Helping a sick chicken

Once you have decided your chicken is sick you need to know how to help her back to good health. Be aware that most chicken illnesses are difficult to identify until after the chicken has died and a post mortem undertaken. So there is a limited amount of help available. There are 2 approaches you can take. Nurse her yourself and see if she recovers or nurse her and get the help of a domestic pet vet. Up to now we have chosen to look after our sick chickens ourselves. This approach is not for everyone so I have investigated the Vet option for you too.

When your chicken is sick the rest of the flock will know well before you do. In a small flock the girls tend to leave a sick chicken to her own devices.  It is not uncommon for her to be pecked though so removing her to a safe place is kinder than leaving her to fend for herself. This is true whether you seek a vet for help or not. However keeping her away from the flock will also cause her distress and if away for any length of time it will result in pecking when she goes back. So don’t keep her on her own for more than 3 days if possible and try to keep her company when she is in with you to alleviate some of her separation anxiety.

A point to note; if your chicken has an infectious disease she will already have passed it on to the others by the time you are aware of it. As soon as you notice more than one sick chicken showing the same symptoms and requiring assistance I suggest you go straight to seeking help from a vet. Your vet will be able to assess one chicken and then provide treatment for the entire flock.

Creating a chicken hospital

Once you have identified that one of the flock needs help you need to action. We have found that 24 hours indoors, with a little extra fuss and attention, will help you to identify whether she is going to recover or die. We always bring ours into the warmth of the house and bed them down in a box in a quiet dark corner.  This is primarily so that we can keep an eye on her and make sure she is having plenty to drink, without having to go outside every hour. What you don’t really want is a mess everywhere. So identify somewhere you can allocate her, where your chicken will not come to any additional harm, and if she makes a mess it will not be a problem. The kitchen is fine if you are able to keep her away from your food preparation areas, a utility room is better.

As mentioned above the sick bed for your chicken is most likely to be a cardboard box. The size of the box will depend upon how much energy your chicken has. We keep a big cardboard box handy for emergency chicken hospitals. The box needs to be big enough for your chicken not to jump out of and small enough for her to feel safe. Once used we burn the old box and replace it with a new one, so we are ready at all times for an emergency. This then lives in the garage flat packed. When needed we make the box up, line the base with a bin liner and put in a layer of straw, we leave the top open and cover it with a large towel at night . The towel helps to keep the chicken in the box and keep it dark for her, instant hospital.

Nursing a sick chicken back to health

Once indoors you will need to make sure your chicken has plenty of liquid. If really weak you may need to help her to drink. If she will eat, it is good to get her eating something. Mushy easy to swallow food is best, something like porridge or bread soaked in water for example. Whilst looking after her, it is best to massage her crop as sometimes a blockage here is causing the problem.

After 24 hours you should start to see some improvement. It is best to try and get your chicken back into her normal environment as quickly as you can so don’t extend her stay indoors any longer than necessary. A return within a day or two should not prove a problem to her especially if she is feeling better. However monitor closely for the first 24 hours and intervene again if she shows signs of deterioration or distress.

What to do if you see no improvement

If you see no improvement after 36 hours it is highly likely that your chicken is coming to the end of her life. You need to decide whether to;

• keep her indoors a little longer and wait it out,
• return her to the flock anyway and monitor her closely,
• take further action and try the Vet,
• intervene to bring forward the end of her life.

Keeping her indoors for an extended time

If keeping her indoors longer re-assess the situation every 12 hours. The longer you keep her in with you the worse her treatment will be if, or when, you decide to put her back with the others. If you choose to keep her in until she dies and not intervene, the end may take some days. All you can do is keep her comfortable and warm, trying to encourage her to eat and drink.

Having had a sick chicken inside for 2 weeks, we decided to bring in company for her overnight and return the healthy bird to the main flock every morning. This helped to reduce her stress and maintain her place within the flock. It was also beneficial when she finally returned to the hen house. You will not want to do this if the sick chicken is infectious.

