Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

ljonski

http://www.downthelane.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=41&sid=c04d434e84126c523b5eedb272867c21
chicks suffer from many illnesses .hereis a good start

Steel_2

rachbc wrote: »

think there is something up with one of my girls - yesterday our black rock spent most of the day inside - I assumed cos it was cold and horrible but today she hasn't come down for food when we opened up - i tried to offer some food in the coop but she wasn't interested - I also noticed some runny poo in the coop. What could it be and what shoudl I do?

Could you more specific about the poo. What colour is it and how much? What is the consistency? Is there any blood in it? Please be graphic.

I usually run through a checklist of stuff when one of mine is ill to try and narrow down the possibilities:

• How old is the hen and what is the breed? Could this be age or breed-related?
• Is she broody? If you turf her off the nest and out of the coop does she get angry and try and get back in again? Broody hens lose interest in food and just want to stay in on the eggs all day. Turf them off and they go all fluffed up and bristly with irritation.
• Is she still laying? Sick chickens usually go off the lay.
• What does her comb look like? If it's normally standing up and nice and red, has it gone pale and flopped over?
• Does she have any other signs of illness? Did you notice her doing anything out of the ordinary over the last few days?
• How does she walk/stand? Tail up as normal or tail down in the penguin stance?
• Does she have any injuries on her? Check her feet over carefully. Sometimes a cut can turn nasty and lead to illness
• Has she lost weight or condition?
• Does she have a runny nose or wheeziness?
• Does she stretch her neck and open and close her beak (gape) at all?
• Have you checked the coop for mites or other parasites that could be weakening her?
• Have you felt her crop first thing in the morning to make sure it is empty (a full crop is a sign of either a blockage so the food cannot be digested or sour crop, which is a fungal infection which causes the crop to fill with nasty foul smelling liquid.
• Have you wormed her recently?

Steel_2

mardatha wrote: »

I dont think I'd see them.. the state of my eyesight I can hardly see the bloody chickens. My coop is deep filled with shavings and has nice straw in. The hens (only 2 ) sleep in the nest boxes so I suppose that would be the place to look. Wonder what the neighbours will say if they see me out at midnight in a balaclava and magnifying glass...

They could be anywhere in the coop not just in the nest boxes. They feed at night so probably start checking near the perches.

You could always take a tissue and rub it round in various places to see if it comes away with streaks of blood on it. If you have any pieces of the coop that are removable take them up and run the tissues over them and the spot they were in. Squidge the tissue in corners as well as see what comes out on it.

Failing that, stick your hands deep in to the wood shavings for a few moments here and there, mostly in corners though, and if you may feel them crawling over your hands you know you have them!

Hubby and I had to deal with an infestation once that had us crawling with them. We had to run full pelt down the garden, rip our clothes off at the back door so we could run into the shower and wash them off. I'd had my head in the coop and they had transferred from the nestbox lid to my hair and down my neck and over my face.

Ok..now I'm itching just thinking about it.

Mojisola

Steel wrote: »

Could you more specific about the poo. What colour is it and how much? What is the consistency? Is there any blood in it? Please be graphic.

I usually run through a checklist of stuff when one of mine is ill to try and narrow down the possibilities:

• How old is the hen and what is the breed? Could this be age or breed-related?
• Is she broody? If you turf her off the nest and out of the coop does she get angry and try and get back in again? Broody hens lose interest in food and just want to stay in on the eggs all day. Turf them off and they go all fluffed up and bristly with irritation.
• Is she still laying? Sick chickens usually go off the lay.
• What does her comb look like? If it's normally standing up and nice and red, has it gone pale and flopped over?
• Does she have any other signs of illness? Did you notice her doing anything out of the ordinary over the last few days?
• How does she walk/stand? Tail up as normal or tail down in the penguin stance?
• Does she have any injuries on her? Check her feet over carefully. Sometimes a cut can turn nasty and lead to illness
• Has she lost weight or condition?
• Does she have a runny nose or wheeziness?
• Does she stretch her neck and open and close her beak (gape) at all?
• Have you checked the coop for mites or other parasites that could be weakening her?
• Have you felt her crop first thing in the morning to make sure it is empty (a full crop is a sign of either a blockage so the food cannot be digested or sour crop, which is a fungal infection which causes the crop to fill with nasty foul smelling liquid.
• Have you wormed her recently?

