How to Recognize a Sick Chicken

Unfortunately, every chicken keeper eventually has to deal with a sick chicken. Chickens get sick. Not very often but they do. Of course, baby chicks are more susceptible to illness with their immature immune system but even adult birds get sick. 

How to recognize a sick chicken? 

The main thing I look for is how they are acting. Are they doing normal chicken things? Scratching, foraging? Or have they isolated themselves from the flock? 

Withdrawn from the flock

Sometimes sick birds will be in the general vicinity as the rest of the flock but not really interacting. They don’t want to stand out to a predator so they will stay close to the rest of the flock for protection. 

Predators may watch your flock for a few days to look for the weaker, older, or even sick bird. Your bird will try and hide their illness as long as possible so if they are standing off to the side, it’s time to do some further investigating.

Tail Down

If a chickens tail is down, it’s usually a sign of just feeling bad or maybe in pain. This can be for a number of reasons. If your hen is egg-laying age, it could be a softshell egg or maybe egg bound. Are they overheated? Mites or lice? Possible injury?

Abnormalities with the comb 

A chicken’s comb is a great indicator of how they are doing. Comb color and size can vary depending on the breed. You need to be concerned if it is different than normal. 

A blue or purplish color comb can indicate heart or circulatory issues. 

A pale comb (pink if normally red) could be anemia, caused by mites, lice or worms but maybe coccidiosis. Birds that are overheated or dehydrated will also have a pale comb. 

Black spots could be the beginning of fowl pox but also could be from pecking or bumping into something. Black on the tips is usually frostbite. 

Combs come in all shapes and sizes. I always check to see if it’s flat, shrunken or flopped over. Trudy’s, our Leghorn, is always a little floppy so if it’s flat or shrunken, I start to worry. Just know what is normal for your bird then you’ll know if something looks off. 

When I feed the chickens or let them out in the morning, these are the first three things I look for. It’s something I do automatically and has become second nature. 

What else do I look for in a sick chicken? 

• Not eating or drinking  
• Watery or bubbly eyes 
• Diarrhea or loose stools 
• Blood in poop 
• Sneezing, Coughing or Wheezing 
• Lethargy
• A decrease in egg production 

Chickens will separate themselves from the flock when they are sick. Being part of a flock, many times the top hens will attack a sick chicken to protect the rest of the flock. Predators will recognize if one of your birds is sick so they will try to hide it as long as possible. Once you realize you have a sick bird, you’ll need to intervene quickly. 

What should you do if you have a sick chicken?

First thing is to separate as soon as possible. We use an old guinea pig cage as our sickbay and I’ll put them in our bathroom so I can keep a close eye out. Some people use a dog crate or a smaller henhouse or brooder. 

Living in a flock environment, they are drinking from the same waterers, using the same feeders and walking in each other’s poop. Once one is sick, illness spreads quickly. 

Tend to your healthy flock first before handling or feeding a sick chicken and as always use good hand washing. This will help lower the possibility of cross contamination. 

I like to give vitamins and probiotics in the water. If your bird isn’t drinking, use a syringe to keep them hydrated. 

When our chickens are in the sickbay, they always get a scrambled egg. I like to make sure they are eating and it never hurts for them to get a boost of protein. 

If your hen is egg-laying age, keep her in a dark room. This will suppress the release of an egg. If she’s really sick, more than likely she won’t lay anyways. 

It never fails that our girls have been sick or injured after hours or on the weekend. I’ve done the things above and luckily the girls improved with just a little intervention. We’ve dealt with Fowl Pox, Impacted Crop, Mites and Lice, Flystrike, and of course Pasty Butt. 

Now, if they don’t perk up from a little bit of TLC, contact your vet. If you don’t have a vet that treats chickens, sometimes your local feed store will have some great resources.

For more info on common chicken illnesses, check out that blog post.