[Maybelle]

Hi, never posted before, and never had chickens before either, so hopefully someone will be able to help me.

Have just got our first three chickens (2 days ago infact!), and today i am rather worried about one of them.

 This morning and later today i went out to find the one inside sitting sulkily. When i looked closer there was a clump of blood on the roosting bars and what looked like sick in the nest. We heard her sneeze a few times and found further blood outside on the lawn.  Although i havent been in all day to watch her,  i havent seen her eat yet like the other two, who seem to pecking at the lawn and drinking. She was eating and drinking yesterday)    Could it be ralted to stress of moving? Or is it something more worrying?

Sorry about the long post, I hope somebody can give me advice

thanks

[poultrygeist]

Hi maybelle. Welcome to the forums

have you checked her over generally ?

Things ot look at include round the vent (bum) area. Is there blood there ?
Is her comb & wattle a nice deep red colour ?
Is her crop full or empty ?

How old are they ?
Are they ex-bat or from a reputable breeder/seller ?

And could you post up any photos of the blood/poo ?

The more info the better.

Rob

[HENrietta]

Hi Maybelle, Welcome to this site. I am like yourselve new to hen keeping (a year now) I think if i was you and you had any concerns i would get in touch with whom you brought her from. The farm that we get our hens from are brilliant and never mind us ringing. They will be able to tell you if there was any illness or anything like that. My new hen had blood in her poo when she first arrived, and now she is fine. I would try to coaxse her out for a spot of water she how she responds. Hope all goes well.
HENrietta

[shiatsusu]

Most of ours got colds within a week of arriving but not with blood. I'd watch her and if she seems no better tomo get her to the vet. Hopefully it'll be nothing serious but could be an infection or internal damage and then would need attention so if it was me I would get it checked out.

[Maybelle]

Oh my goodness!  Couldnt believe that three people have come back to me with their thoughts - it's sooo kind of you all!  After I posted my concern, I emailed the lady I had her from and she has since come back to say she thinks I should take her back to her for an antibiotic injection.  I will do this tomorrow.  She also suggested giving her garlic, but she's not eating so have bought some garlic puree which I will add to their drinking water in the morning.  I have also put a stone hot water bottle in with her for the night to try and give her some comfort.  Many thanks to all of you and will let you know how it goes.

[poultrygeist]

For the drinking water, you can just put a crushed clove of garlic in teh drinker. It helps to keep their digestive system balanced apparently.

Good luck with her and keep us updated.

Rob

[Maybelle]

Well, here is the update on my poorly girl.  This morning she was really wheezy and her beak was open to breath.  Wouldn't eat but did drink water with added garlic.  The Eglu is sprayed with mucus/blood.  Took her and our other two back to lady we had them from and she gave them all an antibiotic injection.  She has kept our poorly girl to monitor and promises to keep me informed.  The other one we had wouldnt open her eye this morning. We have now bathed this which seems to have helped. Meanwhile, we brought back another one of the same breed, as advised by her, but OMG she is picking on the other two terribly - the one of which is only an 11wk old speckled hen. I am also worried about the other 16wk old one, who just seems to be standing there half asleep or trying to flee the new bully.  I don't know what to do!  My daughters are both really distraught.  I feel completely out of my depth here. 

[poultrygeist]

Hi again Maybelle.

Without naming names, are you happy with the breeder ?  ie. does she appear to be caring and reputable or do you suspect she may just be pushing out sick hens in the hope of making a quick buck ?
Obviously a difficult thing to assess without experience.
It does sound as if your hens may have some sort of viral infection that really needs vet treatment.
I don;t know what to suggest as a next step but you're clearly not happy with the way things are going.
One option may be to take them back for a refund and find another breeder.
Another option is to have them checked by a vet and then confront the lady if there's anything seriously wrong.
Or wait and see if things settle in a day or two.
Hang on to see what other members think and you'll hopefully get a better idea of what may be best.

Rob

[shiatsusu]

Hi Maybelle- Rob's right, get them checked out by a vet and you'll know more. In the meantime you need to separate the new girl but keep her within sight of the other two and put them all to bed together at night. They should be fine at night but you'll need to put her in her own run during the day while they get used to each other. We had to do this when introducing a new girl for best part of a fortnight- there was horrible bullying initially and now they are all fine together. They need to be able to see each other without being able to attack. If they do have a virus it may well spread to the others so watch them for any signs of illhealth.
Poor you!   You are having a rough time. But I promise keeping hens is lovely once you get over the teething problems  

[Vember]

Hi Maybelle

The stress of moving to a new house might just have triggered something in your girls and hopefully it will settle down now they've had the antibiotic

If it doesn't then it might be best to find a poultry friendly vet to give them the once over as suggested above

I will keep every thing crossed for you

Sarah

[Foxy]

Sorry but this is not good

I would recommend taking all the birds back and NOT exchanging for any more. Unfortunately your birds could have a couple of problems 1. Mycoplasma with complications, common in young birds a bacterial upper resp. infection, complications of myco usually cause mortality and survivors may infect any new birds you bring in through "shedding". 2. Infectious ILT -a nasty viral infection which causes a frothy.,bl***y mucus, typically "sprayed" around a henhouse. This has a high mortality and is very infectious.  If the blood is coming from the vent and they so sound young it may even by coccidiosis.
Then disinfect your henhouse with something like" Virkon S" and leave for a few weeks.
This is only my opinion, I am really sorry, but the risk is unfortunately that a lot of her birds are infected and or carriers and as I think you are new to chicken keeping I would look elsewhere in this instance.

[poultrygeist]

I agree with Foxy. Does sound serious.

Whereabouts are you Maybelle ?   Maybe someone will know of a local vet or breeder who could help.

Please feel free to ask anything you want to know and don't be put off by this experience.

Rob

[Maybelle]

Have just logged on after a pretty fraught few hours, having now separated the new hen from the other two.  I must say, me and my daughter have shed a few tears reading the posts on the possible causes of our poorly hen Mabel.  Frighteningly though, the symptoms for Infectious ILT seem pretty well bang on  - when I got back this afternoon, I disassembled the Eglu to disinfect with Jeyes Fluid and it was spattered all over with mucus and blood.  Our decision for tonight is to keep the new one separated overnight, see how they all are in the morning, and if no improvement or worse, reluctantly take them all back.  I have emailed the Seller to inform her and included a link to a site about Infectious ILT, as I know she has more hens arriving on Thursday.  We all feel really, really upset by this but want to really thank you all for your help, support and advice.  Can't say at the moment whether we will get any more as this has knocked us for six. Sorry for the long post and will keep you informed.  ttfn. 

[poultrygeist]

All the best Maybelle. Sorry you have had such a hard introduction to poultry keeping.

I hope you can stay with it. But whatever you decide, feel free to stick around. You can share in watever we have to offer.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Rob

[shiatsusu]

I think you're making the right decision- I read Foxy's post and it sounds like really good advice. HOWEVER- please don't let this upsetting experience put you off having hens. I've just returned to chook keeping after an absence of (too many to count!) years and it really is a magical experience. There are plenty of healthy birds out there and it sounds to me like you've just been incredibly unlucky. Will be sending you lots of positive vibes this evening