The 'book' says that Cider Vinegar is a good tonic for them - should I give her some of that in her water (I'll probably have to feed her with a pippette!)

Thanks

Nicola

 

[chicmom]

Wow, I'm so sorry for you hen. It's often very hard to tell what is wrong. She could have had a stroke or heart attack, or maybe she has some internal problem.....Could she have eaten something toxic?

You could try giving her a strong antibiotic, like Tylan, which is a powder. You mix it in water and you could give it to her with a dropper.....It's very expensive though...

Sometimes all you can do is make them comfortable. I would separate her since she's not moving, so the other hens won't peck her, and just keep her warm.

So sorry about this,

Sharon

 

[nelli21]

Hi-

first, I am sorry for your hen & I can relate. This sounds very similar (almost exactly) to what my Black Austrolorp hen had (she died, sadly). I have come to suspect, through the fabulous help of BackYardChicken folks (notably Dawg53) that it was worms.

I suggest deworming her. Dawg53 said "I recommend that you purchase Vaabazen(albendazole). It is a liquid cattle/sheep wormer and kills all known worms that chickens can get. Dosage is given orally with a syringe (without needle)...1/2cc for standard size chickens and 1/4cc for smaller chickens. There is a 14 day egg withdrawal period. If your feed store doesnt carry valbazen, you can order it online from Jefferslivestock.com or you can call them. It comes in a 500ml bottle and will last you a very long time, even til it expires about 2-3 years later.
How often you worm is up to you. Again taking in consideration of your environment, setting up a worming program is important in keeping your small flock healthy and happy.
Internal and external parasites can take a chicken down quickly."

I just bought some dewormer and will be administering it tonight to the remainder of my flock (who still look very alert and happy). I didn't learn in time to help my hen, but yours still may have a chance.

I hope that helps-
Nelli

 

[dawg53]

In addition to what nelli21 stated, there's a possibility that "Brownie" might be eggbound. I recommend that you put her in a container of warm water covering her sides. Gently massage her underside for about 20 minutes. Then take her out of the water and dry her off. Then put on a disposable plastic glove and put some olive oil on it and gently insert your finger into her vent, feeling for any obstructions. Remove your finger and lube her vent area with olive oil. If she is eggbound, the warm water will expand her innards, the massaging will help pass the egg along. The finger insertion into the vent helps stretch it and the olive oil helps the egg to slip out easier.

 

[tammye]

I have had a hen with simular symptoms, keep her in the house gave her water with electrolyte solution, had to hold dish up to her beak and tip her beak into the water to get her to drink and i hand feed her fresh corn, her favorite for three days and she got better. I wonder if she had eaten something bad for her while free ranging, we have lots of mushrooms around, bugs, toads and some dead things from my cats and dogs. hope she gets better

 

[WhiskerWood]

This sounds similar to what my hen is going through...

 

[Veggie4life55]

I didn't read the all the posts so forgive me if someone else already said this... But try to feed her raw eggs. All my chickens will eat raw egg when they won't eat anything else... and enthusiastically at that. We have had some pretty sick chickens. But we always kept them eating with raw egg and they have all pulled through...

O and she could be egg bound or internally laying. We have had 2 internal layers in the last two years out of 7 hens. They started off as chickens that would get egg bound and then started internally laying. The 2nd one we are doctoring right now. The first we got spayed last year and she has been happy ever since. She is doing so really well. We had a really hard time with her last year. She was attacked by a ratcoon that pretty much skinned her on one side. Then is started internally laying on top of that. She was in pretty bad shape but we kept her eating with raw eggs.

The 2nd was one of our best egg layers and just over the last couple months started showing signs of being eggbound. She was fluffy, depressed, just kinda standing there not being her little chicken self, and she also will just let us walk up and pick her up. and that is not normal at all. She was also head of the pecking order till all this started. We removed a yolk that was stuck last Thursday but she is still acting really off. So we are getting ready to take her to the vet Friday to see if she is internally laying and if she is she will be spayed.

Good luck and I hope everything works out

The warm water soak and mineral oil can really help. Our vet said that alot of chickens that are egg bound become very dehydrated and that makes the eggs kinda stick inside and the oil and water hydrate and loosen the egg so it can move again.

 

[NicolaT]

Thank you to everyone who posted suggestions, but unfortunately after I write on the message board "Brownie" died in my arms.

We only had her a month and the Chicken Man who we bought them from had already wormed them before we picked all 4 of them up - so I don't think it could have been worms. Whilst she was on my lap (alive still), I checked her whole body for mites or lumps or just about ANYTHING....but I couldn't see a thing. I managed to get three tiny sips of water with honey in it....but she couldn't fight whatever it was. No one can believe it - she was our friendliest chicken - always first to feed from the hand and chased you when she realised it was snail hunting time. The Chicken Man says that she could have eaten a slug that had just eaten a slug pellet from neighbouring gardens or dropped from a bird's feet etc.

I cried for hours and then the children came home and my Son cried - it was his chicken. We then went to get 2 more chickens. We now have 5 hens. so the separation process has started again.

Thanks again

Nicola

 

[dawg53]

Sorry you lost Brownie.

 

[flowergirl60]

Sorry for your loss.