sick chicken

I think my chiken has something wrong with her,she shakes her head a lot kinda like snaps it.I have looked at her eyes her nose and nothing looks bad,I sprayed under her wings and her vent the other day just in case she had mites which I did not see any.Nothing looks swollen.The others pick on her so she stays at the top of the roost all day,I have been hand feeding her cottage cheese with yogurt and some of her feed mixed in with it.I have not seen her come down to eat or drink,she may and I just havn`t ween her.There is one hen that jumps on her and holds her down and pecks her that is why she stays up there.Her feathers have falled out she might be molting,Some of it was caused by the roosters.Should I put her in her oun coop away from the others?I was thinking if I do that when I put her back she would be at the bottom of the pecking order and it would start all over again.Not much of a life having to stay up there,if she gets down she goes into a panic trying to run and hide its sad.My roosters are going to a new home today so I could put her in that coop she would still be able to see and hear the o ther chickens.What do you think?

Another picture of her

She is thin also

You can see her feather loss on her back and under her wings

i would put her in her own coop for a few days and watch her..i think the poor thing is tramatized..they will pick on her no matter what, so might as well keep her away for a few days..
good luck
cindy

I`ll do that as soon as the roosters go today

I agree with cndydavis. Sounds like she needs some time to recover and get her strength back. I haven't dealt with this issue even though I have a lot of hens (about 75). I would consider removing the bully hen that holds her down. I would not like that in my flock really. I mean, pecking order is one thing, but that's just nasty!

Give her some extra feed with minced garlic to boost her immunity, maybe some extra protein like cottage cheese (which mine love).

She is already at the bottom of the pecking order..

I agree with Moxon.. she needs a break! I would remove the bully too. Poor thing! I hope she gets better soon.

I think the head shaking sounds like more than social trauma.

There is an interesting thread on BYC about the possibility of an impacted or sour crop. I was thinking gape worm too maybe--but after reading this, a crop problem sounds more likely.

I can't get my mouse to put the link here--strange. But if you google "chicken shaking head" and look at the third entry--Back Yard Chicken Forum/Help Chicken Puffed up Feathers Head--the description sounds very similar.

She is in the little coop,when she first went in she drank and lot of water then had some freed and then got on the roost,after awhile she went outside,when the others started to roost in the big coop she was pacing the fence line and wanted to go in with them but after awhile she went in the little coop and we shut her up for the night.I`ll check her crop again in the morning and get something for gape worm.I did go on those sites and read,she has no other symptons other than the head shaking.

Catscan I think your right,she is not shaking her head so much now,but she is some skitish,she jumps at everything,but she is doing much better,the first night she wanted in with the big ones but she settled down after awhile in her own coop,she gets spoiled with cherrios, yogurt and cottage cheese,she is right next to the silkies so she is not really alone and she can see the others that she was with.I told my dh that when its time to put her back if those bullies bother her once they will go to the small coop and stay for awhile then they will be on the bottom of the pecking order when they go back.

Kind of like "time out" eh?

I hope your chicken recovers and is able to be with the others without the fighting.

I put her back last night about roosting time,I ordered the rooster booster and put it on her head and the bare parts on her wings,she stinks but thats good the others didn`t want to be that close to her.She came out this morning with the others when I opened the poop door and ate some bread that was on the ground then went back in and got on the roost,have to keep and eye on her today and if she is bullied the bully will go in the small coop for a few days.She was looking so much better yesterday and pacing the fence line wanting in with the others and it was really cold here last night so I wanted her in where she would have the warmth of the others.It was 37 here this morning but it must have got colder than that because some of the shady parts of my lawn looks a little white,THERE GOES MY TOMATOE PLANTS!!! Could not cover them last night because the wind was blowing to hard must have stopped in the night.This has been the queerest summer so rainy the first few months then so hot and hummid had to put air conditioners in near the end of august,My dh wanted to turn the furnace on this morning but I said no its suppose to be 65 today.Going to a chiken swap tomorow,can`t wait this is the second one I have ever been to,there was one in July but by the time I got there everything was gone,it was the first one so they were not expecting peaple to just buy and not swap so everything was gone in a matter of minutes,but I did get to see a naked neck and that was cool.I have only seen pictures of all of the breeds and being able to see them for real is a treat for me.

So glad to hear that she is doing better and hopefully they will leave her alone. The anti-pick lotion has worked really well for me. it's a weird color and it gets on your hands but it's worth it!

37 is chilly! We have been having it cooler here too but not that cool yet. It's been a strange summer here too - not near as hot as usual.

Have fun at the swap and tell us what you get!!

I had one rooster left of the 3 month olds out of four,I found homes for the other three but he may be going tomorow to the swap because he jumped on sick chicken as soon as she was outside and grabed her by the head and hung on to her untill I wacked him a good one,now she is tramatized again on the top roost.I don`t need a rooster anyway I don`t want fertilized eggs untill spring.Is there such a thing as a large rooster that is kind to the ladies?My little cochin rooster is so sweet to his girls,its all over with in the blink of an eye,he doesn`t grab them or chase them he is such a gentlemen.My dh says no more chickens right now,but you never know what I will see at the swap,I`ll let you know if I get anything.

