bobm
Garden Master
Invite her as the guest of honor for chicken soup or chicken pot pie. Not worth the waiting for loosing a dinner, just do it. It's just part of farming !
Chicken acting strange
- Thread starter dewdropsinwv
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dewdropsinwv
Garden Addicted
@ducks4you I'm not the one who will be culling her. I dont do that...I may sound sissified to you but I just dont have it in me to cull my chickens.
I really dont think inviting her to dinner will be in my plans either.
I really dont think inviting her to dinner will be in my plans either.
valley ranch
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She, the hen, may just have a cold or is feeling under the weather. If she's eating and drinking she might come back just fine.
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dewdropsinwv
Garden Addicted
I have been watching her. She seems fine as far as eating and drinking, I said before I dont know if she has been laying or not. I'm not getting eggs from everyone yet either.
Chickie'sMomaInNH
Garden Master
chickens don't get 'colds'. there are 2 types of mycoplasma that affect chickens that could make them look like they have a 'cold' but it is serious. birds that show symptoms and then get better become carriers that will eventually reoccur and progressively get worse each time they get sick. and that is if they don't just die from it. i keep a closed flock because of this. there are a few ways to keep the stuff in check but you're only treating the symptoms and never getting rid of the problem. my flock tested positive in 2012 when i had an outbreak of MG and it is not pretty when birds get sick from this. out of 25 birds at the time in my flock only 4 tested negative. Chickie was one of the negative tested birds since he was spoiled and kept separate and i knew he wouldn't have been affected from it.
what triggered the testing for MG/MS was a sick peahen. no one else in the flock had symptoms at that time. and our state doesn't routinely test for either MG?MS so i had to pay .20 for each bird for each test. wild migratory birds can be the transmitters of this.
right now i have 1 bird that has started showing signs and i pulled her from the flock. she's an older bird of about 5 years and this is the time of year i may lose a bird from the more severe symptoms.
sneezing, watery/goopy eyes and a bad breath/smell are not a good sign.
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...lasma_gallisepticum_infection_in_poultry.html
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...nfection_in_poultry_infectious_synovitis.html
what triggered the testing for MG/MS was a sick peahen. no one else in the flock had symptoms at that time. and our state doesn't routinely test for either MG?MS so i had to pay .20 for each bird for each test. wild migratory birds can be the transmitters of this.
right now i have 1 bird that has started showing signs and i pulled her from the flock. she's an older bird of about 5 years and this is the time of year i may lose a bird from the more severe symptoms.
sneezing, watery/goopy eyes and a bad breath/smell are not a good sign.
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...lasma_gallisepticum_infection_in_poultry.html
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...nfection_in_poultry_infectious_synovitis.html
Beekissed
Garden Master
Is she still hunkered down and sort of isolating herself from the flock? Fluffed up a little?
thistlebloom
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That's okay Dew, you shouldn't feel like you have to do the deed to meet some arbitrary requirement. We're all made up differently, and I respect your reasons.
Smart Red
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I have a hen that is sitting around rather than standing, but she's all plumped up. She, too, is eating and drinking well, just not moving all that much and sleeping on the coop floor instead of on a roost.
I think she got hurt her foot or leg, though, rather than it being something that could spread. I have been putting her in the garden with Nesco each morning and she just sits still until I pick her up and put her inside the fence. Nesco lets himself into the garden early each morning. I suspect he prefers the fencing to being harassed or harmed by his son, Thing 1, who took over the head roo position by force last fall. Now with female company, Nesco's as happy as he could be.
Not sure where they go when I start planting, though.
How's that girl of yours doing, Dew?
I think she got hurt her foot or leg, though, rather than it being something that could spread. I have been putting her in the garden with Nesco each morning and she just sits still until I pick her up and put her inside the fence. Nesco lets himself into the garden early each morning. I suspect he prefers the fencing to being harassed or harmed by his son, Thing 1, who took over the head roo position by force last fall. Now with female company, Nesco's as happy as he could be.
Not sure where they go when I start planting, though.
How's that girl of yours doing, Dew?
valley ranch
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If you think that there is something more than just a bug that gives the symptoms of a cold. There are treatments. This was taken from: Hen Cam.
Treating Respiratory Diseases in Chickens
When a respiratory disease shows up in a flock, it hits hard and fast. Within days of one hen showing symptoms, many of your other chickens will, too. There are a variety of respiratory ailments caused by numerous bacteria and viruses, but the tell-tale signs are similar for all of them. Eyes bubble with mucus, or blink shut with exhaustion, chickens struggle to breathe, and they hunch up, listless. and weak. Left untreated, many of your chickens will die. It’s no wonder that farmers who make their living from their animals cull at the first hint of illness. No one wants to see death rampage through their flock. However, for the backyard chicken keeper, there are other ways to deal with respiratory disease.
I once brought home a lovely Rhode Island Red pullet. Within days, all of my other hens came down with a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, (MG.) The bacteria which causes MG is an odd creature; it lacks a cell wall. That means that it is fragile when it is outside of the birds and can be killed with heat, sunlight, disinfectants, or simply time – after 3 days, it dies. But, inside the birds, it is virulent and can lead to severe respiratory disease. My chickens became so sick, and their eyes so crusted, that they couldn’t see to eat. Meanwhile, my new Rhode Island Red looked fine – a hen can look perfectly healthy, but still be carrier of MG (which is another reason why for many farmers it’s and economic necessity to destroy an entire flock when the first hint of illness appears.)
