Solitary chicken - need advice

[CluckyLaydee]

Hi there, I have 3 pekin bantams, 1 seabright, 1 silkie cross and one dutch bantam. One of my pekin bantams is poorly and has been out of sorts for a wee while, perking up at times. I have recently noticed a decline in her activity. All 3 pekin are not laying and one was laying soft shelled eggs but stopped a few weeks ago (one was only hatched last year so I had put that down to age). The poorly pekin shows little interest in food or anything and I am not sure if her sight is affected. Yesterday I noticed that around her eyes are swollen and very pale compared to my other pekins. I will try to add a photo. Most of the time she stands on her own with her eyes shut. I only started keeping hens last year. I appreciate any advice you can give me.

[CluckyLaydee]

I forgot to add, there is no discharge coming from either her nose or eyes. Should I contact a vet? I am torn as I know some people use vets for hens and some don't and understand that hens can be prone to diseases and starting using vets could be costly. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Egghead68]

She sounds very poorly and needs to see a chicken-specialist vet asap.

[Plum]

Unfortunately you have to decide vet or not and if you decide no vet and don't treat then I think it is only fair to the hens to learn to cull them

 

You can always decide how far to go with the vet and what you are prepared to pay for. Perhaps get a quote first.

 

Sounds like a sinus infection so a course of antibiotics could sort it before spreading to the others. Hope she picks up

[CluckyLaydee]

Unfortunately you have to decide vet or not and if you decide no vet and don't treat then I think it is only fair to the hens to learn to cull them

 

You can always decide how far to go with the vet and what you are prepared to pay for. Perhaps get a quote first.

 

Sounds like a sinus infection so a course of antibiotics could sort it before spreading to the others. Hope she picks up

 

Getting a quote first is a good idea, thanks. I also suspect a sinus infection from what I have been reading. Thanks for your help, i'm going to phone vet tomorrow.

[CluckyLaydee]

I have uploaded some pics to the gallery if it helps. (sorry, couldn't work out how to do it to a post) Thanks for the advice so far.

[mimi5]

She needs to eat, as if they don't eat their gut shuts down and I'm affraid it's end game I always keep nutridrops by nettex in and they are a great pick me up & tonic, stimulating appitite. My pekins have had myco and all recovered with baytril (antibiotic) so they can get better with care and TLC.....but not always You can see I have suffered a few loses and sometimes despite all our efforts some just don't pull through

 

Best wishes and let us know how you get on!

[CluckyLaydee]

I have booked a vets appointment for Saturday morning. Despite all 3 peking not coming out of coop until late morning, the poorly one has perked up a bit and was eating and having a peck around ?! Around her eyes are still pale, but will keep a close eye on her until her appointment. Thanks for your advice, I must get those nutridrops.

[CluckyLaydee]

so poorly pekin had her appointment with the vet today who was uncertain what was wrong with her but gave her baytril, vitamins and wormer by injection. The vet also noted how the area around her eyes seemed to get redder when her blood pressure raised but would return to being pale (yellow). when we got home it was raining and hen found shelter in pen then lay down and closed her eyes. I decided to take her indoors. I think i have managed to get some water into her with a syringe and tried with porridge but she is very sleepy.

 

Previously when i had examined her i noticed strange whitish hard growths on her legs and a little on he feet. The vet said she had never seen it before but agreed it appeared to be some sort of calcified feathery bone growth. i suspected this could be why the hen is reluctant/unable to walk so i soaked her feet in tepid water and removed what i could of these. I am thinking of putting her back in with the other hens before bedtime so she is not separated for too long, is this wise?

 

Thank you again for the replies to this post and fingers crossed my poorly pekin will get better.

[Plum]

The legs could be scaley leg mite, you get overgrowth where there's inflammation. A bit of Vaseline on them may sooth them and would kill any mite.

 

Hope she picks up, you are trying hard. She should be alright with the others at night but could get pecked in the day if she's under the weather so just keep an eye on them in the morning. They do go pale if anaemic have you checked the house for redmite. Just a thought. The yellow is pigment when they're not laying and the comb's a lot paler when not laying. Lets hope the antibiotics work wonders. All fingers crossed for you.

[CluckyLaydee]

Oh dear, I put poorly pekin into the coop and within minutes there was another one of my pekins on her back pecking the top of her head, so she's back indoors. I'll concentrate on getting her better before trying to reintroduce her.

 

I am not sure if the leg thing is scaly leg as i haven't seen a picture which looks similar. The vet who is also a chicken keeper said she had never seen it before. The hens and their coop was powdered about 6 wks ago.

[Plum]

It was just a thought. Good you spotted the trouble before she got hurt. Naughty girls, she'll cope better when she's recovered.

[CluckyLaydee]

Good news is poorly pekin appears to be on the mend She spent the night in the spare room and this morning was looking much more alert and making sounds. Still not moving much but she is eating. This afternoon i thought i would give her the treat of free range on our front lawn to encourage her to get moving so when i put her down she stood sill then walked off the grass, across the path and onto the messy gravelly area! well, at least she's moving. Because she showed so much improvement today I decided to build a make shift coop and wired off a small area of the pen. I am thinking she will be better off in view but out of reach of other hens?

 

All my other hens were given a check over today and i think some have scaly leg mite and one pekin has possible bumblefoot I will be calling the vet tomorrow about this and i also want to get antibiotics for the others as a different pekin who seems otherwise fine seems sleepier than the other. All hens have been wormed (verm X) and lice and mite powdered (johnsons) as well as coop today. Poorly pekin has had her feet and legs vaselined as will the others get vaselined tomorrow (not enough hours in the day). We only started keeping hens late last summer after we got the pekins from a friend. I thought the scaly leg was normal as the friends hens and cockerels legs are feathered and looked different so i think they came with them and hasn't been so noticeable with their feathered feet. I feel so bad. I hope I have discovered the bumblefoot early and the vet will dispense antibiotics for it without seeing the hen as i may have to wait to get to the vet.

 

I really hope i can and cannot wait until I get all hens thriving (and laying) again!

[Plum]

So pleased she's picking up. Let's hope tomorrow brings more improvement.

 

Not easy treating pekins legs with Vaseline because of all the feathers. I used Nettex scaley leg spray every 5 days as well as the Vaseline, it runs down into the bits the Vaseline can't get to. Never had to treat bumble foot but sounds as though you're on the right track. When mine had scaley leg they had little areas of thickened skin as well which was quite horny