Treating Common Chicken Ailments

Learn how to identify and treat common chicken ailments in your backyard flock. Before heading to the vet you can try some home remedies for sick chickens.

By Julia Mason
Updated on August 27, 2022
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by AdobeStock/Nick Beer

Learn how to identify and treat common chicken ailments in your backyard flock. Before heading to the vet you can try some home remedies for sick chickens.

Caring for laying hens can be a challenge. The number of health problems that can befall your flock is mind-boggling, and a handful of particularly common issues can keep small-time poultry raisers up at night.

Fortunately, the most common problems are also the most treatable – with the right knowledge and skills. From egg binding to crop impaction, these problems will eventually come up if you keep hens for eggs. Here’s what you need to know to solve them.

Crop Impaction

If one of your hens suddenly seems listless, feeble, and apathetic, start by checking her crop, the part of the digestive tract that sits under a hen’s breast. If it looks distended or you can feel a hard mass, your chicken probably has an impacted crop.

A healthy hen’s crop fills when she eats, and then gradually empties as she digests her meal. However, when a hen consumes something that’s hard to digest, such as grass or stringy greens, her crop can stay full. If the hen can’t pass the blockage, she’ll look sickly, lose interest in eating, and eventually die.

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