Why is my chicken unwell

Moulting, normally Autumn or the fall but it can be anytime. Mites, Parasites or Mange. Fluffed up. This is a general sign of illness if hen is hunched up unless she is unwilling to leave a nest box then she is most likely broody. Quite common during the moult as old feathers fall out and new ones growing can be annoying.

Otherwise fleas, lice or mites. Chickens staying out at night or laying away from the coop might mean mites or parasites in the coop or nest boxes. For a detailed moulting guide for chickens.

Lameness might be an injury, Mareks Disease or Bumble foot. Below: Classic Bumble foot in chickens. Scaly legs or raised scales is most likely the scaly Leg Mite. Wings hanging down or brushing the ground. Heatstroke, injury, Mareks disease. Sometimes they do this to stabilise themselves if they have lost their balance.

Holding wings out to sides. The birds are too hot and need shade and fresh water. Blood in droppings is likely to be Coccidiosis. Treatment is the same for chicks as adult birds - see above. Lameness is splayed leg or genetic faults. Huddled together means they are too cold so increase temperature a little. Noisy chicks are cold, hungry or thirsty. Panting or spread out at edges of brooder are too hot. Reduce temperature a little or enlarge brooding area.

There are only really 5 common causes of sudden death in chickens , heart attack, predator attack or shock, stroke or poisoning. More on Sudden death in chickens and what to do afterwards. Like my content? Sign up to be on our email list. Whats wrong with my chicken? What does a healthy chicken look like?

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Diatomaceous earth for chickens Does poultry keeping pay A chickens feathers Help people with chicken charities Vaccinating chickens Winter egg production Train and tame your chickens All about dust baths for chickens Allotment chicken keeping Cold tolerance of young chickens and growers The five freedoms for chicken keepers. I absolutely don't recommend using Wazine, especially as a regular preventive.

It's far safer to use a natural wormer for your flock. Even licensed vets rarely will diagnose an animal sight unseen and anyone except a licensed professional really shouldn't be attempting to diagnose your chickens. While you have your sick chicken separated, here are some things to look for to try and figure out what's going on.

Comb color can often indicate what's going on. A nice, red rosy comb is normal. Anything else might indicate a stroke, anemia, parasites or even frostbite. If your chicken's comb is anything but healthy-looking, you might want to read this.

The eyes should be clear and alert. Foamy eyes can indicate a sinus or respiratory problem. Respiratory issues are pretty common in chickens, but eye irritation could also just be the result of a scratch to the cornea or debris in the eye, so don't rush to any conclusions. Raspy or heavy breathing could indicate a respiratory issue or even gapeworm. I keep Poultry VetRx on hand all the time. It's all natural and a few drops in the water seems to clear up anything relating to the respiratory system before it can blossom into anything serious.

It's worth a try at a first step. Related to breathing, especially if you see liquid coming out of your chicken's mouth, a reason for your chicken's distress could be a crop issue. Both sour crop and impacted crop are serious conditions that need to be treated fairly quickly. It's a good idea to part the feathers and do some checking under the wings and on the lower breast of the chicken.

Mites like to hide there and a serious infestation can actually kill a chicken. I prefer natural methods of dealing with mites , which can be seen especially at night, if you look closely.

And if one chicken has them, likely others do too, so be sure to check your entire flock as well as the coop. Check under the feathers also for injuries or wounds. It's possible that your chicken tangled with a predator or another flock member or merely got a puncture wound from something sharp.

I keep Green Goo on hand to treat minor cuts and scrapes. Be sure to check the backside of your chicken. A messy butt could indicate a digestive issue or internal parasite. Egg binding is a very serious condition that occurs when a chicken can't lay her egg that must be treated immediately. Vent gleet is another pretty messy condition related to the digestive tract.

Have a peck at our resources for those peeving poultry problems here. Eggs Raising Baby Chicks. What are they? In layman's Breeds Eggs Kids Corner. Chicken keeping is quite addictive and once bitten Chicken Behavior Chickens Protecting the Flock. Roosters are a contentious issue among backyard chicken keepers.

On the one hand, these charming chaps can be a huge benefit in keeping your flock Chickens Health Nutrition. To keep chickens happy, healthy and laying bounties of delicious eggs, they need to be fed a varied diet rich in protein and calcium- most Chicken Coops Chickens Eggs.

