Chicken Medical Issues:
Molly Parent
The Chicken Hospital:
It is probably a good idea to devote a space to become your “chicken hospital”
where you can place birds that need closer attention. This area should be
bedded down, have easy water and food access, and have a heat source
(depending on the age of the bird a heat source may not be necessary).
Walking Funny-
If you notice your bird walking funny it could be due to a leg injury, a genetic
defect, or Bumblefoot. If your bird has a leg injury or genetic defect but is still
able to get around well enough to eat, drink and find shelter, it is probably fine
to leave it in with the general population. However, if it is unable to do these
things you should move it to the
hospital where it can possibly
recover or at least live somewhere
where it can get food and water and
be sheltered. If you inspect the
chicken’s feet and find that they are
inflamed or have round lesions, it is
probably Bumblefoot. Mild cases of
this can be treated by washing the food daily with antiseptic or properly diluted
iodine. The bird should be kept in a clean, dry area (chicken hospital) until it
recovers. Treatment of more severe cases or cases that do not improve should
be discussed with a vet. To prevent Bumblefoot you should make sure your
hoop house stays as clean and dry as possible and to remove any harmful
objects that could cut your chicken’s feet from your chicken yard.
Legs Not Working-
Bird presents with inability to walk. May shuffle around on its breast, hang out
on its side, or find itself flipped on its back and unable to get up (turtled). The
bird is usually dirty and a bit listless. This is usually due to nutritional deficiency,
injury, or the bird growing too fast and its legs are unable to keep up. These
birds will be dehydrated due to inability to get to water, so you should hold
them up to a nipple and allow them to drink before you take any other action.
If you believe it is due to nutritional deficiency, you can put the bird into the
chicken hospital and add a vitamin supplement to the water (these can be
bought online). If you believe it is an issue of too much growth you can move
the bird to the chicken hospital and try decreasing its food intake. Do not take
the bird off of food entirely, just decrease the amount to which it has access. If
the bird has an injury to its legs, such as a broken or dislocated leg, you may
want to consider cull it so as to put it out of its misery. It is still safe to eat if it is
big enough and you want to keep it for your own consumption. If the bird does
not seem to be in pain from its injury and just can’t get around to eat or to
drink, you can try to raise it up in the chicken hospital where you can keep it
clean and give it access to food and water.
Distended Crop-
This is most likely a condition called Pendulous Crop. This is caused when a
bird’s crop gets blocked and food gets stuck in it and eventually stretches out
the crop. This continual stretching of the crop muscles causes damage and the
crop is unable to move food on to the next
digestive stage. These birds will be very
hungry because they cannot get any food
to their stomach and will be losing weight.
Mild cases can sometimes be reversed by
putting the bird on an all water diet for
24-48 hours in order to soften the food
and help it get moving. More serious
cases may require you to empty the bird’s
crop by following these steps:
1. Soften the food by carefully pouring
either liquid Paraffin, warm water, or a
few teaspoons of olive oil into the crop
2. Gently massage the crop for around 5 minutes
3. Hold the bird upside down and massage food out through the beak. Only do
this for short periods (10 seconds max). The bird needs to breathe. Do this
until the crop is empty
4. Put this bird on a diet water and small amounts of food for a while
*If the bird’s crop is too damaged to function properly the crop will just fill back
up again.
General Lethargy-
This could be due to many things, but if you find a bird that is sluggish and not
very responsive, you should keep a close eye on it. Its behavior could be
because it is cold, dehydrated, or has not gotten enough food. If you are
concerned you should put it in your chicken hospital to warm up, rest, and get
some food and water without competition from other birds.
Found Dead on Back-
The most likely cause of death when you find your bird dead and sprawled out
on its back is a heart attack. The cause is not yet known for sure, but it is
theorized that the bird was gaining weight and growing too fast and the heart
could not keep up with the body. If you are having a real problem with heart
attacks in your birds you may want to slow down the growth of your birds. You
may be pushing them too hard.
Green Meat-
Sometimes you will find a bit of green meat
on the breast of your chicken when you have
finished processing. This is caused by Deep
Pectoral Myopathy (also called green muscle
disease) or bruising on the bird. DPM is
caused when the blood supply to those
muscles is decreased due to swelling of
another muscle. The muscle with a
decreased blood supply soon begins to die
and become necrotic. This is usually located
deeper in the breast of the bird. If there are
greenish marks on the outside of the bird it is
most likely because of bruising from other
birds or rough handling. Both of these conditions can be prevented by limiting
stressful exercise for the birds and with careful capturing of the birds. See “Bird
Handling” for proper instruction.
Bloody Diarrhea-
This is usually a sign that your bird has Coccidiosis, a disease where the animal’s
GI tract is infected with Coccidian protozoans. Other signs you may notice are
weight loss, pasty butt (fecal matter build up around the bird’s vent), mucus
textured feces, lethargy, and decreased eating and drinking. If you notice a bird
with pasty butt you should clean the vent and surrounding area with warm
water and a paper towel so as to clear the area. If the animal cannot defecate
then it will die. There are treatments for coccidiosis that you can buy online or
at feed stores. There is more information on treatments in the Coccidiosis
handout in the “Resources” section of this binder. If you notice a bird with
these symptoms separate them from the group to keep under observation. To
prevent this disease you must keep your hoop house as clean and dry as
possible. There are also medications that can be added to your feed in order to
prevent coccidiosis.