Returning her to the flock

There only one thing to consider before you return a recovering chicken to her flock. Is she likely to suffer as a result. The call is yours and it will depend on how well she appears when you are ready to send her back. If you decide to put her back, and you think she is not fully recovered, you will need to keep a close eye on her for any signs of distress, a further deterioration in her health and/or signs of pecking. If you see any of these behaviours it is kinder to separate her again than leave her to suffer.

We have been in a situation when we chose to send a recovering chicken back to the flock. She was showing signs of improvement and appeared to be well for a day, she then died in the night on her perch. We like to think that our chicken had been with her family at the end and had spent her last hours in a familiar place. Fortunately the end had been quick in this instance. It is not always so.

The flock behaviour changes when one of them dies. They do not appear to be distressed but they are quiet and do not go near the dead bird. In addition to this their mourning period does not last as long.

Using a Vet

Most of the vets that care for domestic pets will be able to help with most of your usual chicken ailments and provide you with guidance for dealing with issues affecting a small flock. A small flock is less than 50 birds and is sometimes called a back garden or domestic flock. If you have more than 50 chickens you will need to find a specialist vet that deals with the issues a large flock experiences. In a small flock illness can be identified quickly and confined easily, in a larger flock illness will spread quickly and can have catastrophic results.

As mentioned above there is really very little a vet can do, unless your chicken has a broken leg or has been mauled by a dog and survived the incident. Most illnesses afflicting your chicken are viral and, as with humans, they just need to get over it. On occasion antibiotics can be administered to help aid recovery however a vet will only have a limited stock of the medicines most regularly used to dispense to you. The most common treatments are available in the pet supply stores so it will only be antibiotics you can get from the vet.

Due to the nature and speed of chicken illnesses it can be a challenge to identify the exact problem until after death anyway. So do not be surprised if there is little the vet can do to help. The cost of treatment is comparable to the cost of treating a cat or rabbit. This includes the initial appointment for diagnosis, basic treatments and prescription charges. It is also similar, in cost, for the vet to put down a chicken and dispose of the remains.

Choosing whether to intervene and bring forward the end of her life

If you choose to keep chickens there will come a time when they die. If you have a sick chicken and she does not recover within 36 hours it is highly likely that she will die. The decision over whether to intervene and bring this end forward will lie solely in your hands. Helping to end the life of any living being is not an easy thing to. But it is also not right to leave an animal to die in pain and distress either.

For more information about managing the end of your chickens life please read the section on coping with the death of a chicken. 

When a chicken gets sick it usually happens quickly and without much warning. On the positive side she will usually recover quickly as well and not need any attention to do it. Just like young children your chicken will not be able to tell you when she is not well. The trick to knowing whether your chicken is sick or just having a bad feather day, is to know her normal behaviours. As every chicken is an individual they will all show illness signs in a different way but there are a few signs to watch out for. If you notice any of the signs listed below then keep a closer eye. If your chicken is going to be sick it will be obvious in a day or two.

The most common signs that indicate all is not quite as it sould be include;

• Poor feather condition – There are a number of things that can lead to feather loss and most of them are not a problem at all. However if your chicken starts to ignore the dust bath and preening routine her feathers will soon start to look unkempt this is a sure sign that she is not right. If her feathers start to drop as well keep a closer eye on her

• A pale comb – when your chicken is healthy and well her comb will either, be a healthy pink and short if she is not laying or, a deep red and long if she is. If your chicken is under the weather her comb is likely to be short and a sickly, peachy pink colour. At this point keep a closer eye on her. If her comb goes white or grey you should take further action. Here are some examples of a healthy comb at the various stages of being ready for egg production.

