[SPEEDY MERTYL]

Can anyone give me any ideas - my chicken has stopped eating and drinking, it is also shaking it's head a bit and  making very quiet squeeking noises.  not like her at all.

[helens-hens]

Hi there. How long has she not been eating or drinking for? Also what age is she? I am no expert but hopefully with a bit more info somebody else may have some ideas to help.

[Helenaj]

Have you felt her crop - is it "squishy" and full of liquid? It may be she has an impacted or sour crop and it's stopping her eating.

[Lindeggs]

Hi Mertyl - we will need quite a bit more info to help work out what the problem is.  There are many reasons why a chicken may stop eating and drinking and more detail is needed to help narrow it down.

My first suggestion is that if she has completely stopped eating and drinking she will be suffering from dehydration, which can kill a chicken very quickly.  Your best option for saving her is to act quickly and take her to a vet. 

If, for whatever reason, you can't get her to a vet then you need to get some fluid into her urgently.  Can you find a syringe (no needle of course) or an eye dropper, or some way of dripping water straight into her beak?  If you can add some multi vitamins to the water that will be even better.

Meanwhile it would be very helpful to know:
How long has she been like this?
How old is she and what breed?
Is she showing any other symptoms? (eg runny poo/dirty bottom?  Sitting hunched up?)
When was the last time she laid an egg?

As Helenaj suggested, do a physical exam and see if her crop is squishy, or if her tummy is squishy, or if you can feel her breast bone prominently through her skin.

[Helenaj]

You can buy medicine syringes from your chemist for as little as £1 (my Chemist advertises them as Medisyringe). They don't come with a needle and are usually used for giving babies medicine and I have used mine to death - dispensing antibiotics, feeding food or water to ill birds etc. In the end I went and bought a load and to be honest, I wouldn't be without them.

But as I said earlier (and Lindeggs), start with a physical examination and also listen to her breathing - is she raspy etc.