Where do I even begin to help my chicken?

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OurDogChicken

OurDogChicken

In the Brooder
Jul 18, 2015
16
0
24
Ojai, CA
She is a 3 (approximate) year old Rhode Island Red, and up until about 5 days ago was fine, though she hasn't layed an egg since her last molt last Autumn. The past 5 days she has been moving slowly, still out and about to scratch and peck around, but not with any energy. Today we find her in the corner of the run under the coop. We tossed her a bit of grain and she is still pecking and eating it a bit, not drinking much water that we put down for her though.

I did discover a mite infestation about a week ago and have thoroughly cleaned the coop and treated it with diatomaceous earth, along with powdering the chickens with it. All our other 5 chickens are fine.

Here are 3 pictures if they are of any help at all. We just don't even know where to start other than to separate her from the rest of the flock for tonight. Is a relatively small box (with holes in it of course) ok?

Thank you for any help at all.



.



 
The mites were not all over the chickens. They were congregated under the roosts, and I assume that they made their way to the chickens during the night, or to this one chicken.
No, I have not dewormed her. How do I go about that? What do I look for on her to tell if she needs it?
 
Sick or unwell birds often get overwhelmed by mites quickly, I see it as a sign something is really wrong. Her symptoms are vague and could point to almost anything. Sorry I can't be more helpful, without other symptoms it is hard to know where to start.
 
It's dusk right now, and I put her into a vented box with water and probiotics. She's most likely weak and 'sleepy' since it's nearly nighttime, but she didn't even try to get away or anything when I picked her up. She clucked once and I put her in the box.

I did notice she has some dried streaky poop under her vent, but not IN her vent from what I can tell. She also has some dried poop on one of her feet.

Safe to leave it until morning, or is this something I should clean tonight? As I said, it's on her foot, and doesn't seem to be blocking anything.

I apologize for the vague symptoms, I just don't know what to look for and don't see any other visible symptoms other than what I described.
 
OurDogChicken said:
It's dusk right now, and I put her into a vented box with water and probiotics.  She's most likely weak and 'sleepy' since it's nearly nighttime, but she didn't even try to get away or anything when I picked her up.  She clucked once and I put her in the box.

I did notice she has some dried streaky poop under her vent, but not IN her vent from what I can tell.  She also has some dried poop on one of her feet. 

Safe to leave it until morning, or is this something I should clean tonight?  As I said, it's on her foot, and doesn't seem to be blocking anything.

I apologize for the vague symptoms, I just don't know what to look for and don't see any other visible symptoms other than what I described.
Click to expand...

It sounds like she could have a broken egg in her (egg peritonitis) palpatate her rear if it feels saggy that is what has happened.
 
I wouldn't worry about the poop. My guess would be something internal, like organ failure. I have even read about an autopsy on a deceased hen who had a crop full of string. I don't think it does any good to do anything at this point. You would just be shooting in the dark. Keep her quiet, warm, and hydrated if possible and see if she improves. You could possibly give some antibiotics but again without clear cut symptoms its hard to say if it would do any good.
 
OurDogChicken said:
If she does have a broken egg inside, what is the next step?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, if it did break in her she probably wont make it. If it is just stuck I have heard of people soaking them in a luke warm bath and then putting it under a heat lamp to induce her to lay the egg if it isjust stuck, but if there is any yolky substance near the vent then the egg may have already broken and she wont make it.when this happened to my gen she passed awat and I did a necropsy myself and there were over 3 broken eggs in her dried up.
 
400


She survived the night, but couldn't get out of the box herself, so I lifted her out and gave her a small handful of grain and some water. She ate some, but did not drink.

As she ate, I looked at her vent and now there is dried poop there.

As you can see in the picture, her tail feathers and rear are down.

Advice at this point?
 

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