• Weight loss – Weight loss is not always an issue as your chicken loses weight when she is not laying, but it can be an early sign of trouble especially if combined with any of the other behaviours described. If you notice weight loss and it is not at a time when egg laying would be expected to stop, keep a closer eye.
• Feather loss – your chickens will moult naturally probably one a year and probably in the middle of winter when you would least expect it to happen. Not all chickens moult in the same way either. Some loose feathers gradually over time, some loose feathers in patches around the head before gradually losing the rest, others drop the lot and look fairy naked for a few weeks. It can be disconcerting to find a run full of feathers, it does not mean your chicken is sick. If your chicken is showing other signs of distress then you may have cause for concern and need to take action.
• Sulkiness – yes your chicken will sulk and you will soon get to know if you are the cause or if she is in trouble. A sick chicken sulk tends to be quieter and she stands apart from the rest of the flock generally not engaging in any chicken activity. She will stand around with her back to the world, have her shoulders hunched and refuse to acknowledge you when you throw in her favourite food. In this instance keep a closer eye.
• Croaky voice – a normal chicken call is quite clear and pleasant to hear. If your chicken is coming down with something she may well sound different and the best I can describe is that she will sound croaky. Croakiness comes and goes, sometimes it will last a week or two. It is not a cause for concern on it’s own.

Any one of the above indicators on its own is not necessarily an issue but could be an early warning sign. If you observe any of the following behaviours then action needs to be taken;

• Will not leave the nest box – a chicken that will not leave the nest box is probably broody. One of the issues with broodiness is that they will not come out to eat or drink. Broodiness is not an illness but it is a time when your chicken will need to be monitored more closely and action may need to be taken. Normally if you lift her out and make sure she is eating and drinking she will be fine
• Lethargy – normally your chicken will be full of life and will run about digging for worms. If she usually is difficult to pick up and suddenly can’t be bothered to move when you approach, this is a trigger for closer inspection. If she is normally happy to scratch about and then starts to stand around showing little interest in her environment with a general demeanour of unwellness, you need to take action.
• Severe Pecking – hen pecking is part of the nature of chickens. They do it all the time in order to establish the top hen. Whoever is at the bottom of the pecking order will be pecked the most. If you have an unidentified sick chicken she is soon going to be at the bottom of the pecking order. If she is pecked to the point of experiencing blood loss you will need to step in.
• Floppy and unable to stand – if your chicken is in this condition you definitely have a sick chicken and need to take action immediately

In general your chicken will be fit and healthy and you will only ever observe the occasional bad feather day. If you observe a lot of bad feather days quite close to each other it may be a sign that your chicken is reaching the end of her life. If she has been with you for some time and you suspect this to be the case all you can do is to give her extra love and attention. It will happen to them all one day but hopefully they will have had a long and happy life with you first.

If you need any other information please let us know and we will do the best we can to help.

If you have some photo's to share, we would love to hear from you or you can post them on our Facebook page.

Managing chicken pests is essential in keeping your flock healthy. If left uncontrolled either the pests will get ahead of the game and some or all of your flock will die, or the general health of your chickens will suffer, they will become susceptible to other viruses and die. If you have done a tonne of research you will probably have been having nightmares. There is a big difference between the issues managed by commercial chicken owners and those faced by the domestic pet owner. This appears to be what the writers of most “Chicken Owners Guides” seem to forget. Fortunately most of the problems you are likely to experience can be managed easily.

Pests are living organisms that have invaded the body or living environment of your chickens. In a domestic environment the most common of these are;

• Red Mites
• Parasitic worms
• Scaly leg
• Rats
• Foxes

They are all manageable.

Red Mites

These tiny little bugs naturally live in the soil in your garden. They are nasty little blood suckers and will find your chickens a very tasty treat. If left untreated a small invasion will rapidly develop into an epidemic and your chickens will die from blood loss. Red Mites are unavoidable. However there are things you can do to keep them at bay and make the lives of your girls more comfortable.

