What’s Wrong With My Girl?

[tracy.lewis]

This is Gertie. We can’t figure out what’s wrong with her. She barely weighs 2-3 pounds and she’s skin and bones. She eats, drinks water, and does most all normal hen behavior. But she cannot gain weight and she tucks her head in like these photos all the time. She’s also a little listless and lethargic at times, though not always. Advice?? Thanks.

 

[Dec17]

Have you checked her poop for worms? If so just treat her and your flock regardless unless you already do. And how long have she been like this and how old is she roughly
Cheers Dec

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is Gertie? Does she lay eggs yet? Can you feel her crop and tell us if it feels empty and flat, has some food in it, is full and hard, doughy, or puffy? Then feel it again first thing in the morning before she has had food or water.

What does her poop look like? Have you ever treated her for coccidiosis with Corid? Her beak is just a little overgrown on top, and if she is having trouble getting feed, you can trim it just a tiny bit with dog nail clippers or use a file to get it even with the lower beak.

 

[tracy.lewis]

Gertie is about 18 months old. About 4-5 months ago, she got sour crop. After she recovered from that, the flock got worms. We’ve wormed them regularly since. Since she got sour crop, we’ve watched her for recurrence but she hasn’t had it again. I will check her poop again for worms but there haven’t been any recently. I will also trim her beak to see if that helps too.

We have 2 flocks. Back in June our other flock got coccidiosis and we lost 3 girls. But we treated both flocks and no other losses. So she was treated for that as well.

I haven’t noticed if she’s stopped laying since we have so many girls. I’ll check on that as well.

 

[coach723]

What worms did you treat for, and with what, dosage and last treatment date? Worms are not always visible in droppings. I personally would crate her so you can find out if she's laying or not, and see what droppings look like, pictures are sometimes helpful. Do you have a vet that will do a fecal test for you? There are about 9 strains of coccidia that can affect chickens, if new birds are brought in or birds are moved to new ground, they can be exposed to new strains to them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What does the inside of her beak look like?