New Orpington

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Mrs Brewster

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I have recently acquired 2 1 year old orpingtons. Aside the usual squabbles they have settled in well.

However one of them seems to getting more letargic,. i've seen her drinking but not generally eating a lot, turns her nose up at the corn too.

But generally she doesnt have the same energy as the other one, i have wormed them as soon as i got them. She has had a lot of runny (almost water) poo's occasional green one..

So i'm stumped. :? Any ideas??
 
Hello Mrs Brewster. Have these Orpingtons been mixed in with an existing hybrid flock or are they on their own, for future reference as it may become relevant?

At the moment she sounds crop bound. What does her crop feel like, is it squishy or rock hard and what is it like in the morning? Presume the green poo is very fine grade with no discernable bits in it? Could also be an abdominal infection. Is her rear end underbelly soft and saggy or large and hard?
 
Thanks Chris. Yes they have been intergrated into my exsisting rare breed (3 bantums and 1 legbar) flock, not before they were wormed and deloused. I know came from good homes but you can never be too careful.

I checked her crop this morning full and hard, it was going squishy if i massaged it. I put a small amount of veg oil down her, that seems to have the trick. the crop was going down, when i left for work. So she how she is when i get home.

The green poo is normal consistancy, just occasional odd one.
 
Oh i think she is going through her moult too. But orpingtons are a bit unknown to me, so this might be normal for them to lose a few feathers.
 
Ours are just starting to moult as well Mrs Brewster. They do eat the smaller feathers and they can cause an impacted crop, which is what I think it is. Veg Oil is OK but we use 2mL Olive Oil and massage regularly until it goes down.

Lets hope she is fine now.
 
I'm confused with this bird!! :?

She seems to be eating and drinking fine, maybe not as much as the others and still turns her nose at corn. She is lethargic and seems to sleep all the time, first to bed and I've seen her sleep standing in the middle of the garden, is this normal?? :-)19

Also are they generally a boney bird??, both don't seem to have much meat on them, so to speak. My others when you hold them you can't feel bones, with the 2 orpingtons, they feel feathers and bone.

Anyone have some advise?? I'm really stumped.
 
Do you know when, or if, they were last wormed with Flubenvet? You do say you wormed them, but i just wondered what you used, and how effective it was. What you report does sound like the symptoms of a worm infestation to me. It's always a good idea to do new hens with a course of Flubenvet when they arrive, and maybe do your other birds at the same time, so all start off clean when they go in together. thereafter they need dosing every 4-6 months. Other treatments act as a herbal tonic and may be useful in promoting good gut health as a routine extra, but are not actually effective on worms.
Worms will pull a hen down, make her lose weight, and all this will add to the effects of stress at moving to a new environment, which may lead to her developing other latent health problems because her immune system is less effective. Read about worming chickens on the main Poultrykeeper website at http://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/worming-chickens.
 
I use both Flubenvet and vermex. I have been keeping cider vinegar in the water too, I have 2 of my own bird moulting at the moment, so I wanted to make sure they had a boost too.

I wormed the new ones as I know my birds were clean and I didn't want unknown birds mixing with mine, till I know they were clean.

I'm wondering now, if I should worm them again?? But can worming to much make them ill too??
 
Yes, you can overdo the worming ! Verm X is not a wormer.
Sounds like she was lethargic when she came as you say she was 'getting more lethargic'. Standing in the middle of the garden and sleeping a lot is not normal chicken behaviour. Don't know anything about Orpingtons but they always look dozey to me and I would have expected a good covering of flesh too. What does the previous owner have to say ?
 
Is your ACV concentration in the water too high as that may be stopping them drinking? Orpingtons are heavy birds but can be quite energetic occasionally. So I agree with Chuck and Marigold. Sounds like a worm burden with stress at the moment, unless they have been treated with Flubenvet.
 