Time to peek inside those poultry nesting boxes and gather all the egg-ceptionally fresh eggs! This is truly the most egg-citing part of Chickens Plain and simple, the answer is no! Hens are one of the most captivating creatures on the face of the earth. They are beautiful, intelligent, Health Incubating Raising Baby Chicks. Not sure whether your eggs are fertile? Wyandottes are splendid birds that come in an endless variety of colours.

This American bred bird is incredibly popular all over the world - not Chicken Behavior Chickens Health. Is there any home remedies for this? Hi Jennie! For either, I recommend you isolate the affected bird so you can observe her and keep her safe. Make sure she has access to clean food and water, and try giving her some vitamins.

You should be able to find a vitamin supplement at the feed store. I have a 9month old rooster named Jane I thought he was going to be a hen lol two days ago I noticed a drop in his eating. They are free range with chickens with a nice large coop they come into at night. I have another rooster and 14 hens.

But yesterday I noticed him isolating himself from the flock. He did come over with the rest of them when he saw me with a back of scraps, everyone else ate but he just stood there. Just standing at the water bowl drinking all morning. He is the only one in a matter of 2 days acting off. Am I overreacted? One last thing I noticed was when he took his 6 hens off to their favorite spot he just sat down instead of pecked around with them.

And then left them entirely to go across the acre to lay under one of their favorite big trees. And does this sound serious? So I just separated him he has been drinking water for hours and when I picked him up water and spit basically throw up came pouring out of his mouth.

And it smelled awful. It was clear with some green in it. I am adding this to my above comment about Jane the rooster. Hi Blair! Poor Jane! I wonder if he has an impacted or sour crop. Pick him up and feel for his crop.

If it feels full and hard, it could be impacted. The bad odor might also indicate sour crop which is basically a yeast infection in the crop. Try dropping some olive oil into his beak and gently massaging his crop to see if you can get whatever is in there to move out. You may have to do this several times. Hope he gets better for you! Please, if you can help me it will be most appreciated. Hi Katrina! Give you a physical exam to see if you can find anything off.

Is her foot hurting? Could she be eggbound? I would also offer her a little ACV and probiotics in her water. Feel free to ask more questions. Hey Laura. Ok, I had a close look at her and her feet are completely fine. She could be egg bound, I just gave her a warm salt bath which she felt relaxed in — I plan to give her another tomorrow.

Gave her double the amount of love and care she gets daily. I added some ACV in her water which she is drinking. She has started to move around more. Im hoping you may be able to help. She just noticed today that her comb is pale and her crop feels empty.

I cant seem to find anything on what that could mean. Can anyone help? Hi Bridgett! I would recommend isolating her from the other birds so you can observe her closely and give her some TLC. I have an Easter-egger that stopped laying, as expected, over the winter. She began laying again a few weeks ago. Now she has stopped. She is losing a lot of feathers.

Feathers all over the yard and the coop. Appears to be losing weight, however, could look thin from the loss of feathers. She eats, drinks and does not isolate herself from the flock. Goes out a forages every day. She still flies up to the roost in the coop. None of the other birds are suffering. Hi, Suzanne! Do you think she could be molting? Usually, chickens will molt in the fall, but it can happen at other times of the year. Hope that helps!

Hi I have a 3 year old that has not left her roost for the 3rd day I picked her up and examined her but found nothing She is not eating or drinking any ideas. Hi, Michelle. I would isolate her and try giving her some treats, water with probiotics or ACV. Sometimes, just giving her some private space and a little TLC will get them through. My favourite hen dug up a piece of an old plastic bag buried about s foot under the ground.

I quickly removed it and kept an eye on her. This was 2 days ago. She is all puffed up an hunched, slow, and not making her usual noises. Almost silent, which she never is! I sat with her a while and even her blinking seemed laboured and unusual. Is there anything I can do to help her pass the plastic or be more comfortable?

Hi, Karol! Poor Peggy! The first thing I would do is move her to her own space. Then I would give her lots of water — maybe even make a slushy with food and water to help move things along.

Hope she feels better soon! Thankyou for any feed back would be appreciated. We need to get some food in her and make sure it is a well-balanced layer feed.

No shell could mean a lack of calcium. Check her all over for anything that might be causing discomfort like skin mites, bumblefoot, or any injuries. Let me know if you have more questions. We cleaned the whole enclosure and are now using a disinfectant foot bath for boots to minimise contamination to the enclosure. Hi Lorraine! Based on the information you gave me, I recommend he calls around to see if any vets will take a look at her.