Red Mites tend to like to live and breed in cosy warm spaces close to their food source. They will soon locate the nesting boxes and perches, which are your chickens preferred resting places, and set up home in the crevices created in the manufacture of the chicken coops. Mites are particularly partial to wooden construction houses with laminated wood or felt roof coverings. Once they have invaded the hen house your mites will reproduce quickly and you will start to see evidence of them. Normally this means you will see bloody specks on your eggs and when you clean out the house you will find them amongst the newspaper coverings, on the perches, especially on the ends, and on any nest box dividers. Once you find them you will know what they are because they are tiny, red and move. Yuck, it makes me itch thinking about it.
When managing red mites, cleanliness is next to godliness. You can buy red mite treatments in powder and liquid form. The powder cuts into the body of the mite and it will die. The liquid covers the mite and it suffocates.

It is best to avoid an invasion in the first place and for routine management we have found the powder works best. Your chickens love to take a dust bath and, unlike a teenage human, this desire does not go away. Make use of this phenomenon as soon as your girls identify a regular bathing spot and liberally sprinkle the powder in. As your girls bathe they will cover themselves with powder, it's personal hygiene at its best. Do this once a month or so, more often in summer. We also sprinkle powder around the nesting boxes and into the crevices where the perches rest when we undertake routine house cleaning, more because I can’t stand the mites than because it is absolutely necessary
If you suffer an invasion you will need to up the anti and get with the liquid. A full house clean and liberal spraying with the liquid each week for a month will deal with the majority of the invasion. Do this on top of liberal dusting in the dust bath and if necessary a liberal direct dusting on each chicken as well. Bear in mind your mites will have laid eggs, so yes a month of intensive treatment will be necessary. After this you will be able to revert to the regular powder treatment.

Please note; you will never get rid of Red Mites completely. Dealing with Red Mites is a weekly or monthly management program, depending upon how much you hate and loathe them! A sprinkle a month, job done – simple!

Parasitic Worms

Parasitic worms exist in the soil and therefore it is highly likely that your chickens will pick them up, after all the girls eat off the ground. You will know there is an infection if you see little white worms in the girls pooh. Not treating for worms will cause your chickens to suffer from the inside. Their immune systems will weaken and they will eventually die, probably from an unrelated virus. Fortunately this is a condition that you can manage on a monthly basis as part of your routine.
Again this is something that you will not eradicate; your chickens have to live with it. Therefore you need to manage worms and it is strongly recommended that treatment be applied on a regular basis. Worming pellets are available from stockists of chicken food. You should give the girls a dose of pellets with their food once a month or according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Do this and there will be no worms - simple

Scaly Leg

Scaly leg is another condition caused by a parasitic mite. We have not had an infection of scaly leg so I have sought out information from others on this one. The parasite burrows under the scales on your birds legs and sometimes gets into their combs. The scales lift off and protrude, they sometime get a white crust on them. In itself I am told scaly leg will not kill however it is an unpleasant experience for the chickens and is transferred by touch, so if one has it the flock are highly likely to get it.

There are off the shelf treatments for the condition which need to be applied according to the manufacturer’s instructions. You will find the treatments at your food stockists.This is not a condition that needs routine management in the way Red Mites do. It is something that should be watched out for though. So when you are giving your chickens a little extra love and a hug, routinely check their legs for any signs – simple.  

Rats

Rats are a part of life whether you have chickens or not. Most of us rarely, if ever, come across them but I assure you they are there. The rats, and other rodents for that matter, are not interested in your chickens; they are interested in your chicken’s food. After all you put the food out in an easy to access container, available to anyone that wants it, and your rat will go for the easy option if possible.

The other issue with rats is that they will chew through the wire or dig underneath it to get to what they want. Having a hole in the fence protecting your girls will give access to the crafty fox and your fox is interested in your chickens rather than their food. Therefore managing the ease of access to food and monitoring for fence damage or access holes are your main concerns here. Please note that your chickens are vicious beasts and will happily kill and eat a mouse or small rat. They will have a go at a medium rat too so your rat will not hang around with your chickens but they will not be happy and that will effect egg production.

