Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

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gubber
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Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by gubber »

HI
I have a chicken who has got poorly she is a exbat i have had her for 1-1/2 years i got 4 exbats and they have got on very well together

a couple of weeks ago i lost one of my exbats she had bronchitis i took her to the vet but the vet said there was nothing more she could do gave me some antibiotics and that was that she died the next day she was third in the pecking order

the one that is ill is top hen i noticed she was making out she was eating but she actually wasnt she also had her tail down and when no one was looking would just stand or sit with her eyes shut

she laid an egg everyday but the day she became ill she stopped laying

they have all been sleeping outside the other morning i went to see how she was and she was shivering so i brought her in the house and she stayed all night

the exbats often sleep outside they did through winter with no ill effects

(oh and by the way for 3 days i gave her nutri drops to boost her body up )

I took her to the vet who said she has a temperature and she said she probably has an infection her chest was clear she gave her an antibiotic and gave me some more to give to her she said to bring her back if she doesn't eat well the next day

she seemed better and was eating but yesterday she is doing the same thing
not really eating making out she is and sleeping a lot but she will scratch around every now and then
im not sure what is the problem can anyone help

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Mo
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by Mo »

Is your vet experienced with hens? If so disregard me - I haven't examined the hen.

I wonder if she has an egg stuck, if so some warmth might relax the muscles, some recommend a warm bath or a hot water bottle. See advice in this thread
But often by the time you realise they are ill there is not much to be done.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Spreckly
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by Spreckly »

I wondered about an egg being stuck too Mo. Hope you get your girl sorted.
gubber
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by gubber »

gubber wrote:HI thank you for getting back to me the vet checked to see if she was egg bound but she was not she also checked to see if her food was stuck it was not so its a puzzle
I have a chicken who has got poorly she is a exbat i have had her for 1-1/2 years i got 4 exbats and they have got on very well together

a couple of weeks ago i lost one of my exbats she had bronchitis i took her to the vet but the vet said there was nothing more she could do gave me some antibiotics and that was that she died the next day she was third in the pecking order

the one that is ill is top hen i noticed she was making out she was eating but she actually wasnt she also had her tail down and when no one was looking would just stand or sit with her eyes shut

she laid an egg everyday but the day she became ill she stopped laying

they have all been sleeping outside the other morning i went to see how she was and she was shivering so i brought her in the house and she stayed all night

the exbats often sleep outside they did through winter with no ill effects

(oh and by the way for 3 days i gave her nutri drops to boost her body up )

I took her to the vet who said she has a temperature and she said she probably has an infection her chest was clear she gave her an antibiotic and gave me some more to give to her she said to bring her back if she doesn't eat well the next day

she seemed better and was eating but yesterday she is doing the same thing
not really eating making out she is and sleeping a lot but she will scratch around every now and then
im not sure what is the problem can anyone help
gubber
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by gubber »

Hi
im not sure if im replying correctly as i am new so sorry

the vet said she checked for egg bound but she said she was not she also checked to see if her food was stuck but it was not
what i havent said is for the last 3 months her egg which she produced daily had gone pourus every egg she laid was pourus on the outside like sand paper i have plenty of fine and medium oyster shell with grit in three stations and all the other hens are producing good eggs
i just assumed she was coming to the end of her egg life
bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi , Sounds like a common ailment for exbats...
I have had the same . Give the meds , make sure she eats -sweet corn is pretty easy to get in beak . and water .
More she eats the more chance the meds will work . Tylan cures lots of things ,if you can get some from vets and put in water .
Vet is the person to listen to , but any thing extra will only help . Unfortunately Bat average is a 4to 4.5 years and 18months are in lock ups. If you have had her nearly 2 years she has done well and so have you. Keep a eye on her do not get fooled by her actions only what you see her actually doing . You seem to be on top of it so hope it goes and ends well.
Let us know either way as a good ending is always welcome as we only wish we could do as well.
Bob
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KarenE
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by KarenE »

Hi

Sorry to hear about your poorly little hen. As Bob says, that's a good age for an ex batts and problems often show themselves at this age out of the cages. Sometime it's like their bodies start giving out.

If the vet has said there's no stuck egg, and I assume has also ruled out egg yolk peritonitis at the same time (?) then I wonder whether it's a respiratory infection especially as you have had one die recently. Did the vet give you antibiotics to treat the whole flock last time? A respiratory infection can - strangely enough - affect egg laying and this might explain the high temp and the egg irregularities. Bob mentioned Tylan which would be used to treat respiratory infections. Can you tell whether she has a discharge from her nose, bubbles in her eyes, panting/breathing heavily or even rasping? The vet said her chest is clear though so may not be that at all...

The thing with chickens though is that it can be hard to diagnose what the problem is and because they are so good at hiding problems, by the time they are showing symptoms they are often too ill to be treated. Try to get her to drink, maybe sweetened water if she won't eat, and anything she will eat like sweet corn or grapes, or even egg yolk (try adding a bit of tomato juice, hens like it) or scrambled egg with no milk.

If she's showing no improvement tomorrow I would get her back to the vets, if the vets suggested that.

