[lukasmum]

My beautiful speckledy Sally seems to have lost some of her comb?! What remains looks really pale, and she looks pretty pale around the gills too.

Apart from that, she seems to be acting normally, and scooted off pretty pronto when I went to have a look at her.
I seem to remember a pale comb is a sign of illness. Any advice appreciated.
Thanks
Lukasmum

[oddpaws]

dont have very much experience but was wondering if it could be and iron problem? Have you noticed any remite in their house.
Sorry cant help anymore but someone will be along in aminute who can
Good luck

[lukasmum]

There were a few (countable!) mites when I cleaned them out last weekend, so the whole house was washed down with poultry shield, and diatom mixed with the bedding. Certainly not enough for a worrying  infestation.

Ive since been out and caught her. She has had a good once-over. No sign of lice or mites. A few feather coming out - I wonder if she's been attacked by one of my other girls? There were a few of her feathers strewn over their perch too.

Would they attack her knowing she was ill? She was always top of the pecking order!
Once caught, sh didn't put up much of a fight.  No sign of respiratory distress, crop seemed ok.  Some greenish watery pooh on the droppings board tho.
Does that help?
Thanks
Lukasmum

[poultrygeist]

Hi lukasmum.

They may well attack her if she appears weak. When you say part of the comb is missing, does it look like it's been pecked off /torn off ?
ie. Is there a wound ?

Has she been wormed ?

The poo thread is here http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0 if you can spot something that looks like what you saw.

Rob

[chickenlady]

Hi there! maybe she is going through her moult? especially a you have been finding feathers around!

Debbie

[lukasmum]

I had a good look at her comb - there didn't seem to be a wound - but it's like its shrunk!?
She was holding her tail down.

All chooks were wormed about 2 months ago.

She really does look pale.

[poultrygeist]

Could it be heat stress at all ?

Has she been sitting inside the coop for a long time while it's hot ?

Just a wild guess.

Rob

[lukasmum]

My girls have a huge securely fenced patch to sctratch about in, with some shading from trees and netting.  They are out all day, and wander back to the coop for bedtime.
They spend all day scratching about and dust bathing - and eating my spare veg.
Its a chooks life!
I don't think its a heat problem

[poultrygeist]

Hmmm. Can only think back to mites. But wouldn't just affect one I wouldn;t have thought.

If she's anaemic, maybe cooked liver might help but don't know what to suggest.

ROb

[lukasmum]

I had a good check on the chooks this morning. Poorly chook doesn't seem any worse than yesterday. She has a mucky rear-end. The greenish poo didn't seems anything sinister - having looked at the poo guide, but it seems constant, rather than occasionally greenish.

Have fed them all a tonic of fish, milk, oats, a tad of honey and a teeny bit of marmite watered down.  I'll get some yoghurt tomorrow, and do a similar mash with that. Hopefully that should up all the protein/vitamin/calcium levels.

She certainly tucked in, so appetite isn't a problem, and had a tasty snack of worms afterwards, when I turned some soil over for them. Tail was up and down. I'll monitor closely and see what happens.

What stage should I take her to the vets do you reckon? I hate to think of her suffering.
Thanks

Lukasmum

[poultrygeist]

I forgot to ask about eggs. Has she laid recently ?

And have you checked to see if she has one (poss broken ?) inside her ?

Rob

[lukasmum]

my chooks are passed their laying age I think. I get a very occasional egg, thats all.

I haven't checked to see if she has one stuck/broken. Not sure how to do that!
Any advice?
Thanks

[poultrygeist]

If you look at this thread, it goes into detail about checking and treating for eggbound hens.

It could be that she has an infection or virus but without any other symptoms it's hard to suggest anything. Would you be willign to get her checked by a vet if necessary ?

Rob

[lukasmum]

Ok, I'm going to try the warm bath thing, and see what happens. Might need to trim my finger nails up too!!! Poor girlie.

Pics of her looking mighty pale compare to my other beauties hopefully attached...

[poultrygeist]

Good luck.

Let us know how you get on. Hopefully someone will be able to suggest something further if she doesn't improve.

Rob