Weak, lethargic chicken...help?

[Maine-nugget]

We have a 1 year old speckled sussex who is normally pretty spunky. She has always been a little smaller than our other chickens (including another speckled sussex of the same age) but has otherwise seemed pretty normal. This morning I found her lying in the coop, not really moving around much. I brought her out and she seems weak--can stand and walk a little but has a hard time holding her wings and tail feathers up--her winds tend to flop down to the side. I have her in the house in a crate with food and water. She is eating and drinking and pooping OK and I haven't found anything physically wrong with her other than she just seems weak. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? We have been pretty lucky so far with all of our girls... We'd be very sad to lose this chicken in particular as she has a great personality and is quite social!

 

[Maine-nugget]

I'm gonna bump this..... She laid an egg about 45 min ago so is it safe to assume she is not egg bound? She seemed to be perking up a bit but now seems quite weak/lethargic again. Eyes are clear, she is eating, drinking and pooping normally.... Just wants to lie down and her wings fall out to the side... Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
I'm sorry don't have a clue what could be going on with your little hen, but since she laid an egg and seems fine in every other way, maybe just giving her a few days of TLC with extra protien like good quality cat food[canned] or canned salmon, greek plain yogurt, scrambled egg, just to see if it might give her a boost in the right direction, this along with her reagular feed of course. plus you can get something called nutridrench which has vitamins and etc. that is great for chickens. wish i could tell you more, have you checked her for mites/lice and has she ever been wormed? forgot to add...........

 

[chickenzoo]

When was she last wormed? Worms & parasites can pull them down pretty fast and make them anemic. Wazine only treats round worms, Safeguard treats many types...Ivomec treats worms and lice/mites but I wouldn't give it to a weak bird.

 

[Maine-nugget]

Thank you for the suggestions-- I did not see any lice/mites on her when I examined her... I have never had her wormed so I should probably look into that. For now I will leave her indoors, give her a little TLC and see how she is doing in the morning. She doesn't seem all that happy about being inside, and has been a little more feisty when I pick her up, which I think is a good thing...and she was trying to perch on the side of the crate I have her in. We'll see how she does--if she hasn't improved significantly tomorrow I will go see about getting some de-worming medicine.

 

[earthmama24]

Please see post:

http://earthmama24.blogspot.com/2011/03/natural-treatment-of-infectious-coryza.html

Even though it does not sound like coryza, the treatment options will help whatever it is (or at least has for me, so far).

Hope she perks up!

 

[Judy]

I wouldn't treat for anything respiratory like coryza as it does not sound respiratory. Really, lice/mites or worms would be my first guesses since she laid an egg today. Here is a chart and thread on worming that might help you, and a good writeup on lice/mites:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=457016&p=1

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

I hope you get this figured out soon and she recovers for you!

 

[earthmama24]

As I mentioned, the treatment is not just for respiratory. The good thing about natural remedies is that they are broad spectrum, meaning one thing can treat many different types of illnesses. GSE can be used for viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic. I have had good results in using it for all these things. Also MMS can be used for basically all pathogens.

Since I've started putting GSE in my goat's water, I have had no more issues with parasites. I also had chicks with bloody stool and I dosed them heavily with GSE and the problem resolved within a couple days and they are still doing great 2 months later.

Hope this helps!

 

[Taylorhens]

How sure can you be it's worms? Seems like a lot of people are dealing with coccidia right now -- and not seeing bloody stool. Just the lethargy you're describing.

 

[chickenzoo]

Well in dealing with my over 300 chickens , 40 peafowl, umteen turkeys, geese, ducks, exotic fowl and farm critters, when they start showing signs of weakness with no respiratory symptoms and are 1year or more... that is the first thing I treat for, because it normally is.