help needed for poorly thin sad looking chicken

[Anonymous]

Hi there
This is my first post and i need some help.
I have 3 hybrid hens, and have had them since easter. They were laying well as soon as they arrived and i was told to expect pretty much 3 eggs a day all year round.
Had a terrible red mite problem around the may bank holiday, which i successfully got on top of thanks largely to advice i read on this site.
Since then they have not been laying well. I am now back to getting about 1 to 2 eggs a day, and occasionally none, but have a very sad thin bird, she is tucking her tail down and just looks poorly. she seems to be eating and drinking but the other birds always muscle in first.Her poops are very loose, and under where i think she perches is very wet, I've tried mixing some food with live yoghurt, and have cut out all treats other than some corn, just sticking to the layers mash. I'm also adding some lime flour for soft shell in all their feed.
What can i do now??

Many thanks
JEB

 

[Tim]

Hello JEB

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear one of your chickens is Ill. I have moved your post to the Chickens Health forum.

It could be a number of things and it might mean you will have to take her to see a poultry vet - but on the husbandry side, there are a number of things you could check:

Red Mite - are notoriously hard to get rid of - their numbers multiply massively during the warm weather but in cooler weather they become dormant. It's about the end of the red mite season but worth giving the house another check in case she is getting bitten - wipe a white tissue on the underside of the perches when it's dark to check for red blood smears and check the cracks / perch ends in the daylight.

Worms - are they wormed? If not, Flubenvet is the only licensed in feed wormer.

Lice / Mites - check between the feathers and under the wings / around the bottom

Diet - what do you feed her?

You could try adding ACV to the water (help on this in the Chickens FAQ of the forum) it is a very good natural tonic that has a number of benefits.

If she doesn't pick up soon, I would take her to the vet.

3 eggs a day? Hmmm 2 to 3 sounds more realistic to me. More in spring, none or the odd 1 over the darkest days of winter or when they are moulting.

Hope this helps...