Hen maybe sick
Hen maybe sick. Her comb is very cold and blue she is very sleepy and not eating much. Answer The first thing I would do is try to get her warmed up. Keep her from drafts and get her near a poultry heat lamp or some way of warming up her body. I would offer her some warm fluids, either water, or fruit juice or an electrolyte product, like Gatorade (with sugar) or a poultry vitamin/electrolyte. It sounds like her body is shutting down. Being that cold means her circulation is poor and she needs help fast. Often providing heat and some stimulating electrolyte fluids can perk-up a sick chicken, so she is alert, hungry and able to snap out of this. If you don’t have access to electrolytes you can mix 1 tbsp of sugar or honey in ½ cup of warm water and add a pinch of salt. If she hasn’t been eating or drinking enough she is probably dehydrated and her blood-sugar level is too low for her to function. I couldn’t tell you why this has happened for sure; possibly the winter months have been hard on her and depleted her nutritionally. You may find that she is thin, with her keel breast bone protruding. If you can get her alert and eating well I would offer her a conditioning feed daily, some fresh fruit and greens every day, and try to get the weight back on her. Once she is alert there is no need to continue the electrolytes or juice or sugar water, but keeping her and your other chickens on a vitamin schedule and the best possible balanced diet, may help prevent this in the future. This kind of shut down could point to something toxic in the environment. I would check everywhere the chickens can go and see if you find something they got into. Hope she pulls through.
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