I almost lost a broody to mites recently, and she behaved very similarly to your hen. The pale face and comb and lack of energy are very suspicious for anaemia, from the mites sucking the birds' blood. The anaemia leads to a lack of appetite, and eventually the hen can literally starve itself to death.
I'm in the UK too and the kind of summer we've had this year - very hot, but with lots of heavy rain in between - has been perfect for mites. I found out the hard way after Henrietta hatched her clutch and was almost at deaths door when she came off the nest. I felt terrible for not noticing. She's still very weak now, even four weeks later and I'm still hand-feeding her to encourage her appetite.
If it is mites, I would get her (and the rest of the hens) some Harka Mectin Spot On drops to go onto her skin which will both worm her and repel any biting parasites such as mites at the same time, keep her indoors for a few nights (if it is red mite she should perk up a little fairly quickly if housed safely away from them for a few nights) and very thoroughly treat the coop as follows: strip it apart as far as possible, scrub the whole thing down, including cracks and crevices, with Poultry Shield, then paint it inside and out with Creocote (or similar creosote subsitute), (making sure the hens are kept out of it for at least eight hours afterwards), then spray the inside of the coop liberally with Duramitex Plus.
After that your mites will have a very hard time reinfesting the housing, despite the British summer being so perfect for them this year.
If your girl is anaemic from mites sucking her blood, Battles Poultry Drink is a good iron supplement and should help her a lot. You also need to encourage her to eat, so keep offering her favourite treats, and if she will take it, cook her up some porridge oats. Most hens love them, even poorly ones. Scrambled egg is also a winner and so are sunflower hearts. Mealworms or maggots from your local fishing tackle shop would be perfect - that's how I got Henny Penny eating again. You can even give bread, if that is the only thing she will eat. Anything just to get some sustenence into her. Now is not the time to be offering only a balanced layer ration - she simply isn't feeling hungry anough to eat bland food. Treats and more treats will raise her spirits and hopefully encourage the eating of a few mouthfuls.
The very best of luck with your girl - I hope she makes it xxx
I'm in the UK too and the kind of summer we've had this year - very hot, but with lots of heavy rain in between - has been perfect for mites. I found out the hard way after Henrietta hatched her clutch and was almost at deaths door when she came off the nest. I felt terrible for not noticing. She's still very weak now, even four weeks later and I'm still hand-feeding her to encourage her appetite.
If it is mites, I would get her (and the rest of the hens) some Harka Mectin Spot On drops to go onto her skin which will both worm her and repel any biting parasites such as mites at the same time, keep her indoors for a few nights (if it is red mite she should perk up a little fairly quickly if housed safely away from them for a few nights) and very thoroughly treat the coop as follows: strip it apart as far as possible, scrub the whole thing down, including cracks and crevices, with Poultry Shield, then paint it inside and out with Creocote (or similar creosote subsitute), (making sure the hens are kept out of it for at least eight hours afterwards), then spray the inside of the coop liberally with Duramitex Plus.
After that your mites will have a very hard time reinfesting the housing, despite the British summer being so perfect for them this year.
If your girl is anaemic from mites sucking her blood, Battles Poultry Drink is a good iron supplement and should help her a lot. You also need to encourage her to eat, so keep offering her favourite treats, and if she will take it, cook her up some porridge oats. Most hens love them, even poorly ones. Scrambled egg is also a winner and so are sunflower hearts. Mealworms or maggots from your local fishing tackle shop would be perfect - that's how I got Henny Penny eating again. You can even give bread, if that is the only thing she will eat. Anything just to get some sustenence into her. Now is not the time to be offering only a balanced layer ration - she simply isn't feeling hungry anough to eat bland food. Treats and more treats will raise her spirits and hopefully encourage the eating of a few mouthfuls.
The very best of luck with your girl - I hope she makes it xxx
