Worried about my hen, any advice?

[Weeg]

I have a 6-8 year old hen. She went lame not to long ago, I assumed she had a sprain. I separated her, gave her electrolytes, and stuff like that to help her. Her limp improved but never went away. She still gets around, perches, and runs with the other hens. Recently, It has been wet and rainy. Her feathers always seem wet and she hardly has any tail feathers. Some times she gets away with sleeping in a testing box because she would prefer that over the effort of jumping to the perch. She, situ doesn't' look good. her feathers are raged, and she doesn't look comfortable. When she isn't free ranging, she is just standing all puffed up, in what looks to me like the, "I don't feel good" stance. Our run is really muddy and bad right now because of the rain, but she is with 3 other very sweet older hens in our duck pen because our rooster is hard on them. I can get pictures of her tomorrow, but tell me what you think. I can also get pictures of her poop to look for anything off. Any ideas? I am worried abbot her quality of life. Any advice is helpful! She is old so sh may just be shutting down to. Tell em what you think. Avery

 

[Maheenpadilla23]

I can't say much but I think your hen needs immediate medical professional help of u have vets available that see poultry my advice would be keep her warm of possible bring her inside have you inspected the leg and of her feathers are ruffled I can't say much but I think it's her time to go check her body to see if it's go cold or stiff best way to identify of its serious hope all goes well xx

 

[CluckerFamily]

I would separate her either within the coop or bring her in. Give her electrolytes again. Maybe temperature has to do with something, especially the old hurt leg acting up, some human have these same old aches and pains around the colder season.

 

[Weeg]

I would separate her either within the coop or bring her in. Give her electrolytes again. Maybe temperature has to do with something, especially the old hurt leg acting up, some human have these same old aches and pains around the colder season.

Ya, I will try to warm her up. Her face is pale to, but she has been doign this for awhile. I didn't think to much of it until I cleaned out the one today, and had a good look at her. I will give her a goo inspection tomorrow. Is is moldy really dirty, and her feathers are messy and wet. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Weeg]

I can't say much but I think your hen needs immediate medical professional help of u have vets available that see poultry my advice would be keep her warm of possible bring her inside have you inspected the leg and of her feathers are ruffled I can't say much but I think it's her time to go check her body to see if it's go cold or stiff best way to identify of its serious hope all goes well xx

Thank you for the advice! We don't have a vet we can take chickens to anywhere near us. I will have to do this myself. I can bring her in our shop in a dog kennel to separate and watch her too. Our shop will be warmer then the outside, but the family probably won't allow her in the house. I will give her a good inspection tomorrow, any ideas on what to look for and where to look?

 

[aart]

I will give her a good inspection tomorrow, any ideas on what to look for and where to look?

This is what I do.
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

This is what I do.
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

Do you have a picture of what you've described? I'm having a hard time visualizing your crate. I'd like to see how it works.

 

[aart]

Do you have a picture of what you've described? I'm having a hard time visualizing your crate. I'd like to see how it works.

There's a link in there to pics.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

There's a link in there to pics.

Ahhh I see.

 

[Maheenpadilla23]

Thank you for the advice! We don't have a vet we can take chickens to anywhere near us. I will have to do this myself. I can bring her in our shop in a dog kennel to separate and watch her too. Our shop will be warmer then the outside, but the family probably won't allow her in the house. I will give her a good inspection tomorrow, any ideas on what to look for and where to look?

If you lift her up check under her feet to see if she's got bumble foot another cause is niacin deficancy too is she eating well abd drinking if she has bumblefoot dip her feet into warm water with Epsom salts for a minute and gently try to remove the scab you have got to wait for it to gently come of itself you should also look out for any cuts on her foot if nothing is visible then I'd say its old age yes a chicken does live 10 years but they also can die before I had experienced this with one of my chickens her body became very stiff does the hens have heat in there coop the lamenting could also be due to cold as a chicken is a very warm animal the cold can effect its body making it cold to touch and stiff also could you post a picture of her moving about so I can get more idea of what's going on thanks x