Topic: Sick hen, what could be the problem?

[cocopops]

I have 16 rescued ISA hens which have a large coop.  They were hatched in February and have been really healthy up until now.

On Monday I noticed that one of the hens has really yellow legs and her comb is much paler than the others.  At first she was eating and drinking ok but as the week has gone on she is been bullied by the other girls and now does not really try to get to the food.  I have taken to throwing it all over the ground to give her a chance away from the feeder but she just walks away and sits by herself.  This morning her comb has started to droop.  I will get my husband to create a small area just for her when he comes back from work.

I have looked on the internet and cannot find anything resembling her symptoms.  And advice would be very greatly received.

[kt.]

Things do not sound good.  You could find her 'asleep' in her nestbox over the coming few days.  Sometimes they are just ill.  Ensure she is separated from the others with her own feeding and drinking containers.  If possible,  allow her to still be visible with the others so as she does not get bullied when put back with the flock.  Try giving her small pieces of soft bread with her food.  You can also give apple cider vinegar mixed with her water. It helps build up their immune system.  Oyster grit is also good as it is better for their coat and also aids the immune system.  Mix a little with the food as you would normal grit or put some out separate

[teresa]

good advice from KT,
If you give bread or cake (mine love cake) make sure you soak it in water first. have they gone through a moult yet this can bring them down.
If she is not eating and looks like she is getting bullied move her out otherwise she will just give up and die.
below is something you could try food wise but is for 3 hens:
This is basically a high protein balanced feed for breeding poultry. Providing the right balance of essential nutrients and vitamins to not only ensure you have healhty birds but also hatch healhty chicks.
You will need one shallow plastic container, high layers mash or pellets, multi-vitamin tablets, cod liver oil, malt extract and skimmed milk/warm water.

Take a plastic carton sufficent to hold a scoop of high layers mash or pellets. Add your pellets to just under fill the container.

Crush one muti-vitamin (adult vitamins) and add it to the dry pellets stir in well.

Add one small spoon full of cod liver oil and the same quantity of malt extract and stir well.

Pour on enough warm water and skimmed milk to cover the mixture stir well and allow to cool ideally overnight.

In the morning stir the mixture well and give to your breeding stock they will love the texture and a trio will eat the lot. By midday any left overs can be disposed of i fed mine to the free range hens they love it and we get lots of super fresh eggs.

Or a quick one is to hard boil an egg, shell it and mash it, up allow to cool and give it in a dish make sure she has fresh water.
Have they been wormed lately? have you suffered from Red Spider Mite/lice this can bring them down.

[KimT]

Lots of questions here I'm afraid.

It could be so many things but the first thing you do need to do is seperate her from the others asap.


Can you tell us what her poo is like also what is her crop like, is it swollen, hard or squishy?

I hope we can help.

[cocopops]

A really strange thing happened today.  My OH was late home last night and unable to build an extra bed for her.  This morning her comb is up again and she is eating and drinking ok.  She appears to be moulting more than the others, and is only identifiable by her yellow legs.  Several other hens have paler combs but out of 16 hens we have 15 eggs per day.  I noticed that some of the other girls tend to get pushed out at feeding time, I guess it is the proverbial 'pecking order'.

In any event, when my OH has managed to get water into our kitchen sink (all day today and prob. tomorrow), he is going to build an infirmary for any sick hens.

I will keep the advice about how to look after a sick hen for when it inevitably happens again.  I am really fascinated about worming the hens because when I asked a friend who proclaims to know all about keeping poultry he said not to.  As I worm our dogs and cats I would really like to find out more about this.  I think a book on poultry keeping would be a good idea on my Christmas list.

Thanks again for the help and should she deteriorate again at least I know what to do.

[kt.]

I noticed that some of the other girls tend to get pushed out at feeding time, I guess it is the proverbial 'pecking order'.

I am really fascinated about worming the hens because when I asked a friend who proclaims to know all about keeping poultry he said not to. 

You should always have more than one feeding and drinking area,  for when hens get pushed out.  Then they all get fed.  I have 3 separate feeding areas for my 11 hens.  Also have 7 separate drinking areas. (that is also because they drink loads). 

Worming hens is easy.  Just buy the fluid from the vet and mix it with drinking water.  I worm my hens 6 monthly.

[teresa]

I am glad she has perked up, they do everything in pecking order just make sure enough food to go around.
 I find during a moult mine eat a lot more they need it making new feathers takes it out of them.
this link may help save it, all written ( copied from the books) dont stress yourself out over illness but its handy just in case.

http://www.pekinbantams.com/health.asp

[B7jac]

Glad shes back to normal !!

I too would like to know more about worming, can you still eat the eggs when hens have had worming 'stuff' ?

[teresa]

 Flubavet is a powder wormer for poultry, safe to eat the eggs, tubs are large so if you have a few hens might be too much, will last you years?
purchased from your vets or  ebay perhaps a online vet.

 Ivomectin is a spot on that kills worms lice etc not safe to eat the eggs while using it I would say a week to be on the safe side.
from vets, pet shops sell it for parrots/pidgons, online vets or ebay

Rhubarb leaves  is a natural wormer which is fine when they can eat the leaves when its growing.
Apple Cider Vinigar is a preventive for worms but its still recomended you worm twice a year.
Might be others I dont know about hope this helps.

[Old bird]

Theresa

You saying about rhuabarb leaves!  I was appalled as I had just put a couple of leaves out for the compost bin and a couple of chickens were pecking away at one of the leaves - normally they are poisonous to humans so I panicked and snatched said leaves away!  What a revelation - I will let them have a couple of leaves before they die off for winter now! 

Thanks for the advice!!

Old Bird
 ;D

[OllieC]

OOh, I've got some rhubarb leaves... might pop them in...

[manicscousers]

ours have eaten most of mine  ;D

[teresa]

Just like Old Bird our hens started to eat the rhubarb leaves a few years ago, I too was a bit worried but found out on a USA poultry site they plant rhubarb crowns next to the runs so the hens can help themselves when they need it. It is strange how they know if they need to eat it or not but mine do.
Pity I did not know about it ,untill I bought a large tub of the Flubavet, so I use the powder twice a year because I have it.