Agree with Chris about the ACV- I once tried putting in two drinkers, one plain water and the other weaker than recommended solution of ACV and they didn't touch the treated one at all. This made me think it was best not to use it as they were perfectly healthy without, and I didn't like to think of them possibly restricting water intake to what they needed out of desperation.
The instructions for Flubenvet tell you to repeat the course after 3 weeks if the previous worm infestation has been heavy, to deal with any residual eggs that may have hatched in the gut. But as Chuck says, if she has been inactive ever since her arrival, and they are both thin, one might suspect something else is possibly going on here also. Worms are always the first thing that comes to mind with those symptoms and as they can exacerbate other problems it's a good idea to be able to rule them out, as you're doing. What's her breathing like? Any chance she has a chest infection? Any runny eyes etc? Yes I'd contact the place you got her from, if only to cover yourself if you want to make a claim in the future, but also because a good breeder will want to know what is happening to one, possibly two, of her hens. How long have they been in contact with your previous hens, and if you quarantined them, how long were they kept apart? Sorry about so many questions, just trying to think this through.
 
I meant I use Flubenvet in the normal way and vermex as preventative every month. I only put a small amount of acv (concentrate) in the water, but I thought with them going though the moult, this would help boost there immune system.

Her chest and eyes are fine. The other seems to be fine, again she feels thin but a lot more energetic, I think that's why behaviour is more noticeable, cause they are like chalk and cheese in behaviour.

They have been mixed about 3 weeks now, I quarantined for a week, during which time they were wormed. I know the reason the previous owner, was getting rid of them was the house was getting fox attacks, so i know they were stressed when I got them, which I think hasn't helped.

Im thinking contact the previous owner, see if there is anything I should be aware of, lay of the acv for a bit. Worm them all again, in case anything has passed on to the others.....see what happens from there.
 
Poor girls, they've been through quite a distrubed time, havent they, with the fox attack and the change of home, and this will have taken its toll, especially on the dozy one. How have the previous hens reacted - ie have they fitted in with no bullying? Hens can still experience stress for a few weeks in a new flock, even though they may not show it unless things get really bad. Have the problems with her crop and green poos cleared up yet? You're obviously caring for them very well, and I wonder how her appetite is. Perhaps they would be able to take vitamins more readily if you added a more broad-spectrum poultry vitamin powder to their food, especially if you mixed it in with some pellets damped with warm water, and added some nutritious extras such as hulled sunflower seeds (25% protein) dreid mealworms or even chopped hardboiled or scrambled egg, to get them eating better and bring their weight up. This might resolve the crop and poo problems, although if this continues maybe a trip to the vet might be needed in case there is some gut infection pulling her down. Vitamin-boost powders are usually more palatable to hens than drinking water additives, they are likely to contain more useful elements than ACV, and of course they can then have plain water which they will undoubtedly prefer.
Did anyone mention mites or lice? Hens like Orps with lovely big fluffy bums are particularly subject to attack, and the copiousness of their plumage makes it harder to have a really good look at the base of their feathers round the bum and under the wings and round the neck in particular. Also, any scaly leg mite on their legs and feet?
 
The others seem to have taken to them ok, they usual inital squabble but fine. My legbar is a nightmare for on and off dodgy tummy, (she eats everything!!) so its hard to tell for sure if she is improving, i havent checked her crop for a couple of days, cause she seem to perk up a little.

I am worming them all again at the moment, but she is not eating the pellets. She seems to be eating the grass and drinking.

Im wondering if i should seperate her and put her somewhere where is forced to eat the pellets or is ther a good wormer that can go in the water. I'm thinking it could be a trip to the vet at this rate.
 
You could try mixing an egg cupful of mixed corn with a little vegetable oil, enough to coat the grains, and then adding what would be the dose for one hen for a day- quite a tiny amount. Mix it in well, then add a few more treats such as sunflower seeds or mealworms. Separate her and give her the chance to eat it on her own. Usually it goes down straight away and you know she's had it, even if this isn't the recommended method.
Of course that's assuming she is still affected by worms and hasn't got some other kind of dodgy tummy trouble which is affecting her appetite, in which case, as it has been going on for a while, maybe a trip to the vet?
 
Just thought I should update you guys.

I had to put the orp to sleep this morning, no improvement and nothing was working .So after a trip to the vet, I made the unfortunate decision, which turned out to be for the best, as she was riddled with tumours. She at least isn't suffering anymore. Thanks everyone for all the advise, but unfortunately there was nothing more I could do. X :cry:
 
Very sorry to hear that Mrs Brewster. You certainly did everything possible and then made a difficult decision for her wealfare.
 
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