Help, my silkie hen looks sick. She is sitting around the coop with her feathers fluffed. She isn't her normal self. She doesn't struggle when i pick her up, and when i set her down, she seems to stumble, then regain her balance. She even feels weak when i pick her up. What does she have and how can i treat it. Thanks a bunch.

-- Kelli (WI) (bingo215@yahoo.com), February 13, 2002

Answers

The sell medicine for that... It's yellow powder you mix with water. Mix it alittle stronger than it says and use a eyedropper for the first fewhours...Maybe every 4 hrs. for 12 hrs and you'll see a big difference in it.. You give the rest of chickens with it in their water... Go easy on it with eyedropper you'll drown it if you don't.. feed it in waterer for 5 days.. They say sparrows that come and feed with your chickens geve this to them.. I hope it works.. Go asap.. You'll see a difference right away... Good luck...

-- James (onemaur@yahoo.com), February 13, 2002.

Kelli, do you have a Vet? That would be my first choice. Also, you might want to get advice from the experts at www.poultryconnection.com, there is also a poultry vet link on that forum that might help you. If you feel her keel, you can tell if she is very thin or if she is well filled out and has been eating properly. She might have "hardware" disease(she ate something she can't get out of her system), it might be parasites(chickens are prey to a number of them), it might be cocci. Get a professional to help her. Good luck, I am sorry about your hen. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 13, 2002.

Put some vinegar in the water as this will help her digest/change the ph values in her gut. It is kind of like giving electrolytes as well.

Is she eating and drinking at all?

Are her stools very runny?

can you seperate her from the others in a cage so the sickness doesn't spread?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.

Listen to James, we use aureomycin. The amounts to give are on the back of the package. Any antibiotic powder will help. I would also check her for lice/mites.

-- bergy (bergy@psbnewton.com), February 14, 2002.