Sick chickens? View the chart or simply type in the symptoms in our site search box below to find out what may be wrong with causes, symptoms, and treatments available.

What to do if you think your chicken may be sick

PictureChicken Health Tips. CHOE. Photo of Lil' Snowball white frizzle chick.
If you find a chicken that is injured or showing signs of illness in your flock, you should separate the sick bird from the flock just in case the illness is contagious and to prevent other flock birds from pecking at the injured or sick bird. You can then take them to your local veterinarian or you can try to diagnose the chickens condition yourself by finding symptoms and possible cures on this list of pages, or buy a book on chicken illness and disease. It is a good idea to practice Biosecurity methods and to visually inspect each of your chickens every single day for signs of illness or disease, isolate sick birds right away, make a health plan for your chickens so that you know what to do in an emergency situation, and keep track of any health issues and treatments you administer or a vet administers for each bird.  Write down your birds symptoms and research all of your treatment options and you will have an easier time identifying the illness. (See chart below). You can choose the appropriate treatment or seek care from a local animal vet that services poultry if you have one in your area. If your chicken is injured or sick you should start giving them vitamins and electrolytes in their water to boost their immune system, and be sure to wash and change your clothing and shoes before attending to other coops and flocks to prevent spreading sickness to uninfected flocks. 

Chicken Sickness Symptom & Treatment Chart

This chart lists some of the most common illnesses and diseases chickens get, the symptoms and a link to possible treatments for them. Chart is not in alphabetical order at this time.
Crop Canker
Symptoms of Crop Canker: Lesions-Yellow-white, encased necrotic nodules which cause an obstruction
Green saliva
Cheesy like lesions in the digestive tract
Go to Crop Canker Treatments
Eye Worm
Symptoms of eye worm are swollen puffy eye, redness around the eye, drainage, listlessness
Go to Eyeworm
​Treatments
Cecal Coccidiosis
Symptoms of Coccidiosis parasite is blood in their feces (poop), paleness, listlessnes
Go to Cecal
​Coccidiosis Treatments
Heat Stress
Chest deformities, such as kyphosis
Chest injuries
Chest muscle weakness
Chronic lung disease  
Confusion
Easy fatigue
Lethargy
Shortness of breath
Sleepiness  
Weakness and deteriorated condition 
Go to Acidosis (heat stress) in chickens: signs, prevention, and treatment
Necrotic Enteritis
Symptoms of Necrotic Enteritis:
Eats less
Dark blood stained feces with a strong fetid odor
Severely infected chickens will have diarrhea.
Abnormally thin or weak
Go to Necrotic Enteritis,
​Symptoms & Treatments
Foot Problems
Limping, holding
one foot up, scabs on bottom of foot
How to treat foot problems
Fowl Pox
Dry form Symptoms
Listlessness
Slowed growth rate
Noticeable decline in egg production (see Table 1 ).
Raised Wart-like lesions on head, legs, vent and other feathered areas 
Lesions 
Wet form Symptoms:
Canker sore type lesions in:
Mouth 
Pharynx
Larynx
Trachea
Respiratory distress which obstructs upper air passages
Go to Fowl Pox
​Symptoms & Treatments
Leg Problems
Limping
Walking crooked
Lumps
Sores
Splayed Legs-Signs & Treatments: Hobbling Chickens
Raised scales
Listlessness
Pale comb and/or wattles
Go to Leg problems in chickens/signs/symptoms/treatments
Prolapse/Egg Peritonitis/Egg Stuck Inside Hen
Hen sitting around more than usual
​Never sitting down
Standing more upright with legs spread apart
Listless
Pale comb
Swollen or hard abdomen, redness
Blood around the vent area 
Go to Egg Bound/Prolapse/Egg Peritonitis Symptoms & Treatments

See How to tell if your hen is egg bound
Marek's Disease
Skin form-Enlarged reddened feather follicles, white bumps on skin that form crusty scabs".
Nerve form-Progressive paralysis in leg or wing, weight loss, labored breathing, diarrhea, starvation and death  
Ocular (eye form)-  Gray eye color,  misshaped iris, weight loss, blindness, and death. 
Internal-organ form-Tumors on internal organs.
Go to Marek's Disease
Signs, Symptoms & Prevention
​Newcastle Disease
Hoarse chirps (in chicks)
Watery discharge from nostrils
Labored breathing (gasping)
Facial swelling
Paralysis
Trembling
Twisting of the neck (sign of central nervous system involvement)
Eat less feed
Drink less water
Significant drop in egg production
Go to Newcastle Disease
Symptoms & Treatments
​Respiratory Disease
​Symptoms:
Mild Lesions
Coughing
Sneezing
Rales
Difficulty breathing
Foamy eyes
Reduced growth rate
Loss of egg production
​Can be more severe when combined with other diseases. 
​​​Respiratory Disease-Kinds-Signs, Symptoms & Treatments
Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD) Symptoms & Treatments​
Wry Neck Syndrome
Twisted neck, bent neck, head looking sideways toward the sky
Go to Wry Neck-Causes, Symptoms & Treatments
Ascite Syndrome
Most often found in meat birds
Abdominal redness
Slowed or stopped growth rate
​Birds lay on their backs when dying &
​Have purple face
Go to Ascites-Signs, Symptoms & Treatment
Lymphoid Leukosis
​Lack of appetite
Weakness
Diarrhea
Dehydration
Emanciation
​Depression right before death
Sometimes an enlarged bursa
Enlarged liver
​Paralysis
Infected birds may not always develop tumors you can see but they will lay fewer eggs.
Go to Lymphoid Leukosis Treatments
Candidiasis/Thrush/Sour Crop/Crop Mycosis
White, yellowish or cheesy substance in mouth
See symptoms and available treatments for Candidiasis/Thrush/Sour Crop/Crop Mycosis
Fungal  Mycotic Disease
​Stunted growth
Diarrhea
Fatal Avian Encephalitis ( AE is a viral disease found in young chickens, turkeys, Japanese quail, pheasants, and pigeons).
See Causes, Symptoms & Treatments for Fungal Mycotic Disease
Gape Worm
Spitting
Making gurgling sounds
Gape worm Symptoms, Prevention & Treatment
Coccidiosis signs symptoms & treatments in poultry​​

General Chicken Health Maintanence Tips

Most health problems in chickens occur because of unsanitary living conditions, dirty water, poor coop ventilation, from chickens who have not been vaccinated, exposure to sick birds, allowing people on your property who have sick birds, contracted from wild birds or rodent infestations.  Keep your birds in a clean well ventilated coop with a protected outdoor run, move the coop to fresh soil once a month, deworm your birds once a month, keep fresh complete and balanced feed appropriate for their age is available during the day, clean water available all the time, and only buy vaccinated chickens, vaccinate them yourself, or have your birds vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian.
​​ Bacterial, fungal infection​​​Permethrin safe for chickens-deadly to cats
If you are raising chickens and have a kitten or cats Here is an important warning about permethrin which is highly toxic and can be fatal to cats.
  • Permethrin is highly toxic to cats
  • ​​Poultry Health Information
  • Fact Sheet: Poultry Health and Information
  • U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
  • United States Department of Agriculture https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information
  • Center for Disease Control Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/
​​Common Poultry Diseases
List of Common Poultry Diseases-pdf download:
  • PDF Download-Common Poultry Diseases: EDIS http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
  • http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/diseasefactsheet.html
Memory Verse: And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. II Kings 20:7