Worried about my 20 week old hen

[CuteChick369]

We got four pullets a few months ago and have become SUPER attached to them. They are all very tame and sweet. They live in a 4x4 coop off the ground at night, and free range in our fenced in yard during the day (I work from home and homeschool, so we are home all day). This morning I opened the coop and then went back in the house for a bit. About 30 minutes later I came out to feed treats and noticed June Bug (Black Australorp) was still in the coop! VERY unlike her!

I reached in to get her, and she freaked out. She tried to fly up the wall of the coop. I held out the treat at a distance, but she didn't go after it. She left a really runny poo (almost all water) and I noticed her butt feathers were wet. Seeing how upset she was, I left her alone.

About 10 minutes later, she was outside with her sisters. I walked over to them so I could watch her, and even though I was still a good 20 feet away, she started to freak out. She was trying to escape through the holes in the chain link fence. Running her head into the fence. I backed away, but she kept trying to escape. Her sisters ran to another part of the yard, but June Bug did not follow (VERY unlike her) and instead kept trying to find a way to escape. I decided to catch her to look her over.

Her crop felt empty. I didn't see any signs of attack or injury. Once I caught her, she was calm in my arms. I put her in a cat carrier with water and brought her inside. She's comfortable and laying down, but not drinking water. I called the vet and explained all this. He said her stool was probably just urine - it didn't sound like diarrhea. He said not to worry about the stool unless she's drinking a lot of water. Well, she's drinking no water (as of the past couple of hours anyway - of course she's in the air conditioning right now). He thinks she was spooked by a predator last night. He said to look for a snake in the coop. That coop is iron clad secure. Maybe a snake could get in through the wire mesh, but this morning there was no snake. No sign of predator tracks around the coop either. The other chickens are acting perfectly fine.

So, I'm super worried that she's sick. I tried to give her a piece of bread, but she won't eat it. I left a piece for her in the carrier, and she won't eat it. We have some anti-biotic which I've never given before, although she hasn't drank any water anyway, and the antibiotic has to be mixed with water.

Anyway, does anyone have thoughts on what I should do? I think I'm going to bring her into the vet, but I don't know if a sick chicken is an emergency, or if they run through illness ok and I should just keep her inside for today?

Thanks so much!
Laura

 

[Michael Apple]

There are a number of things that can cause diarrhea from rapid weather changes to disease. I keep my birds' digestive systems strong by using Probiotics (Probios dispersible powder) and a good quality vitamin,mineral, electrolyte powder in the water a couple days a week in addition to organic feed rations. You say the birds are 20 weeks old. Have they ever been treated with Corid for immunity to Coccidiosis or fed medicated feed? What do you feed them currently? Describe what their housing/yard environment is like.

 

[CuteChick369]

Thank you for your help! They are still on starter feed, so I think that's medicated, correct? I have never given them vitamins, but as I research I am finding that I could be adding supplements to their water. They live in a 4x4 coop that has only one window (I am realizing as it gets warmer, I need to add more windows). Last night was not very hot though, the low in the low 60's. The high yesterday was 85. They have access to lots of shade and they like to go under our storage shed to dust bathe, and did that yesterday. I gave them some left over spaghetti last night, and they had some bread earlier, but that's all the people food they had. I was giving them yogurt but haven't in about a week. Is that good for probiotics too? They have not been treated for anything you mentioned. I have to look all that up because I've never heard of it. Is this something a vet does? The yard is almost an acre, chain link fence (so far no one has tried to fly over), with some various large trees they like to sit under. We also have a kid's sandbox and they all were in there yesterday some. Nothing has changed recently as far as diet, routine, etc. They stay in the yard all day, until night when they go into their coop. In fact, I move their food and water to right outside their coop during the day, because I know their coop gets pretty hot during the day.

Doing some research, I gave her some antibiotic we bought (terramycin). 1/8th teaspoon mixed with 1 cup water. I gave her about 2 tsp total of this mixture via a syringe. I also gave her some epsom salt mixture (1 tbs to 1 cup of water). And gave her a warm epsom salt bath. She was panting a lot more until her bath, and now she's not panting. She fell asleep during the bath, which lasted about 10 minutes.

Any other thoughts or things I should do? I don't much like the vet I called because I wrote everything off to her getting spooked last night. I KNOW that's not the issue. She still won't eat or drink (only drinks via the medicine dropper). Should I just bring her into him? What will the vet do?

Thanks!

 

[iheartnh]

I'm pretty new at this, but I think by 20 weeks they should not be on starter feed - they should be on grower/finisher by now. Not sure if that would lead to behavioral issues - I'm sure someone will chime in!

 

[CuteChick369]

I think you are right that it's time to move onto the next level feed, and my bag of starter only has about 2 days left in it. It lasted much longer than I thought it would!

Update: she is acting like she feels a bit better. After the warm epsom salt bath, she rested on my son's lap and started to chirp again. After about an hour, she wanted to get up and walk. She sort of ate a tiny bit of bread (more like played with it) and drank one sip of water. She pooped, which was mostly water again. I have her back in the cat carrier with water where she's resting nice, but she's also chatting a little. Improvement over this morning when she wasn't saying a word. She has also stopped panting.

I'm still open to anything else I can do. I think I'll keep her indoors all day and maybe even tonight so the others don't get sick. Also, it's pretty hot today, so she's probably more comfortable indoors.

Thanks!

 

[Eggsoteric]

Definitely change to layer feed. Question, has she started to lay yet? I've seen some hens with fussy behaviors just prior to reaching POL.

 

[CuteChick369]

She has not started to lay yet. Hmmmm, funny thing is that when I saw she never came out of the coop, that was my first thought. But then I thought otherwise when she had the loose stool and wet butt feathers. Maybe I'm cooping her up in the house for no reason! Maybe she'll lay an egg in the cat carrier - it is small. I hope that's all this is!

 

[Michael Apple]

You may be putting more stress upon your pullet by keeping her inside. I start adding layer ration at about 5 months. Starter/Grower labeled rations are the same thing where I am. Usually they are about 1% calcium and 22% protein content, which is fine for layer pullets up to about 5 months. You would know the feed you have been using is medicated by the label. The only medication in "medicated" feed should be Amprolium.

What did you give Tetracycline and Epsom salts for? Chickens commonly pant when they are stressed or too hot. Feeding "people food" can also cause some problems depending on what you are giving them. I don't know what is ailing your bird. If you decide on a vet, just make sure it is an Avian vet

 

[cafarmgirl]

I would put her back out with her flock, put probiotic's in their water and just keep a close eye on her. Maybe she ate something in the yard that started all this, who knows, the possibilities are many of what this may or may not be.

 

[Judy]

Don't worry about the starter feed. The only real difference between it and layer is more calcium in layer, for making eggshells. Starter usually has more protein, too, but that shouldn't be an issue. Many people mix the last of their starter or grower with layer to help them get used to the new feed.

If your starter is medicated, it's probably with amprolium, which has no real effect on the chicken, it stays in the gut and inhibits thiamine uptake in any cocci present. This helps the chicken build a natural immunity to cocci.