Fortunately, there are drugs that work. Three days on Tylan (an antibiotic), and some terramycin squirted in the eyes, and all were back to normal. Although these hens might now be carriers, I’ve never had another attack of MG, even when new birds have joined the flock.
My hens have suffered from other bouts with other forms of respiratory illness, too. The symptoms vary, but all have similarities showing raspy, tired breathing. Unless you do a blood test, you’ll never know exactly what your birds have, but, that doesn’t matter, since treatment remains the same for any respiratory disease.
The first line of defense is that when you see a hen that you suspect is ill, isolate her and observe. If she has respiratory symptoms, then you might want to medicate. If only one hen is showing symptoms, isolate her and treat. If any of the other hens look even a tad off, I’d put antibiotics in their water, too.
Avian antibiotics are available at feed stores and on-line.Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotics and usually knocks out any bug that your flock has. It can be bought on-line or in your local feed store. It’s good to have some on hand. Follow the dosage directions carefully. The drugs are packaged for huge flocks, so to get the dose right for a few hens, I use a digital kitchen scale. Usually, you’ll dilute it in water and dose them through their water font. However, your sickest hens might not be drinking. Use an eye dropper or a syringe to pour the medicated water down the hen’s throat. Tylan is a powerful drug, and more specific for severe cases and MG. Tylan might come in pill form, which makes it easy to give to an individual hen, but not so nice when you have a dozen or more hens to medicate!
Continue to medicate according to package directions. The ailment will return if you stop dosing before the advised number of days. You’ll have to discard eggs that were laid while the hens were on antibiotics. I’ve read recommendations to throw out eggs up to ten days after the last dose.
I buy meat from farms that raise animals without antibiotics. I’m against feeding sub-therapeutic drugs just so that animals can survive in stressful housing. But, I’m grateful that I can use these drugs when my animals are ill!
Treating Respiratory Diseases in Chickens
When a respiratory disease shows up in a flock, it hits hard and fast. Within days of one hen showing symptoms, many of your other chickens will, too. There are a variety of respiratory ailments caused by numerous bacteria and viruses, but the tell-tale signs are similar for all of them. Eyes bubble with mucus, or blink shut with exhaustion, chickens struggle to breathe, and they hunch up, listless. and weak. Left untreated, many of your chickens will die. It’s no wonder that farmers who make their living from their animals cull at the first hint of illness. No one wants to see death rampage through their flock. However, for the backyard chicken keeper, there are other ways to deal with respiratory disease.
I once brought home a lovely Rhode Island Red pullet. Within days, all of my other hens came down with a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, (MG.) The bacteria which causes MG is an odd creature; it lacks a cell wall. That means that it is fragile when it is outside of the birds and can be killed with heat, sunlight, disinfectants, or simply time – after 3 days, it dies. But, inside the birds, it is virulent and can lead to severe respiratory disease. My chickens became so sick, and their eyes so crusted, that they couldn’t see to eat. Meanwhile, my new Rhode Island Red looked fine – a hen can look perfectly healthy, but still be carrier of MG (which is another reason why for many farmers it’s and economic necessity to destroy an entire flock when the first hint of illness appears.)
Fortunately, there are drugs that work. Three days on Tylan (an antibiotic), and some terramycin squirted in the eyes, and all were back to normal. Although these hens might now be carriers, I’ve never had another attack of MG, even when new birds have joined the flock.
My hens have suffered from other bouts with other forms of respiratory illness, too. The symptoms vary, but all have similarities showing raspy, tired breathing. Unless you do a blood test, you’ll never know exactly what your birds have, but, that doesn’t matter, since treatment remains the same for any respiratory disease.
The first line of defense is that when you see a hen that you suspect is ill, isolate her and observe. If she has respiratory symptoms, then you might want to medicate. If only one hen is showing symptoms, isolate her and treat. If any of the other hens look even a tad off, I’d put antibiotics in their water, too.
Avian antibiotics are available at feed stores and on-line.Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotics and usually knocks out any bug that your flock has. It can be bought on-line or in your local feed store. It’s good to have some on hand. Follow the dosage directions carefully. The drugs are packaged for huge flocks, so to get the dose right for a few hens, I use a digital kitchen scale. Usually, you’ll dilute it in water and dose them through their water font. However, your sickest hens might not be drinking. Use an eye dropper or a syringe to pour the medicated water down the hen’s throat. Tylan is a powerful drug, and more specific for severe cases and MG. Tylan might come in pill form, which makes it easy to give to an individual hen, but not so nice when you have a dozen or more hens to medicate!
Continue to medicate according to package directions. The ailment will return if you stop dosing before the advised number of days. You’ll have to discard eggs that were laid while the hens were on antibiotics. I’ve read recommendations to throw out eggs up to ten days after the last dose.
I buy meat from farms that raise animals without antibiotics. I’m against feeding sub-therapeutic drugs just so that animals can survive in stressful housing. But, I’m grateful that I can use these drugs when my animals are ill!
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- #20
dewdropsinwv
Garden Addicted
When MontyJ got home from work he culled my sick hen. Ginger was her name. He said she had an impacted crop. I'd rather he put her down than to let her suffer any longer....she probably would have died in a day or so anyway, but why let her live like that. I just feel bad that she suffered as long as she did.
