Please help me.

chookdog · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:25 pm

Could somebody please give me some suggestions as to what could be wrong with one maybe two of my chooks, She appeared to be normal and healthy during the day, but when i went to lock my six chooks away for the night she wasnt in the coop with the rest of the girls. This is very unusual, she was all fluffed up and just sitting on the lawn in the dark. She has since been sleeping consistently not eating or drinking, we have had to force her to drink by syringing water into her mouth. She seems to be very unsteady on her legs and then just sits down to go back to sleep. We have noticed a slight improvement today, she has started to try to eat after 3 days. We had a small dog stay with us and this preceded her becoming like this, could this be shock or something more sinnister? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are very worried. Thankyou.

Roova · **Posted:** Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:34 am

It does sound like your chook is quite sick. Stress can bring on sickness in chooks with a lowered immune system - was the dog barking at or chasing the chooks? Have you felt all over the chook and checked under wing etc to make sure she hasn't been bitten? If it is a respiratory illness, in most cases they are able to recover under their own steam. There are things you can do to help her along though.

Keep her separated in an area which is dry, warm and draft free. Make sure she has clean dry bedding with fresh food and water. You can add vitamins to her water and the rickets mixture is a very good probiotic pick me up. You might want to keep the chook inside in a box or cage to ensure she isn't tipping over her food and water for a few days she she starts to pick up. You could put a reptile heat pad under the flooring of the box or cage (making sure it stays dry) for added warmth, or you might just put towels or a blanket around the box for warmth.

Chooks with a lowered immune system have a higher chance of picking up a secondary infection which might need antibiotics to help, but this requires a trip to the vet as there are many different problems requiring different antibiotics. The problem with taking your chook to the vet is the fact you're again putting them in a stressful situation :roll:

It could also be worth giving your other chooks the rickets 'pickmeup' because if your sick chook does have a respiratory illness it can spread through the rest of the flock rather quickly.

Good luck with your girl, I hope she gets better

chookdog · **Posted:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:06 pm

Just thought I'd update our chooks condition. She has made a full recovery and is back out in the coop with the rest of the girls. She started laying again today. A big thanks to you ROOVA for our one and only reply your advice was invaluable. [smilie=a_cookiemonster.gif]

Roova · **Posted:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:20 pm

Hey - thats great news! Good on you for whatever you ended up doing to help your little gal to recovery! And eggs to say thank you :-D

chookdog · **Posted:** Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:03 pm

Roova, we followed your advice. The rickets mixture seemed to peek her interest in food and we kept her inside in a box at night and let her wander the house by day (lucky we have polished floors!!). that combination plus alot of love got her thru. Oh and there were no visible injuries........we are still unsure of what caused this but are very grateful that our girl is back.

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