Sick hen - any advice?

Let the chickens out this morning and noticed one of them (a Welsummer) was waddling. Her abdomen is distended and feels almost solid and her comb has a purplish tinge to it. There was also whitish runny poo in the coop.

Apart from waddling like she was carrying a cricket ball she seems happy enough, still pecking away at mixed grain.

She's just finished moulting and has a full set of feathers again.

We feed them layers pellets, throw some mixed grain in the run for them to peck around for and let them free range whenever we're at home.

Can't think of anything else that might be relevant just now.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Treacodactyl

Do you mean her crop was solid? You can try massaging it and gently dribbling some oil down and massaging again. If you can smell her breath it can be quite unpleasant if they have a compacted crop, one of ours occasionally got it and massaging after giving her some oil worked.

bodger

Wrong end TD.

Its sounds as though she's laid an egg internally. Crying or Very sad

Treacodactyl

That's why I asked Stu to clarify. If it is at the rear end then it does sound like peritonitis and there's probably not much that can be done.

bodger

Re: Sick hen - any advice?

StuP wrote:

Pretty clear that TD thumbup

Unfortunately, to avoid upsetting people, I can't really hand out the advice that I'd like to.

Treacodactyl

I don't think it hurts to clarify exactly what's wrong, especially if you're going to suggest culling.

If it is peritonitis I would ensure you're not feeding your hens too much as, I gather, it can affect overweight birds more than others?

bodger

Fat birds have a tendency towards prolapses but laying an egg internally can happen at anytime and to any bird.

Castle Farm

In your position I should cull asap.
By the time she has got to the stage you discribe she is a very sick bird.Any wet or white droppings are a sign that she has an internal infection.

There are many causes of internal problems, but food is the main one...well that and dirty water.

A bird in moult needs a layer of fat to protect her while she loses her feathers,so don't worry about that.

Moulting will only start when a bird is ready to drop her feathers.This can be induced by a change of diet to a much lower protein one but only the exibitors and commercials do that.

Feeding a layers diet with a protien level of 16/17 % is fine, but in the layers feeds are chemicals to induce more eggs and it also contains around 4% calcium for shell production..way to much if shes not in full lay to get rid of the excess..It ends up causing kidney and liver damage.

Fed to any bird not in lay it will cause problems,this includes Cockerels,growers and moulters.

bodger

Thanks for saying what I wanted to say. The last time that I told someone that they were best 'necking something' I was practically lynched myself.

StuP

Thanks very much everyone. It's not the crop but lower down that's distended. Looks like she's a gonner then. Sad

I'll sort it out.

Didn't know that about the layer's pellets.

Cheers.

Chez

If she's cheery enough you could give her a day or two, or take her to the vet to get her looked at. But I agree with the others, in essence.

alison

I don't really see the point in taking a chicken to the vet, not only for the value, monatry, reason, but also many vets know very little about poultry.

Chez

I think it depends on your vet - whether it's a good poultry one or not - and whether it's a pet chicken or not. I wouldn't - but then, mine aren't pets.

And I was trying to be sensitive, instead of just saying 'neck it' Laughing

Woodburner

Hijacking a bit here, but is a mucky bum a sign of internal infection as well then? I ask because I have often seen hens like that, that don't seem to be poorly in any other way.

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