Jump to content
Strawberrybex

Mabel isn't herself - very quiet and not interacting

Recommended Posts

Mabel has been very quiet recently and is just keeping herself to herself. We have picked her up and her crop feels fine, she is quite skinny and her chest bone is quite prominent, her abdomen doesn't feel swollen. Mabel has always struggled to lay eggs and they are normally soft shelled and broken by the time we get to them. We have 6 others who all appear fine. We have just wormed the girls and they have access to oyster shell, free range around the garden, layers pellets and corn. They also get kitchen scraps. Any ideas what's up?

Thanks in advance 🐔😊

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No idea without examining her, but she could just have another soft shelled egg on the way; that tends to make them subdued.

What did you worm them with?

How old is she?

What breed/type is Mabel?

I would cut out anything that's not pellets form their feed, and dose her with Nettex NutriDrops, which is wonderful for resurrecting anything that in't 6 feet under!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Cat tails said:

Yoghurt is not recommended for chickens, as it can upset their tummies.

Verm-x is a herbal remedy with no active ingredient that kills worms. Most here use Flubenvet as a dewormer.

Ditto

Please don't rely on herbal products to worm your birds. There are threads on here in the FAQ section about worming with Flubenvet; the cheapest place I have found is www.farmandpetplace.co.uk they sell it in 5,10 and 20kg bags, if you only have a few birds, then 5kg will be enough.You feed these pellets and NOTHING ELSE for 7  days and restrict free ranging. As yours haven't been wormed, then I would repeat after 3 weeks and then settle into the quarterly routine.

Chickens are best fed what they eat naturally; their layers feed will provide all the nutrients they need, they are not able to digest processed foods, especially anything containing salt or sugar.

You can buy the NutriDrops here

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would give her another good once over. Feel abdomen, crop, breast and check vent. Check poo as well. And what I did when just starting with chickens, give the same once over to a healthy chicken, so you can compare notes.

If it was my chicken, I would book an appointment with the vet for Monday. In the meantime see if you can get het interested in food. Little bit of tuna, or wet cat food will get most chickens eating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Cat tails said:

I would give her another good once over. Feel abdomen, crop, breast and check vent. Check poo as well. And what I did when just starting with chickens, give the same once over to a healthy chicken, so you can compare notes.

If it was my chicken, I would book an appointment with the vet for Monday. In the meantime see if you can get het interested in food. Little bit of tuna, or wet cat food will get most chickens eating.

I agree. She definitely looks poorly - classic poorly chicken pose. Given what you’ve said about her struggling with her eggs it’s possible there is something going wrong there - particularly as she’s a hybrid, but unless it feels like her abdomen is swollen you probably won’t know on your own.

As cattails said, keep feeding her whatever you can get her to eat - do you know how her poo is looking?

And get her to the vet asap - if she has something like egg peritonitis she will need either some fairly serious treatment or you’ll need to have her put to sleep before she becomes seriously uncomfortable. 

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your messages. I have examined her tonight and her crop feels good - will check in the morning to make sure it's all been digested. Her abdomen feels good too - not swollen. Her chest bone is quite prominent which is a concern. She had some tuna from me earlier and some corn - she has a good appetite. Her bottom is clean and not smelly. Poop also looks OK. Any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would see how she is tomorrow morning and when in doubt ring a vet. Once chickens are starting to show signs of being unwell, they are really unwell. As prey animal they are good at pretending.

As for the prominent breatbone, my vet always thinks my chickens are showing too much breastbone, but I read somewhere that vets are trained on meat producing chickens, which are much more rotund... Layers have much less meat on them as they are investing in making eggs. You will always feel a bit of breastbone, but the breast shouldn’t be sunken in on the sides of it. As I said, compare with one of your healthy ones to see how much breastbone you are meant to feel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

This is Mabel now who has been poorly for a while and I don't know what to do next. We have wormed the girls with flubenvet, they eat layers pellets and corn. Always have access to oyster shell and grit. Water is replaced daily with a shell, feather and bone multivitamin supplement in. All other girls (6more) are fine and enjoying scrabbing around in the pen. Mabel has been like this for a couple of weeks now and I don't want her suffering anymore if she is in pain. Her poop is fine from what I can see. She us about 18 months old and although has had problems with soft shelled eggs before laid a perfect egg this morning - she was the only one in that hutch and it was there when we let them out this morning. We have tried nettex drops for the recommended 3 days but she is still like this.

We really don't know what to do - is this the end for Mabel?

Please help a worried mother hen!! Thank you.

675852DE-97A7-4C24-9E52-A3DBF09BEFB5.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh dear, she does look poorly.

She has managed to keep going.

Did you take her to the vets ?

If you haven't taken her yet I would take her tomorrow if she was mine - she could just need some antibiotics and possibly recover or need to be PTS - either way she does need help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you say she’s laying and pooing, and therefore presumably eating, normally I’m afraid I don’t have any ideas. 

Unfortunately though, as you say, she clearly is seriously uncomfortable / in pain, so I think if you aren’t going to take her to the vets the you need to end her suffering.

Sorry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Possibly peritonitis, but she may be able to recover and absorb the eggs. The important thing is to keep her moving about. If she goes into remission her abdomen may be infected and … so it's bad news. The photo shows a hen laying a softie, so it's all a waiting game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...