Hen needs help recovering after brooding

Penny raised 8 chicks in the late fall. She was an excellent mother and then one day had nothing to do with the chicks again. Bewildered, they huddled together under the chicken coop, but they actually managed very well. However, Penny has not fared well at all. She wears a chicken saddle because she is bred by the roosters. She is the only hen of all of them that is featherless on her back and on one wing joint. I put a chicken saddle on her, though I think it is a tad small because her featherless back peeks out from under it. Her comb colour is good and she is eating and drinking, but she weighs nothing. The chicken flock has not been dewormed as a whole, only the newcomers that were in quarantine for a long time. I am getting eggs daily.

I have read several threads on worming. For Penny, I could easily catch her and put a few drops of Ivomectin on her neck if need be. I tried isolating her, but she was miserable, so I let her back to the flock. I am worried that she will have no reserves for the real cold when it comes.

Any hints? The other hen that was broody at the same time is setting again.

I have had a mare that went downhill raising a foal, but never a hen. It's different with hens. THey do not produce food for their young so the drain on their body is not the same as it is on a horse or cow.

A setting hen is a target for all sorts of crawling predators and lice and mites can suck the life right out of your hen while she sets. But even a setting hen leaves the nest to eat, drink and poop. Very few hens starve to death in the course of setting, unless they are exceptionally stupid.

If your hen seems thin, I would suspect other causes than the effort of raising young. It could be in that keeping her chicks away from the others, so they were not attacked, she herself went without food. If the others bully her and the kids out of food, she may indeed have lost weight. Having food where she can get it does not mean she is able to access it freely. Where is she on the pecking order? If she is low man, she is chased away from food. She may have been miserable alone, but if you want to bulk her up for winter, alone may be your only option.

It wouldn't hurt to worm her but I doubt worms are the main culprit. Good luck.

Eee gads, yep know what you mean. A broody mamma hen does become incredibly thin after sitting on eggs for 21 days. But...she should have gained weight back as soon as she began to teach the babies to eat. She eats lots when she is teaching those babies the facts of life -- and the main fact of life is to eat and drink. For surely. Pick that gal up and check for parasites. A sitting hen creates the perfect environment for not only incubating eggs, but for incubating any other nasties. Picture the nasties. A warm, humid place to go and eat and procreate. Seriously. That is the perfect brooder, for everything under the sun. I bet even mice will try to keep warm below that beautiful and awesome belly of the broody hen, if she doesn't figure out they are mice....hmmmm....now I wonder if a mouse went under that warm and beautiful belly, if the mamma might think that an egg has hatched and it is one of hers. Eeeks, what a thought. But honestly Fat Ewe, she may need some extra attention. Separation will stress her out, so you might need to add more nutritive food to her and the others and get some worming in place. Piperazine is a good wormer and easy. I would reach for that one, a common chicken wormer. Good luck, keep us advised of how things go for the girl. Have a most wonderful day, and with great health wishes for us all, CynthiaM.

I have whole flock wormers, but I don't want to treat the flock if only one hen is showing symptoms of being thin. I did have that rooster who died of gapeworm, though until he died, I did not know what he had and it was so sudden. I know there are parasites in the flock - there have to be simply by the nature of animals and on the farm there are many many animals. The chickens root through the sheep manure all the time, and some go into the pot belly pig pen. In summer they are everywhere and are into horse, llama, goat, dog, cat, duck, goose, alpaca and sheep manure.

I will worm Penny individually with Ivomectin drops on her neck. I did that after she hatched, but she is very thin. The good thing is that Ivomectin kills more than worms. The only thing it does not get is biting lice and tapeworms. Maybe she has tapeworms. To worm her for those though, I would separate her and give her Valbazen in the water, but the eggs are off limits for a month.

I don't know why but whenever one of my hens stops looking after her chicks the roosters harass her like crazy. Its like she is giving off some signal that she is available again. My poor orpington girl won't come off the roost in the morning because they are waiting for her. They are always chasing her and she is the last to go in at night when she used to be one of the first.. I hate roosters right now. my husband is going to dispatch a few this week. If your hen has this happening she may not be getting enough to eat because she is so spooked.

I gave her some Valbazen, tetracycline and piperazine today. I will give her tetracycline for the next few days. She is a bit raspy, maybe caught a cold from being weakened. When I go to town the next few days I will find something tasty for her. I put her in the dog kennel for an hour, but she is miserable out of circulation and I do not really want to stress her anymore. The roosters are after her, yes. She is eating though. They only eat outside and it seems they go out in rounds. She is going out with the chicks and bantams and seems to be eating and drinking. Hopefully the wormer will take care of any varmints. I will worm her again in 10 days, just in case there are eggs if she did have worms. The thing is I do not know for sure which egg is hers . boo hoo