You are only likely to see your rat if it gets caught in the run as they tend to be active at night. Our trapped rat got a spade on its head. Remember that there are rats everywhere, if we are not aware that they are present we choose to ignore them, they are not causing us a problem so live and let live. But as soon as they start to become evident we take no prisoners, we do not do humane traps as we don’t want rats upsetting the chickens. The approach of cold winter weather as winter approaches tends to send your local rat population searching for easy to access food, so that is the time to up the anti when doing your routine checks.

There is no way we can kill all the rats around, so we manage access to food as best we can. Stored food is kept in our garage in a lidded bin. If we have to leave the bin out at all, we put the food in a watertight container with a brick on top for good measure. We check the run wire on a regular basis. If we find any evidence of ratty visitors, it is time to put the poison down and fix any holes. Filling in any runs that go under the wire. This is a good way of monitoring whether the poson has been successful, if the hole reappears keep up the poison treatment. If you are uncertain of your approach visit your local Countrywide store, we have found them extremely helpful in this particular arena. Always follow the manufacturers guidelines and don't put the poison inside the run where your girls can get at it. Job done – Simple. 

Foxes

Your fox loves to get a bit of chicken for supper. Unfortunately foxes won’t just take what they want and come back for more later. If your fox gets to your chickens it will kill them all, take what it wants and leave the rest. This is very distressing and can be traumatic for children.

You are equally likely to experience fox problems if you live in a built up environment as you are in the countryside. After all why go to a lot of effort to get food when it is left out for you in easy to access litter bins. Or kind humans leave it laying around for you to help yourself. Managing foxes is more about security and waste food management than anything else. You will not be popular if you try shooting them and there are no potions, powders or sprays to keep them at bay.  The following steps should become part of your regular routine, don’t get lazy.

• Make sure your hens are safe at night and cannot get out to free range in the day if you don’t want them to.
• Do not make a habit of leaving food out for foxes as your hens are food too and they will not distinguish between the two.
• If you have human food waste for your bin make sure it is properly wrapped and disposed of.
• As per the rat issue, holes in security fences will be the easiest route in. The wire of our run goes below the surface as well, so should foxy try to dig under, it will need to go down deep. Check and fix holes as they appear.

To date we have lost one of our flock to the fox and that was because she decided to take a midnight walk! We know the fox comes around to visit as it leaves little pooh parcels as a calling card. Be vigilant – simple.

One last word, which is an old man’s tale and we have not gone there. Get a man to pee in the watering can and spray around the boundaries of your garden. It’s a testosterone smell thing. We won’t tell anyone I promise, but let us know if you try and it works!

If you have some photo's to share, we would love to hear from you or you can post them on our Facebook page.

As with any pet there will come a time when your get a sick chicken. I have spoken to too many potential owners who have done a pile of research into all the chicken ailments known before they take that final step to becoming a chicken owner. A lot stay potential owners on the basis of this research. Our approach to this was to not worry about it until it happened and we have never needed to go to a book to look up anything our chickens have come down with.

We have found that the majority of our chicken health issues have centred on the occasional cold, the occasional bad feather day and pest control. If you manage the pests as part of your daily, weekly or monthly routine you give your chickens the best chance to resist all the other ailments and viruses they might get and therefore they should live a long and happy life. This approach has served us well so far.

No matter how well you keep your chickens there will also come a time when their lives come to an end. Death is part of the cycle of life and is unavoidable, unless you give your chickens away before that time comes. The one thing we struggled to find information about has been dealing with the death of a chicken, especially if you need to help her on her way. Watching your chickens die a slow distressing death is not nice for you and cruel to your chicken.

In this section we will look at;

• Managing pest control
• Identifying a sick chicken
• Helping a sick chicken recover
• Looking after a sick chicken
• Dealing with the death of a chicken