I have this gorgeous buff pullet I bought from a very reputable breeder. She was purchased along with a lavender cockerel and an unsexed gray chick. I believe she is around 3 months of age and the lavender cockerel is about the same age, with the gray being a month younger.
Ever since I bought her she has been hunched over and not moving. She will walk to the food and water and she will eat and drink like a little piggy but if you set her of the floor she will just hunch up and lay down. This pullet is ALWAYS laying down. I have had her about two weeks now. So after the first day I contacted the breeder to let her know what signs the pullet is having. The breeder immediately suspected coccidiosis and told me I could return her and get a refund, or exchange her for another pullet of the same age, or even bring the pullet back to her for treatment until she recovered. I decided to keep her and attempt the treatment myself as the breeder lives far away from me and also I had already grown attached to the hen so I didn’t want to exchange her. My point is that the breeder did attempt everything in her power to rectify the situation and gave me many different options so I’m not at all upset with her. She even sent me links with all the medicine she used to successfully treat coccidiosis whenever it pops up in one of her chicks.
I treated the hen and her brooder mates for coccidiosis and although the hen eventually lost her hunched up look she still continued to not want to walk. She lays down whenever possible.
I no longer believe her or any of her brooder mates to be infected with coccidiosis as they have not been having bloody droppings and the brooder mates have maintained perfectly normal health.
The buff hen is continuing to lay down at almost all times. She has an enormous poof so I’ve been trimming it thinking maybe she lays down because she cannot see very well. This did not improve her symptoms.
Well a couple of days ago I noticed that the buff hen has developed a head tick. Her head is always jerking a little bit. It’s hard to explain so I’m attaching a video to show what I mean.
If I pick her up and set her down she acts like she’s gonna fall over sideways, like something is off with her balance! I removed the lavender cockerel into a separate pen because he was beginning to pick at his brooder mates. So currently the buff pullet and the gray chick are isolating in a 75 gallon tub until a month has passed and they receive a clean bill of health to join the other chickens.
They receive water with vitamins in it every single day and the water is emptied and refreshed everyday. They are no longer being treated for coccidiosis, but I do still have them on manna pro medicated chick feed just in case.
I also have oyster shell available to them whenever they want it. Their poop is looking like normal chicken poop
I’ve also thoroughly checked them for any mites/lice/fleas and they are definitely free of any little unwanted guests. They are on wood chips with some diatomaceous earth mixed in.
Can anyone tell me what might be ailing this chicken? I do not believe it to be contagious, whatever it is, since neither of her brooder mates have come down with any symptoms whatsoever. But there’s definitely something going on with this hen. Thanks in advance for any advice!
To clarify, since this post is so long, the symptoms she is having are: laying down constantly, head tick, off balanced when on feet. None of her brooder mates show similar symptoms
If anyone is wondering, that noise in the background is that lavender Cockerel making a rather pathetic attempt to crow
Ever since I bought her she has been hunched over and not moving. She will walk to the food and water and she will eat and drink like a little piggy but if you set her of the floor she will just hunch up and lay down. This pullet is ALWAYS laying down. I have had her about two weeks now. So after the first day I contacted the breeder to let her know what signs the pullet is having. The breeder immediately suspected coccidiosis and told me I could return her and get a refund, or exchange her for another pullet of the same age, or even bring the pullet back to her for treatment until she recovered. I decided to keep her and attempt the treatment myself as the breeder lives far away from me and also I had already grown attached to the hen so I didn’t want to exchange her. My point is that the breeder did attempt everything in her power to rectify the situation and gave me many different options so I’m not at all upset with her. She even sent me links with all the medicine she used to successfully treat coccidiosis whenever it pops up in one of her chicks.
I treated the hen and her brooder mates for coccidiosis and although the hen eventually lost her hunched up look she still continued to not want to walk. She lays down whenever possible.
I no longer believe her or any of her brooder mates to be infected with coccidiosis as they have not been having bloody droppings and the brooder mates have maintained perfectly normal health.
The buff hen is continuing to lay down at almost all times. She has an enormous poof so I’ve been trimming it thinking maybe she lays down because she cannot see very well. This did not improve her symptoms.
Well a couple of days ago I noticed that the buff hen has developed a head tick. Her head is always jerking a little bit. It’s hard to explain so I’m attaching a video to show what I mean.
If I pick her up and set her down she acts like she’s gonna fall over sideways, like something is off with her balance! I removed the lavender cockerel into a separate pen because he was beginning to pick at his brooder mates. So currently the buff pullet and the gray chick are isolating in a 75 gallon tub until a month has passed and they receive a clean bill of health to join the other chickens.
They receive water with vitamins in it every single day and the water is emptied and refreshed everyday. They are no longer being treated for coccidiosis, but I do still have them on manna pro medicated chick feed just in case.
I also have oyster shell available to them whenever they want it. Their poop is looking like normal chicken poop
I’ve also thoroughly checked them for any mites/lice/fleas and they are definitely free of any little unwanted guests. They are on wood chips with some diatomaceous earth mixed in.Can anyone tell me what might be ailing this chicken? I do not believe it to be contagious, whatever it is, since neither of her brooder mates have come down with any symptoms whatsoever. But there’s definitely something going on with this hen. Thanks in advance for any advice!
To clarify, since this post is so long, the symptoms she is having are: laying down constantly, head tick, off balanced when on feet. None of her brooder mates show similar symptoms
If anyone is wondering, that noise in the background is that lavender Cockerel making a rather pathetic attempt to crow
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