How do you improve the poor condition of a recently ill bird

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:32 am

Hello,

One of our girls has just survived a very nasty cold. She is approximately 8 months old and yet to lay. She has had a course of sulphur,antibiotics, been wormed and dusted and the coop completely mucked out. She is alert, active, eating and drinking but she has lost a lot of weight. She was the dominant hen in the pecking order but since her illness seems to have dropped her rank. I have kept an eye on her to see that she is eating and drinking and not being pecked.

Their diet consists of free range mix, pellets, occasional minced beef,occasional fruit, vegetables, yogurt,occasional apple cider in their water. They also free range daily on the property weather permitting as it has been extremely cold, wet and there has not been much sun of late.

I was wondering what can be recommended to improve her poor condition. The others are all in good health.

All advice would be greatly appreciated as these are our first chooks.

Thank you.

OakA · **Posted:** Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:48 am

Sounds like you have most bases covered.
A warm mash is always appreciated these cold days.
When at your butchers ask him about kidney fat if he breaks down his own beef, this is always relished and can be hung on a hook in the pen, does not attract flies or go off in cool months, the animal fat helps put on weight.
There is another post here re corn, you could try taking her aside and give her a good handfull of corn as an extra just for her, if her appetite is good she should scoff the lot in no time.
At this time of year a lot of energy is expended keeping warm, she has still to cover her daily nutricional requirements and take in the added energies to lay down as flesh and fat, giving foods concentrated in this will assist her greatly.Being thinner she will feel the cold more than a fowl in good condition and her body will redirect more of the energy intake than normal to keeping up her body temperature.
Good luck.

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:30 am

Thank you, Oaklands,

I did read the post on corn. I will put her aside as suggested. I give ours an equal proportion scratch mixture of corn maize, sunflower seeds and wheat late in the afternoons. I tried the warm mash for breakfast and they wouldn't touch it. The rooster seems to taste test before the hens and if he doesn't like it, they don't eat it.

Will try the kidneys and anything else,as she is a lovely little chook and we, especially the children, would be heartbroken to loose her.

Thanks again
Hens and Hobbits

OakA · **Posted:** Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:21 am

It's not the kidney you feed but the fat that surrounds them (some would know it as SUET, it is a hard white fat that the fowls will pick at ), the fat from beef or lamb is suitable.
Try a mash again, this time sprinkle with some of the corn or mixed grain, he will "taste test" and call the girls to the tasty morsels he has found, they should dig in and once they realise how good should not need any encouragement in future.
To give the 'special girl' some extra corn, don't remove her permanently just for a short time each day to ensure she gets the extra and that the others don't steal it away from her.
She will benifit from free ranging along with the others and as her condition improves she more than likely will reclaim her position of "Queen Bee", it will be at this time you will know she is back to her old self.
Instead of the mince you occasionally feed, again ask your butcher for the fat & bone dust he has to clean from his Band Saw each night, it is high in fat and bone dust and the fowls love it (he should give it to you if you get to know him).Being bone it is high in calcium for shell quality, contains meat and fat as well, so has protien and carbohydrates.
It is particularly benificial to young growing chickens.

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:12 pm

Dear Oaklands,

Thank you once again for the great advice and clarifying the kidneys. I put suet in Christmas puddings!

She is a determined little chook, a fighter who keeps on going, looking like death at one stage. The rooster doesn't let his girls, especially this one, out of his sight for too long.

There is so much to learn that you can not find in books...

Thanks again,
Hens and Hobbits

Poultry Doc · **Joined:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:40 pm **Posts:** 29

Oaklands suggestions are true. To gain weight you have to give higher density or higher energy feeds, which could be achieved using additional energy sources like fats and added corn. Giving it secretly to your special girl will make her catch up. Moreover, I guess giving added protein like soya and more meat could also help. It is like bringing her back to starter ration, for her to grow again, ahead of the others.

With regards to point of lay, usually a good size pullet will mature sexually ahead of a poorly built pullet. In other words, body weight and mass play an important role in starting egg production. That's why monitoring good and consistent weight gain during the rearing stage is important. In other words, a runt will have a much delayed onset of lay or may not lay at all.

Thanks.

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2011 7:33 am

Thank you, Poultry Doc,

I had read another post on Araucana's of a similar age also not laying, so was not overly concerned. This particular hen is smaller and younger than our other hen who arrived later. They had an incident with a neighbour and were greatly distressed by it, a bitterly cold snap followed and I assumed her immune system was lower than the others as she was they only with a cold. Nevertheless, I followed the advice given they were all treated as above.

The situation has not been helped as they are now stressed by a cockatoo invasion(posted in "Chickens") as the cockatoos are aggravating the rooster and driving him and the girls crazy.

She is very tame and has a great personality and we are just hoping that she survives the winter as it looks like a long, cold one. We will try anything to save her.

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:33 pm

Thank you all for your advice,

The butcher thought I was a bit odd when I asked for suet for my chooks and I couldn't get any bone dust; mind you a lot of people are thinking we are a bit odd now, with ornamental chooks that don't lay eggs, but they don't have chooks!

The hen is finally getting some colour back into her wattle and her breast bone starting to fill out a wee bit. The weather is absolutely miserable at the moment, and I am reluctant to let them free range in the cold, wind and rain.

Thanks again
Hens and Hobbits

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