One last thing - has she moulted and have you checked the coop for red mite?
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
gubber
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by gubber »

Hi
Thank you for getting back to me
she doesnt have egg yolk peritonitis the chicken that died actually had that when i first got them
she was making a funny noise every time she breathed so i rushed her to the vet straight away he gave her a steroid and antibiotic injection and said to just put her into the coop and see if she survived the night the next day she came out of the coop as if nothing had happened
when i took her to the vet this time it was a out of hour vet the vet said she was prone to breathing problems and sadly she died

but getting back to my top hen it does seem as though shes giving up im trying different food scrambled egg with fine oats she eats a little but goes back to just sitting around

also yes is the answer to red mite we noticed red mite Wednesday so the coop got power washed sprayed and dusted with de its going to be done again in the next couple of days with a hot water steam cleaner we also purchased another coop so they can sleep in that if they want to but they still like sleeping outside a couple of chickens have gone in the coop since we blasted it
my chickens eat all organic food
since finding red mite i have been looking at other things to protect my chickens and there is a solution out there called red stop solution it seems to be made up of alcohol and herbs does anybody know about this solution and does the alcohol get into the eggs it says it does not affect the eggs at all i checked the solution out on amazon
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Mo
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by Mo »

You say you give them oyster shell. Sometimes limestone flour (which horse shops sell) makes a difference to thin shells, but as they age they are prone to egg laying problems.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Dust the chickens . If she has the little devils on her it will take a bit of time to clear . They are causing her to not eat and stress out. Feed her / water and DE her all over . If got no DE go out in garden and dirt duster as if she was dust bathing . It will help kill the little devils . Need to do it regular has the little devils hatch and recycle again . Miss one lot and they will be back again . You maybe surprised that after a good dusting and a bit of good food down beak she may pick up and be as good as gold again.
remember what she did and mental / write it down . When it happens again you can go straight at it .
They will kill her if they are left . It also can mean she has another problem and due to that she has not been able to get rid of them by her self.
Hope it goes well .
bob
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kitla
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by kitla »

As Bob says redmite can make a hen very ill, it's easy to miss them & they multiply shockingly! Check where your hens are perching outside too. I was sure I didnt have them, then one of my hens got ill & sat around sleeping, looking weak with a pale comb. I discovered a mass of mites near where she slept, they looked like a patch of dirt. They were sucking her dry & she would have soon died. I bought some redstop, but didnt use it in the end, luckily I managed to get rid of them.(poultry shield, ant powder, diatomous earth and a fumer) A drop of Ivermectin on your hen will protect her from biting mites for a while. I use it for scalymites (recommended by a vet). I hope she picks up for you, but sadly as others have said ex batties dont usually get to old age.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
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KarenE
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by KarenE »

Hi

Yes agree with all that's been said - she may have something else wrong with her but the red mite will be draining her, and you'll have to throw everything at them, and do so regularly until they've gone. Clean and disinfect daily, then weekly and keep an eye on it after that. Once you've treated them, try a prevention regime using regular treatments of say smite

I hear good things about dettols power & pure. Some people say full fat coke is good (!) and of course diatomaceous earth (de). You will need to clean every single nook & cranny including th perches (edges & underneath), and check the roof as well esp if it a felt roof as the mites will hide in cracks and gaps underneath.

Chickens sleeping outside can be a sign of red mite as usually they like the security of being inside their coop so if they continue to sleep outside it may be a sign that the mites haven't gone. Be careful that the mites don't migrate to the new coop, they may if they are transported on the chickens. As kitty says, they multiply really quickly and you only need a few for it to develop into a massive problem.

I don't know about red stop but I think I would be trying anything & everything

I am not aware of hens being prone to respiratory problems naturally. It sounds to me as though there is/was a respiratory infection brought in, possibly as a result of her weakened immune system due to the eyp, and the red mites having drained her too. If you still have respiratory problems I would definitely treat all the flock with tylan if you can get it from the vets and keep an eye out for symptoms in any new hens you get as resp problems can be very contagious and can hang around for a surprisingly long time.

I think for your sick girl, dust her, get some ivermectin (you can buy harpermectin) and bring her inside until the coop is cleared and so you can see if she shows any signs of improvement. It does sound very much though as if she's drifting away, bless her {hug}
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
gubber
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by gubber »

Hi everyone
Thank you very much for your help and support i brought some red stop solution and it came in the post today apparently it is used commercially in organic farms i am currently feeding apple cider vinegar for a week this red stop solution cannot be used with anything else
apparently used properly it stops mites and lice biting the chickens as the chickens blood becomes unpalatable and it does not affect the eggs sounds to good to be true

i will be definitely looking at the seat they sleep on at night it did not dawn on me to check that

getting back to my hen I've been feeding her our food separately from the others she is not interested in the pellets at all

so i got some meal worm and have mixed it with some cereal
a ginger and cinnamon cake was made with a little honey just for her we make it moist with water and she has eaten some of that
then we got some organic frozen sweetcorn cooked some of that and gave it to her in the evening
she is still hanging on still sleeping and not eating grass
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kitla
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Re: Help some advice please my chicken is poorly

Post by kitla »

Crikey, best not let my lot hear about this, they'll all be wanting homeade chicken cakes! I'll be interested to hear if the redstop works. I presumed it was to give them a break while you deal with the mites.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
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