Brilliant post! Definitely one to keep a note of.

rachbc

Steel wrote: »

Could you more specific about the poo. What colour is it and how much? What is the consistency? Is there any blood in it? Please be graphic.

I usually run through a checklist of stuff when one of mine is ill to try and narrow down the possibilities:

• How old is the hen and what is the breed? Could this be age or breed-related?

Shes a black rock and about 18 weeks old

• Is she broody? If you turf her off the nest and out of the coop does she get angry and try and get back in again? Broody hens lose interest in food and just want to stay in on the eggs all day. Turf them off and they go all fluffed up and bristly with irritation.

Hmm well I thought yesterday she was sitting in her nest box much longer than usual but I think she did eventually get off and has laid

• Is she still laying? Sick chickens usually go off the lay.
• What does her comb look like? If it's normally standing up and nice and red, has it gone pale and flopped over?

Looks fine, not pale or floppy

• Does she have any other signs of illness? Did you notice her doing anything out of the ordinary over the last few days?

She's usually top hen and the bottom hen has been lots more assertive yest and today - she's def not her usually bossy self!

• How does she walk/stand? Tail up as normal or tail down in the penguin stance?

Tail not down but she seems kind of hunched - head pulled down into her shoudlers

• Does she have any injuries on her? Check her feet over carefully. Sometimes a cut can turn nasty and lead to illness

No signs of any injury

• Has she lost weight or condition?

She looks a bit bedraggled but not lost feathers or anything

• Does she have a runny nose or wheeziness?

No

• Does she stretch her neck and open and close her beak (gape) at all?

No

• Have you checked the coop for mites or other parasites that could be weakening her?

Yep - cleaned it out sat am and nothing I could se - have it a good air and changed all the bedding etc

• Have you felt her crop first thing in the morning to make sure it is empty (a full crop is a sign of either a blockage so the food cannot be digested or sour crop, which is a fungal infection which causes the crop to fill with nasty foul smelling liquid.

How do I do this please?

• Have you wormed her recently?

Only had her 2 weeks and she was wormed just ebfore I got her - woman I got her from gave me some verm-ex (?) and said to give it to them in anbout 2 months.

Poo is browny/ yellow and kind of snotty looking - not lots of it but it smells more than normal

When I left for work she had come down and was scratching abotu a bit - I'll report back at lunch time when I get back home

rachbc

Ok just realsied they went into a bit of the garden they don't normally go in and had a good peck at my climbing hydrangea on ssaturday - just googled and it says its poisonous to chickens ((((

ionahenor2

rachbc wrote: »

Ok just realsied they went into a bit of the garden they don't normally go in and had a good peck at my climbing hydrangea on ssaturday - just googled and it says its poisonous to chickens ((((

Just hope it is that and nothing else. have you tried giving her chopped grapes. They will help to rehydrate her as well. My little BR is much better but still having her medicine. She has lost the sightin one eye though.

rachbc

just back from work - her tail feathers are down now and she still doesn't want to eat - will try the grapes thanks

Steel_2

Does she look anything like this?



There are a few reasons why her poo might have yellow streaks in it but I'd check her crop first before going there.



The crop is like a deflated ballon in the morning when they come down out of the coop, but soon fills up with food. Every evening they should go to bed with full crops and the food will be ground up and digested in their sleep by muscular action and the small stones and grit they eat, leaving them with an empty crop in the morning.

During the day if you feel part of the way down the front of her chest you should feel a solid lump you can gently put your fingers around. This is the food in the crop and sometimes you can even tell what they have been eating. However, if the 'lump' is squishy like a big balloon filled with liquid that is sour crop.

There may be some food in there, as the sour crop could have resulted from a ball of long grass or something that didn't digest and is blocking the route to the stomach.

Sometimes you get a hefty blockage with no fluid in there, and the only way to really tell during the day if this is normal food consumption or impaction is to check first thing in the morning when their crops should be empty.

Steel_2

rachbc wrote: »

just back from work - her tail feathers are down now and she still doesn't want to eat - will try the grapes thanks

How is she doing? Have you had a chance to check her crop this morning?