POORLY HEN - ADVICE PLEASE

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Hi All
I have a poorly Warren hen who has been laying very large mis-shaped eggs. The shells are thin and usually whitish. The hen lays intermittently. I noticed that she has started leave the group preferring to be on her own. She has really dirty feathers at her rear and I have cleaned her in warm water. I checked the web and thought she may have symptoms similar to IB? but without the neck jerking etc. I have isolated her in clean dust free straw, wormed her which I stopped because she was just dripping from the rear. I have put chicken spice in her feed. She has corn, mash, oyster shell. Her comb has now started to go dark. Can anyone suggest what may be her problem and how I should treat her. BTW her legs had large horizontal scales although I have not noticed any mites. I have sprayed her legs with mite spray. I also regulary clean the hen house and dust with lice powder. I wondered she may have caught something from a passing pheasant who I have seen reaching into the run to help himself to food or maybe smaller birds? Sorry my message is long winded but I'm at my wits end as to what to do next. Novice :roll:
 
Firstly, it's unlikely to be the pheasant.

Secondly, wormers and antibiotics should not be stopped before the course has finished.

High yielding hybrids like the Warrens can wear themselves out as they lay so many eggs but by what you say, you are feeding her OK. They do get to the stage when they lay abnormal eggs, either soft shelled or with a poor surface and there's not a lot you can do. Sometimes it's temporary but often not.

You don't say how old she is which might be relevant.
 
Hi Jue. I agree with Chuck and her age is important. I would have said worms. The horizontal leg scales are caused by mites. They are so small it's just the poo deposits you see build up under the scales and tear them off -painful. Sometimes a heavy build-up results in fungal growth, but it should never be allowed to get that bad. Dripping fluid from the rear could be a burst egg and it's the white coming out. Is her rear end swollen and firm?
 
Thank you for your replies. I'm not sure how old the hen is as I purchased her at a farmers market along with the others, they all looked point of lay. I have had them about 8 months and the others all seem fine. I was a bit reluctant to take the hen away from the others as I know they are sociable animals, but I didn't want the others to be infected (if this is the problem). None of the others have the scale problem on their legs. I would not remove any scales from the poorly hen.

I thought her problem could be worms and am worming the whole group apart from her. I stopped because she was looking sick and I thought I would be adding to her problems. Her rear is not swollen although her rear is caked in white; when I was worming her it was just dripping mucus like constantly.
Also she does not appear to be eating now and as mentioned, yesterday her comb had changed from bright to dark red, which I understand is a symptom of bad circulation.

I really appreciate you support.
 
Sounds like a chronic digestive system blockage, or a broken egg that's caused infection and the vet needs to give you antibiotics. He should give her a wormer as well. As you say, never remove the scales from the legs! Scaley leg mite is transmitted between hens very slowly, but I would treat all their feet as a precaution as some others will have it but not showing yet.

Best of luck. I'm sure she will recover quickly with medication as you have spotted the problem early.
 
jue said:
Thank you for your replies. I'm not sure how old the hen is as I purchased her at a farmers market along with the others, they all looked point of lay. I have had them about 8 months and the others all seem fine. I was a bit reluctant to take the hen away from the others as I know they are sociable animals, but I didn't want the others to be infected (if this is the problem). None of the others have the scale problem on their legs. I would not remove any scales from the poorly hen.

I thought her problem could be worms and am worming the whole group apart from her. I stopped because she was looking sick and I thought I would be adding to her problems. Her rear is not swollen although her rear is caked in white; when I was worming her it was just dripping mucus like constantly.
Also she does not appear to be eating now and as mentioned, yesterday her comb had changed from bright to dark red, which I understand is a symptom of bad circulation.

I really appreciate you support.
Click to expand...

as mentioned above it's very important that you don't stop a course of wormer or antibiotics as this is where resistance can happen. the worms will peak during the course and the last few days of the course are the most important to eliminate the resistant ones, you have in turn possibly left the stronger worms to play and breed more stronger worms. this alone can cause digestive problems and possible blockage. it's pretty normal to have runny poos during worming as it's flushing them out of the system, if anything it should boost her wellness getting rid of the parasites stealing all the good nutrients from her gut and possibly making her ill in the first place. based on your symptoms, my first thought was worms. Since you have now stopped a worming course I think I would ring your local vets and let them know what you have used to worm and what the best course of action for you might be for her. Personally if it were me? Depending on what you wormed her with, I would worm her again and finish the course. If she is too poorly to be wormed and needs to be wormed, you may lose the bird either way as it's past the point of no return. No matter what though, I think you need veterinary advice as soon a possible for her.
 
Jue, there is another possibility. Sometimes when worms are particularly chronic the toxins given off when they die can also kill the bird. This is one of the reasons to worm birds regularly. So fingers crossed for you.
 
Could also be a case of vent gleet, but as said above, a vet would be my next step.

JubesX
 
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