Help with my beloved Polish girl!!

[lhkpdx]

Hey all - need a little advice on how to move forward.

I've got a sweet polish hen (Roamie) - not exactly sure how old she is, but she started laying around March of this year (she just showed up in our yard and who knew we'd fall in love with her and the world of chickens!). She has 4 add'l flock mates - all hybrids. She's generally the head of the flock because we had her first and the others are younger, but I've noticed there's more equality between a few.

They live in a predator-proof 14 x 14 covered run with a small coop inside, but they all sleep in the run on the same roost. I sweep up the poop no less than once a day. They have a huge dust bath in there too, which they all hang out in.

They have two feeders and two waterers - one has organic layer pellets, the other is an organic soy/corn-free mash (scratch and peck.) In the summer they could free-range in the yard for at least 6 hours ... now, it's more like 1 and I have to stay close - the hawks have shown up. I often rotate ACV and garlic, RopaPoultry and hen-specific pro-biotic/electrolytes in water. For treats, meal worms, dried crickets, sunflower seeds - occasional veggies but not very often.

I wormed them with Safeguard (the low-dose 5-day treatment) about 1.5 weeks ago because one pooped worms at my feet - all seemed well. I plan to use Molly's herbal wormer going forward. After worming was over, I dusted them all with poultry dust because I found lice - particular around this hen's vent and one other, but also noticed everyone working on their feathers more than usual - and small feathers in the run. Looking back, Roamie may have had lice for a while.

Prior to worming, I started noticing Roamie would kind of get down into a crouching position, while walking, then up again ... as if she was "hiding". I only noticed her doing it when they would get into tall ivy or grass. Now I'm noticing it in the run. She seems thinner and she hasn't layed an egg in 5-6 days. She's doing something else that's odd too ... she's calling all the others over to her "scratching" spot while free ranging and allowing them to eat whatever she finds. She makes some new noises while doing this. She does this constantly when they're out of their run. Poop looks good, she stands tall with tail up. Other than this weird crouching behavior and what I believe is less food intake, (is bony although she's a really small bird anyway), everything else seems pretty normal.

I just gave her an a nice long epsom salt bath and inspected. There are a few raised bumps around her vent and it was pulsing in the bath. It's super tight - she was pushing hard against my finger when I tried to insert (which I wasn't able to do). She had a bit of (what I think was) poop debris stuck to her vent feathers that came clean in the bath. I notice that her feathers are kind of breaking off too (do feathers break off close to the skin during molt?) I gave her some poultry drench directly into her mouth after her bath because she seems a little weak - very happy to just hang on our lap. I let go of her for a second in the bath and her head just plopped right down into the water. I had to grab her head and pull it up. She just pooped and it looks good. I called the vet and can't get in so feel like I should do something else. I have Oxine and Corid - haven't tried either. Does any of this sound familiar? Any recommendations?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Where are you located? Could be the start of a molt, or broody depending on your location.

 

[lhkpdx]

I am in Portland, OR. I would welcome that as a reason for her odd behavior and bony body. First year chicken mom so I could easily miss the signs of molt (in my naiveté I figured they were all too young for adult molt.)

We had a sunny day today, so after a couple of hours inside to dry from the bath, I took her back outside and let everyone free range for another couple of hours. She seemed ok - went straight for the dirt (she's the dirtiest light-colored polish you've ever seen - always!); constantly doing her "tik-tik-tik-tik-tik-tik - I've got food over here" thing, so she can give it away to them. She walked/ran/flew all over the yard with no issues and performed her other self-imposed job of alerting the flock to danger when a bird of prey decided to perch at the top of one of our big trees.

I went ahead and put 1/8tsp of Oxine in their water tonight in hopes of flushing some weird fungus or bacteria (it's been crazy wet here the last month). According to what I've read, I should do that for 3 days and no harm done if it's the wrong route.

She's up on the perch with the other girls tonight. I'll check on her first thing. I just know something is a-mis, but I haven't been able to put my finger on it. Good grief - my dogs are so much easier to read!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree with @oldhenlikesdogs If she's molting, then likely that is the cause of her odd behavior. I would direct dose her with poultry vitamins too. You can increase protein with treats like egg, fish or meat as well (just a little).
Do you have photos of her?
Are all the lice gone?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She should molt at some point if she's been laying all year. It would mean she's probably older than a year old. Polish can be odd birds, so expect the weird from them in general.

