any advice on what is wrong with our chook?

thefionas · **Joined:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:40 pm **Posts:** 3

our chook who is normally feisty and a good layer and only about 18 mths old, became sick about a fortnight ago - there is no vet in our area who can help so we have been a little stumped working out what is wrong with her
we found her one morning unable to walk or stand, but able to eat, her comb had a deep blue tinge around the edges, we brought her inside and sat her by the fire and have given her a mix of olive oil, honey and echinacea which has seemed to give her energy; keeping her warm and inside at night has also helped. we thought she had become egg bound - gave her a hot bath which also helped and she has laid one egg in past 2 weeks. she no longer seems egg bound (altho is not laying) and can now walk and has energy, but is still not herself and now seems uninterested in food, although she has started pecking and scratching the garden again. her comb is light pink and the blue tinge has gone - it has a few small black flecks on it. she is losing weight and we are worried that while it seems like she is 100 times better than two weeks ago, it is a problem that she seems to have lost her appetite. it is all very strange. any suggestions on what her problem could be (have checked for worms and do not seem to be any in poo

).

chickchicken · **Joined:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:58 pm **Posts:** 3

I would think she was egg bound and they can take months to recover. I have a hen that took 4 months before she could walk properly now she’s fine

Roova · **Posted:** Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:46 am

There was a lady on another forum who recently did an autopsy on her hen after a similar situation. She found numerous eggs inside the chook which hadn't been laid and had been rotting. If she does start going down-hill again it may be kinder to put her out of any misery she might be in.

Hopefully though she's on the mend and your kind attention has helped her.

thefionas · **Joined:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:40 pm **Posts:** 3

thanks chickchicken - what did you do to look after your hen over those months?

chickchicken · **Joined:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:58 pm **Posts:** 3

I kept her in the shed in a fairly small cage with a lamp on all the time for about the first 4 weeks then only came on at night for 3 or 4 weeks than I put her out but still on her own so she could feed up and gain weight. I think it took about 3 months from memory. I have also heard about the buildup of eggs and they break inside the hen and can kill them.

thefionas · **Joined:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:40 pm **Posts:** 3

yay!!!!. she is almost completely recovered now. we are not exactly sure what was wrong with her - suspect now that it might have been worms - it has been almost a month and she is now much much better, appetite almost fully back and she can walk, is cratching the ground, tearing up veggie patch, looks bright and has energy.
we tried a whole bunch of things;
[*]she has been inside every night, but we put her out in the garden each day - at first she was not at all interested in being out there and would just sit out for about half and hour, but as she started to be able to walk again and eventually scratch the ground again we left her out there for longer, but always brought her into be warm at night.
[*]she enjoyed the bath but we only gave her one. she hasn't laid any eggs yet, but isn't egg bound.
[*]about 7 days ago we started feeding her a liquid mix of: warm milk and protein powder and echinacea - about 60mls a couple of times each day; and about 2 eye droppers of cod liver oil each day - and she started to put on some weight but was still poorly
[*]about 4 days ago we realised it could be worms and found this recipe for worming treatment: warm milk infused with garlic, chili, cayenne pepper + tumeric mixed with mash - she was not interested in eating this, so we decided to give her the milk + spices without the mash but mixed with protein powder - about 120mls per day . + this seems to be doing the trick.
since feeding her the milk + protein and spices she has some along in leaps and bounds. she's a happy chook now.

Roova · **Posted:** Thu May 06, 2010 8:06 pm

Just out of interest what are you feeding your chooks? Maybe she was deficient in something in her diet? If adding the protein powder to her diet perked her up it could be protein? Laying hens needs a certain amount of protein in their diet to continue successfully laying. An egg is mostly protein and it does take a lot out of chook to produce an egg every day. Layer pellets should have the correct % of protein in them, but some people do add extra protein treats like cat food every now and then. It is also suggested to have both shellgrit and oyster shell available ad lib for adult chooks. Shellgrit to aid their digestion and oyster shell for extra calcium if they need it.

Regarding the worms - although there are some health benefits to adding garlic to their diet it is never going to rid a chook of worms. There are products you can buy from stockfeed places, vets, petstores etc which are specially designed to do this. I really strongly recommend you don't rely on herbal remedies alone, you won't be doing your chooks any favours. Garlic in their water inbetween regular worming treatment may help them avoid worms but they do require regular treatment.

If you are already doing the above then sorry for saying what you already know :oops:

Thats really good news that she's picking up, you must have done a very good job with her!!

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