the bradley bunch Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 hi guys, our ex-bat Lulubelle is not doing too well today. i first noticed this morning when we were feeding the wild ducks & geese at the bottom of the garden that she wasn't herself because she wasn't jumping & fighting the other girls for any dropped crumbs like she normally does. She is normally the liveliest of our girls and is always getting up to mischief, but today she is not moving around much and looks all puffed up. every now & again she'll have an unenthusiastic peck at the ground, but that's about it. she's not eating, i'm not sure about drinking, and wasn't even tempted by her favourite treat raisins earlier. she allowed me to pick her up and sat on my lap for a cuddle & went to sleep - very unusual for Lulu who is normally skittish & hates being picked up or touched. Other than being puffed up, and maybe having a bit of puffiness around her eyes, she doesn't have any other symptoms of a cold or anything obvious. she had a little bit of a dirty bottom so she may have diarrhea. she eats a good diet of layer pellets throughout the day, with a handful of corn on cold evenings, and sometimes an afternoon treat of raisins or whatever fruit is going. she was fine yesterday and laid as normal. her face is also quite red but they all get varying red faces so i don't know if this is relevant at all. My questions are: 1. should i leave her free-ranging with the others? (as she seems to not want to be seperated from them). 2. i was planning on mixing her up some yoghurt with 1 chopped clove of garlic and maybe a squeeze of lemon/orange for added goodness - is this a good idea or do you have any other suggestions on what will be good for her? we also have layers crumb with bokashi bran here at home which i can make into a warm porridge. 3. what symptoms should i be looking for as to an indication of what could be wrong with her? thanks in advance for your help from both me & Lulu xox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 My first thought would be that she might need worming. A hunched and miserable appearance is pretty typical of a worm infestation. I'd give her a **Basic Health Check** and see if anything obvious is going on. She could be working up to laying a soft egg, which also makes for a miserable hen.. If this is the case, she will perk up after she has laid it. A calcium supplement might be a good idea if indeed it is a soft egg, and it recurs. Any tempting treats that you can get her to eat will help her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the bradley bunch Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 thanks ever so much for the response egluntyne - i'd been trying to use all natural products (inc. daily cider vinegar as a wormer), but i've just ordered some flubenvet 1% on next day delivery so i will start treating all my girls tomorrow. i must admit that recently i've been going back & forth in my mind debating over using a proper wormer or continuing with the natural 'vinegar' method - we were advised this would be fine when we got the girls - but now i'm certain that using a prescription medicine is the right way to go. thanks again for your help, i never would've thought of worms if you hadn't of mentioned it so i'm extremely grateful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 I hope it does the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerlady Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 How is she today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the bradley bunch Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 hi power lady, she is doing much better thank you haven't started flubenvet yet as delivery didn't turn up it will be here tomorrow so i will start them on that as planned and *fingers crossed* she'll continue to pick up. i've also sprinkled the floor of the run with stalosen f (although they FR most of the day) to kill any nasties lurking there! i'm sure she'll be back to her mischevious-self in no time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