My polish always molt hard and are uncomfortable when they do it. They end up hiding, or walking backwards or sideways in an attempt to get away from the discomfort. Not sure if that's what is going on currently for you.

 

[lhkpdx]

Thank you both for replying! I do know what you mean about the polish breed. We had just lost our dog to a long battle with hepatic encephalopathy and she showed up days later and kind of acted just like him when he wasn't so sick. So much personality! I'm not sure I would have become a crazy chicken lady had it been another breed that showed up in my yard that day!

She's been laying for about 7 months, so perhaps this is the molt! I'm not entirely sure all the lice are gone, although the eggs that were stuck to the feathers around her vent are definitely gone, and that's where I had noticed the problem on her. I dusted them all twice (mainly because I thought I went a little too light the first time around) and dusted the entire run using one of those powder blowers (accordion-looking plastic container with nozzle). Prior to that, I sprinkled dehydrated lime and DE once a week in hopes of prevention (so much for that!) The other 4 seem super healthy and continue to lay jumbo eggs 7 days a week.

I'll get some vitamins and extra protein in her tomorrow -- and will also snap a few photos. Thanks again.

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

I agree with them both. She could likely be starting to molt! I suggest checking your other hens around their vent & top of legs, for lice eggs or lice. If she had lice, they likely do too.

 

[lhkpdx]

Hey all - a quick update on my sweet girl. I ended up bringing her in to the house on Sunday evening. She was able to get up on the roost that evening, but was allowing the others to peck at her which was a huge clue that something very serious was going on. She's usually so vocal (and had been earlier in the day) but by then she was too weak to talk and there were signs of serious respiratory issues - gasping, wheezing, etc.

I put a cool-mist humidifier with Oxine in with her and she seemed no better the next morning (thought is was the end!) I kept it up - several times throughout the day for 30 - 60 minutes while I called vets and finally found a mobile vet who come could come today. By the time they got here, she had started coming back. She ate a little, drank a little, pooped a little. The vets noted that she had multiple issues including a "very intense" molt - kind of a "perfect storm" of parasitic overload leading up to molt which weakened her immune system and allowed the respiratory infection. They shot her full of vitamins and an antibiotic that I'll need to do tomorrow/next day (not looking forward to that!). They took fecal and I'll get that result tomorrow. She needs to continue to stay in the house and I'm going to do the Oxine treatments through tomorrow. This evening she ate some scrambled egg and drank water like she's just come off the desert. She even talked to me before bedtime. I'm very encouraged! Thanks again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hey all - a quick update on my sweet girl. I ended up bringing her in to the house on Sunday evening. She was able to get up on the roost that evening, but was allowing the others to peck at her which was a huge clue that something very serious was going on. She's usually so vocal (and had been earlier in the day) but by then she was too weak to talk and there were signs of serious respiratory issues - gasping, wheezing, etc.

I put a cool-mist humidifier with Oxine in with her and she seemed no better the next morning (thought is was the end!) I kept it up - several times throughout the day for 30 - 60 minutes while I called vets and finally found a mobile vet who come could come today. By the time they got here, she had started coming back. She ate a little, drank a little, pooped a little. The vets noted that she had multiple issues including a "very intense" molt - kind of a "perfect storm" of parasitic overload leading up to molt which weakened her immune system and allowed the respiratory infection. They shot her full of vitamins and an antibiotic that I'll need to do tomorrow/next day (not looking forward to that!). They took fecal and I'll get that result tomorrow. She needs to continue to stay in the house and I'm going to do the Oxine treatments through tomorrow. This evening she ate some scrambled egg and drank water like she's just come off the desert. She even talked to me before bedtime. I'm very encouraged! Thanks again!

Oh dear!
I'm glad you were able to seek vet care.
You mention a parasitic overload, did she have mites or lice too?
Oxine is supposed to be really good for helping with respiratory issues, I hope she gets better.
Thank you for the update, please keep us posted.

 

[Eggcessive]

For lice and their eggs it would be good to get some permethrin 10 spray, either the concentrate where water is added for use in a spray bottle, or the ready to use spray. Use about 1/2 ounce on her body where lice and eggs are seen, and again in 10 days to get the newly hatched eggs. The dust is also available, but you will need to spray the coop, nests, and roosts after removing all bedding.

Glad that she is eating and drinking. Hopefully, she will start getting better. A lot of chickens have trouble with molting.