It sounds very serious. I would love to know how to follow this Vet. She has some of the animals I have and this is my first time having my own little homestead. Would love to be able to ask her questions when I run into problems. Hi Audra! There are several Facebook groups for goat owners. You might also try Goat Vet Corner for veterinary advice.

I am a chicken breeder who needs awareness of diseases in chickens to prevent the disease from spreading. Chicken farming is my favorite job every day.

Thank you for sharing your very useful information to the community. I got chicken who can stand and sit normally, their eyes hadnt changed. They keep peeping and I warm them up occassionaly. But I noticed a younger chick sneezed only a few times and i worry that it has madebthe younger chick sick. I just ordered them yesterday and the youngest chick doesnt seem well. Intried feeding them water.

They can swallow and drink but with their eyes closed, they dont want to. It vomited a clear substance in the water during the time i was making sure itnwas drinking. But there are times where I put it in a hot spot, the chick raises its neck and opens its mouth. Is there any way I can help it or is thisna normal?

I caught them sneezing as well, but only once for now. Theywere completely fine the other day.. Hi Angela. The chicks need a heat lamp and access to food and water at all times in the first few days.

You can also try giving each one a few drops of baby multivitamins like poly-vi-sol without the iron or put a dropper full in their water. Thanks in advance, Jo. Hi Jo! So I recommend you get some food in her. You can use canned cat food that is very soft and use a large syringe to put some food in her beak.

Up to 15 ml per pound per feeding with feedings per day. Give her drops of poly-vi-sol baby vitamins without the iron twice daily for days. And then another search suggested it might be a worm infestation, so we have wormed all 3.

The TLC continues, thanks for your advice Laura! Good on you! Can you help me? All 11 of my hens have lost the feathers on their butts, which may? I stopped giving them the Ropa a couple of days ago to see if that was causing them to lose butt feathers, but now one of them is listless, hardly moving, only opens her eyes when she has to and stays separate from the others. Her comb is kind of purplish and I saw her poop some kind of mucusy stuff. Could this be worms? Should I re-start the Ropa?

Hi, Nancy! For raw bottoms, check them for mites and fly strike which is when flies lay eggs in sores on their skin and the maggots hatch and start eating dead flesh. You might need to hunt down a vet that would be willing to check them over if you see any maggots. I have a 3 year old hen who has not been feeling well.

I have isolated her from the others. She is eating somewhat and drinking. When we first brought her in her comb was purple and leaning over. Once we got some vitamins in her it perked right up. I gave her an Epsom bath and have been taking her outside to let her enjoy the spring weather with me. She just wanders and finds a quiet place to relax. How do I tell if she is egg bound.

She has a little poop on her backside but she is confined to the dog crate. Her vent looks clear and she is pooping fine. No vets around her really look after chickens so I am on my own! Any thoughts…am I missing something egg binding. She has suffered from impacted crop before and bumblefoot — both seem okay this time. Hey, Karen! Sometimes they squat or walk funny. Almost a week as a house chicken. Breathing was a little heavy so I started her on vet rx and Tylan.

Just at a lose! Hi there. I am so happy I found this page. I could really use some help. I got two new hens from a breeder.

I introduced them to my flock 5 hens and they both seemed spirited and ready to rumble. One hen had a swollen red bum. After a day, she just slept all day breathing heavily. She had mites in her feet and looked so sick. I brought her in my house and she just layed there. She had neon green poops with blood. Would eat and drink but nothing else. The breeder came and took her and brought me a new hen.

The sick one died that night. One of my original hens, Olive, started sneezing and coughing today. I noticed that she is segregating herself from the rest and seems a bit lethargic. I heard one more hen have a few sneezes as well. They have ACV in their water daily and I have been putting a few drops of oregano oil in their water since getting the new hens.

I just cleaned the coop a few days ago from deep litter over winter, could that be it? I put that down to new hen stress. Hi, Amy! The sneezing and coughing could very well be from new bedding, and new hen stress can for sure cause a decrease in egg production. All you can do is wait and see at this point. How old were the new hens? Hiya, i really need some advice on why my flock seem to be suffering with water belly. In the past few weeks ive had 3 girls with water belly, 2 that have been euthanized and 1 who is on furizomide twice a day and has been drained, she seems quite perky and has had it a coupe of weeks now.

