Underweight Polish hen

[nutty chicken lady]

Hi, I need a bit of advice from you lovely people! I have a polish hen about eight months old only had here about three months. A little while back she had a runny nose that stank very badly, home treated for a while with VetRX but no improvement so took to vets and got some antibiotics. It cleared up for a week but came straight back. Kept home remedies going and has now cleared up. But for the past four/five days I have noticed she's been less active and has become underweight. All my other hens are fine. She is eating and drinking I would say normally no visible injuries. She had only about 6 weeks ago started laying but has now stopped because of weight issue. Any ideas what could be going on?

Thanks

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! I would dose her with calcium citrate twice a day for a week. I would also offer raw yolk and watermelon to boost her nutrition.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What antibiotic did you use to treat her?

Was this a respiratory infection or canker? Can you look in her beak to see if there's any lesions?

How much weight has she lost? What's the baseline and what is it now?

Check her for lice/mites, make sure her crop is emptying.

If possible, get a fecal float to rule out worms and Coccidiosis as part of the problem.

What do you feed, including treats?

Often respiratory disease can affect productivity, hopefully once she's eating well and puts back on a little weight she'll resume laying.

 

[nutty chicken lady]

What antibiotic did you use to treat her?

Was this a respiratory infection or canker? Can you look in her beak to see if there's any lesions?

How much weight has she lost? What's the baseline and what is it now?

Check her for lice/mites, make sure her crop is emptying.

If possible, get a fecal float to rule out worms and Coccidiosis as part of the problem.

What do you feed, including treats?

Often respiratory disease can affect productivity, hopefully once she's eating well and puts back on a little weight she'll resume laying.

Unfortunately I can't remember what antibiotic she was on but it was for a respiratory infection. Checked in her beak and that's fine. I'm not sure of her baseline weight but I know she feels lighter than she should. I can feel her breast bone. I've checked for mites etc nothing. Treats mixed corn, sunflower seeds, meal worms and some grapes, sweet corn.

I'm going to worm them all just in case, I do always put apple cider vinegar in their water. I've just ordered some calcium drops and probiotics so hopefully that might help.
I have had one or two soft shelled egg in the nest box in the past week or two but Im not sure if was hers or not not sure if that's relevant?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Unfortunately I can't remember what antibiotic she was on but it was for a respiratory infection. Checked in her beak and that's fine. I'm not sure of her baseline weight but I know she feels lighter than she should. I can feel her breast bone. I've checked for mites etc nothing. Treats mixed corn, sunflower seeds, meal worms and some grapes, sweet corn.

I'm going to worm them all just in case, I do always put apple cider vinegar in their water. I've just ordered some calcium drops and probiotics so hopefully that might help.
I have had one or two soft shelled egg in the nest box in the past week or two but Im not sure if was hers or not not sure if that's relevant?

Do you feed a poultry feed or just the corn/seeds, etc.? I'd limit treats and focus on her eating a balanced poultry feed. She may be lacking in some protein or nutrients.

ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) will not deworm anything. Getting a fecal float is the best solution to determine if deworming is necessary. If that's not possible, then use an anthelmintic like Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Albendazole (Valbazen).

The soft shelled eggs may be hers, hard to know...if she's eating alot of treats, this can affect production. Illness/disease can affect production as can a number of other things.

Calcium drops? Not sure what those are. "Extra Calcium" should only be give for a short period of time = 3-5 days. Normally I just use Calcium Citrate + D3, pop a tablet right into the beak. (you can find Calcium Citrate+D3 at Walmart, CVS, etc.)

Here's dosing info for the dewormers:

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm -

Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

What do you feed, including treats?

 

[nutty chicken lady]

Do you feed a poultry feed or just the corn/seeds, etc.? I'd limit treats and focus on her eating a balanced poultry feed. She may be lacking in some protein or nutrients.

ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) will not deworm anything. Getting a fecal float is the best solution to determine if deworming is necessary. If that's not possible, then use an anthelmintic like Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Albendazole (Valbazen).

The soft shelled eggs may be hers, hard to know...if she's eating alot of treats, this can affect production. Illness/disease can affect production as can a number of other things.

Calcium drops? Not sure what those are. "Extra Calcium" should only be give for a short period of time = 3-5 days. Normally I just use Calcium Citrate + D3, pop a tablet right into the beak. (you can find Calcium Citrate+D3 at Walmart, CVS, etc.)

Here's dosing info for the dewormers:

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm -

Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

I feed them layers pellets which is only what they have access to throughout the day when I'm at work, treats are only an extra. I'm in the UK so worming here is different to the US, most dewormer comes as a whole already mixed in with a layers pellets to make it easier. And you just give it to them for a week then switch back onto the normal feed. The calcium drops is a liquid so will go in their water, but yes you are right it's just for two days.

Thanks for your advice glad I'm on the right line of treatment!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I feed them layers pellets which is only what they have access to throughout the day when I'm at work, treats are only an extra. I'm in the UK so worming here is different to the US, most dewormer comes as a whole already mixed in with a layers pellets to make it easier. And you just give it to them for a week then switch back onto the normal feed. The calcium drops is a liquid so will go in their water, but yes you are right it's just for two days.

Thanks for your advice glad I'm on the right line of treatment!

Ah, I see.

Adding your general location to your profile will often help us when we make suggestions.

Flubendazole would be what you probably normally use. We don't have that here.