Chickens not eating

S

senna

New member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
76
Reaction score
0
Hi, I have two birds that I bought recently and they are really off colour, they are very listless and just stand or sit about all day, they don't appear to be eating as their crops are empty at night but they are drinking. They have lost a lot of weight and the worst one's breathing seems a bit rattly and her comb is very pale and floppy. All the other birds I bought seem fine, I have had them for about Ten days, could it just be stress or something more sinistar
 
Hello,

I'm new to chicken keeping (I've had mine for about 6 weeks now) so I might not be the best person to iffer advice, but I know when I first got my chickens I worried about everything (still do have my moments!). Have you spoken the the person you got them off, find out if they have been vaccinated etc. and also they might be able to give you some advice. Rattling breathing might be a respiratory illness and to be safe I'd get in contact with a poultry vet (good list can be found on this site) and get them to have a look. I would isolate the 2 birds until you find out what it might be.

What breed are they? Have you been putting anything in their water to help cope with the stress of moving, I found AVC is really good.

I'm sure the more experienced poultry keepers on help might be able to suggest more. I hope they get better soon.

Charliex
 
Agree with Charlie! It may be the birds were masking a health problem before you got them, and the stress of the move has caused the disease to manifest itself.Does sound likely a respiratory infection judging by the symptoms however, very difficult to know really without seeing the bird. Might be a good idea to visit the vet as if one has rattles then they probably need antibiotics to sort out.
 
I agree with all above :roll:

Sounds to me as if they are not in the best of health and will go down hill quickly if you don't get them some antibiotics for the respiritory problem soon.

You will need to see a vet to have it diagnosed and a prescription - but be careful many don't know much about chickens so speak to them first about their experience with poultry.

We have a poultry friendly vets list that is made up of recommendations - I hope there is one near you!
 
Thanks for the advice folks. They are a RIR and a Welsumer, I bought them at a local poultry sale so unfortunatly have no way of contacting the breeder. Not much improvement today, will try contacting a vet tomorrow, thanks again
 
Hi again, took chickens to the vet today, reckoned it is some kind of infection in their lungs, gave me antibiotics and told me to worm them as well and see how they are over the weekend. Fingers crossed
 
Forgot about this, another tip from the vet was when a chicken is not eating it's crop becomes a bit gassed up so they don't feel like eating. Their tip was to give it some natural yoghurt by syringe to help restore the natural bacteria, gave it a try and the birds seem to like it. :o
 
You need the live yogurt for the bacteria. Chooks will probably peck away at this even if off their food. Syringing you need to take care in case it goes down the windpipe. If doing so, get it just inside the beak on the tongue so they can swallow it back themselves. I'd give them a chance to eat it themselves first.
 
snifter said:
You need the live yogurt for the bacteria. Chooks will probably peck away at this even if off their food. Syringing you need to take care in case it goes down the windpipe. If doing so, get it just inside the beak on the tongue so they can swallow it back themselves. I'd give them a chance to eat it themselves first.
Click to expand...

When giving live yogurt to chooks...stand well back!!! They love it and end up flicking it everywhere :D :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top