Can you shed any light on why they seem to be suffering with this as i no its not contagious? They are kept at our allotment and checked twice a day, we also had 1 die from sour crop recently and 1 was found dead in the coop which was a mystery.

Hi, Gemma. For some breeds, 4 years old is getting toward the end of their lifespan. It could be that they are getting older and starting to have organ failure. Were they overweight? Too much fat or high protein feed can also lead to ascites. I have a 3 year old Aracauna hen that is most likely egg bound, I found her on the floor of the hen house this afternoon, panting with her mouth open, tail bent downward, occasionally straining.

She can move around, and was on her perch tonight, but still uncomfortable, and tail down. She consistently lays an egg, which she did not this morning. Two days ago, I noticed blood smeared across one end of the egg she layed. She lays very large eggs. Her comb also seems very pale. I feed her layer pellets along with greens picked from the garden and some 5 grain scratch every day.

She is lean and very healthy otherwise. What do you recommend I do to help her? Thank you very much! Hi, Joan! You can try giving her a bath in warm water and Epsom salt. If you feel comfortable, you can try to reach in and feel for the egg. But you have to be very gentle. Staying egg bound can be fatal. I hope she gets better for you!

Thanks, Laura, very much for your reply! Before you were able to answer, that first night, I isolated her, put her in the dark for the night, and gave her Liquid calcium and magnesium by mouth, and put some olive oil into her oviduct to lubricate and held her upside down. She layed a large egg that was mis-shapen. She has not layed an egg yesterday or today, however. Do I need to worry about that?

She seems to be acting normal…. And, is there a benefit to doing the warm epsom salt bath even now? Would she absorb something she needs from that?

Or, what makes that work? It sounds like you did a great job taking care of her. The Epsom salts contain magnesium which can be absorbed through the skin in humans, and we assume the same for chickens.

We suppose this will help them relax, but I think a lot of it is just the calming effect of a warm water bath. So glad your hen is feeling better! I have just brought in some new birds to my flock about a week ago and just noticed today they had runny noses.

All the manage to eat is starter for the babies. I went from getting 2 dozen eggs a day to 6 eggs a day. After reading this article I have noticed that some of those symptoms apply to a few other of my existing flock, but none of them have more than 1. What would you suggest for caring for them? Would there be a general antibiotic to give the whole flock just in case some are sick and need them?

Unfortunately, with respiratory illness, you can only isolate and provide supportive care. They will either recover and be carriers of the illness, or they will continue to decline. That said, bringing in new chickens can, in and of itself, cause a decline in egg production while they sort out their new pecking order.

I really need some help. One of my chickens started isolating herself and not eating. My first thought was that she was egg-bound, so I started giving her warm water baths with Magnesium. She seemed to like this and her condition temporarily improved. However, yesterday she went downhill fast and when I cam e home, she was outside the coup by herself in the rain.

I took her into the bathroom and dried her with the heater. I put her on a thermal blanket and she slept last night there. The reason I am here is because my main girl who is normally all over me, follows me everywhere, very vocal, head chick has been listless for a week now.

I looked under her wings for ticks, nothing, her comb looks healthy, eyes clear, feet great not injures. Not sure what else to do? I also have some Probiotics I can put in her water. Wish me luck and any suggestions are appreciated. Sounds like a good plan.

My sweet Tina hen had a mushy crop yesterday night that felt like sour crop from my understanding. This morning, it was flat so I figured all was well. Through the day she ate, drank, and pooped normal firm ones and watery ones I gave her a bit of food with lots of grit, and had water with a splash of apple cider vinegar for her.

She has also been extremely noisy all day, yelling like she is in discomfort. Nothing today, but it could also be her normal day off. Any advice I would greatly appreciate. I just want to help my poor girl! But really they are just singing their egg song. I would isolate her for further observation. Hi, my favourite chick Plucky seems to be sick. She is about 13wks old so not laying yet. Next morning she was just sitting on the ground again.

Her left wing is kind of paralysed and her feet curl. What can I do to help her? Hi, Summer. Hopefully, she pulls through for you. Hi Laura! My sweet girl is not feeling well. She started standing away from her sisters with her tail feathers facing down. She is mostly uninterested in the usual treats and whatnot and allowed me to man handle her with no complaints, she is one of my squawkers. She keeps sitting down and her tailfeathers are pulsing up and down like she is either trying to poop or lay.