This message was edited Aug 28, 2009 10:56 AM

We have 2 coops of chickens. One is pretty much a young EE coop and run. But I did have to move our White Rock in with them and see how she would do with them last year, because when she was in molt, one of the dominant hens in the other coop was always chasing her and picking at her.

Good luck finding a rooster that is nice to the ladies. I haven't seen one yet. Some are worse then others though.
Let me know if you do find one. I want to know what kind it is.

I think the nicer roos tend to be the older, secure ones with a settled flock of hens.

They are all a little out of control when they are young....

A little???

I think she is in molt because she has hardly any feathers under her wings and none on her back and the tops of her wings,she has feathers sticking out everywhere,she is a sad sight.I will hand feed her untill she is able to be with the others and not be attacked,she had grapes and chicken feed high in protein for lunch,and for breakfast she had some scratch.I don`t know what she will have for supper.Tried to give her water but she was not interested so she must get down to drink,I have three waters one in the coop and two outside.Yup I have made up my mind my rooster is going to the swap tomorow,he has crooked feet do you think anyone will want him?It does not stop him from roosting running or terrorizing the girls..

This message was edited Aug 28, 2009 3:22 PM

The lack of feather on the back and the top of the wings can be caused by a rooster too.

Those guys just aren't nice!

This is crooked feet.I know some of the loss of feathers on her back and wings is from the other rooster we had.

Awwww, poor Crooked Feet.

Well at least she has feet. I told my BF that we have to get prosthetics for our Footless

crooked feet is a rooster,he is the terrorizer,what happened to the feet on yours?

Bubble foot. We lost 2 of them to it before we knew what it was. One want fast.
Footless just ended up with paralized feet that got in his way. Now that they are no longer in the way, he gets around just great............Wing power!!

Oh, this would be the perfict rooster. How would he ever get on a hen? They are all faster then him................LOL

We did have some that had a couple of crooked toes, but never like Crooked Feet.

He was hatched at my granddaughters school in a incublator,he was out of my sexlinks so he is white rock and rhode island red.I was told be peaple that sometimes incubators are not just right and this will happen,and it did get unpluged one day and they did not know for how long,so thats probably what happened to his feet.Is bumble foot the same thing as bubble foot?

She just had her supper,geen pepper chopped,rolled oats,layer pellets with lots of protein in it,grapes and gravel.Ate it all up.She was outside with the others when I went out but someone touched her so she ran inside and bock up on the roost,feathers were falling off her as she ran so she must be molting.

OOPS, yes, I ment bumblefoot..........sorry I work nights so i'm just a tad bit tired.
Yours eats green peppers? Ours will eat them if they are the only thing left out there to eat....
I need to get some sleep, back to work I go again tonight. 2 more nights and then I am on vacation ^_^........some vacation, I will be canning things from the garden....LOL

They eat both colors but todays are purple,I used to wrok nights as a cna glad those days are over

LOL, I was a CNA too, but now I take care of the developmentally disabled.
Off to bed, talk to you again ^_^

Went to chicken swap it was cold and rainy.Took rooster noone wanted him but there were only a few peaple there because of the cold and rain.But I did get to see polish crested and some bantam breeds,also penciled hamburg(I think thats what she said it was).Did not come home with any but it was hard.

She is doing better I`m still hand feeding her because she will not come down off the roost,she was outside with me today for four hours,she was very happy she was making her happy chicken noises,she would go under the lilac bush and rest then come out and dig around.I have been giving her foods high in protein and her feathers are growing back on her back but she is naked under her wings but they are growing there to.I got a candler yesterday and dh and I are going to candle the silkies eggs tonight,

She was doing great the last three days joined back in with the others.I got rid of the rooster so the nasty hen that was in with him got put back in with the rest of the flock,I thought sure that after being gone for a week or more she would be on the bottom of the pecking order NOT SO!!She picked up right where she left off and is still nast and poor sick chicken is back up on the top roost shaking her head and a nervousr wreck.Got to do something with the nasty hen hate to get rid of her because she lays nice big eggs but she has disrupted the whole coop again.Any suggestions on what to do,I can`t stay out there all day and spray her with my squirt bottle when she attacks another hen.

green, usually once they have been seperated we find that they fight when they get put back together.
I got lucky with the white rock that I removed from the run where she was being chased and picked on by the other chicken that was her age. I moved her in with the young ones, and they left her alone.
We can't even leave our 2 runs out at the same time to wonder around in the yard for bugs and other greens. One side gets let out one night and the next night the other side gets let out. If both sides are out at the same time and they meet up somewhere in the yard, not only are the roosters fighting but the hens are too.
I don't know what to tell you other then she will probably need to be kept apart from the other one.