5 year old hen, thin, eating active, but slowing down.. diarhrea with yellow white slime

We hit the 50's one day and I took her back outside. She needed to find her place again but held her own and everything seemed fine for about 2 weeks. Then again it got pretty darn cold and I found her sitting hunkered down in a corner. I brought her in again. As soon as she was in the house she was acting normal. She's very thin again and her poop as been very watery. I see her drink a lot. Up until a few days ago she was eating pretty much anything I put in front of her. Still thin and off balance. She walks pretty slow but doesn't have the large swollen belly I would expect with EYP. I'm pretty sure that is what I lost her sister to. (She swelled up like a water balloon. I drained her abdomen but had her put down when it refilled quickly) Bossy's belly is firm but doesn't feel like her sisters did. It's also nowhere near as large. She is eating and drinking. I've been giving her nutri-drench for a few days and her poop is better. I haven't seen any signs of worms I her poo. I was going to try worming her next. I was afraid to if that's not really the problem. Will I upset her internally even more... No blood in her poo either. At this point if it where cocci I figure there would be blood or she would be gone. I took her outside in the warmth today. It's supposed to get cold again. Her first lash egg was Friday. It wasn't very large and really egg shaped. It didn't smell rotten but it wasn't good that's for sure. She layed a second one I found today. It was so small I'm surprised I found it. It didn't have the layered look of her first when I opened it up. It was still pretty round in shape though.
Is there a liquid bird food to tube feed? Could I grind up her food and make it into a slurry in the blender? I have penicillin but she doesn't even have breast muscle to inject it into. You are not supposed to give penicillin orally I looked into that. Could I inject into a thigh maybe?
Any advice would be great. I just feel so bad for the poor thing.

I agree with you about it not being Cocci- yeah, she would be dead. I had a hen die from that and it was less than 24 hours- gone so fast. I really was surprised how fast it could take a poor animal.

Is she eating now? I'd get some food in her. I was told that you tube feed a chicken and they have not been eating that you should always start with tube feeding water first. (I don't remember how much, but I'd assume at least 20 to 30 cc's- I think they are called. ....the measured notches on the huge needle-less syringe) If she is super skinny and not doing so well, i wouldn't worm her now either but at least get food in (and out of the backside) to make sure the digestive system is up and running ok first. I'd give her about 2 or 3 days of tube feeding before I'd use the worm medicines, but that is just me- not any solid advice, just a guess. As you said, she could be too weak to handle it. It is possible it could be worms. I'd use safegaurd or valbazen.

Oh, the stuff I used to tube feed her was a Baby Parrot Formula - the company is called Exact- You mix it with warm water (not hot as this may burn the crop) Instructions are on the bottle, but you will need to feed more to a large chicken than what they recommend. I don't know if you are near any Pet Smart stores- but this is where I bought my batch. In fact, I always keep some on hand for emergency tube feeding. The small 'tub' of this stuff costs about $20, but it will last a few weeks or so, I'd think.

.. It is really easy not to notice a bird getting skinny because of all those feathers! You could try blending up the regular feed, but its consistency might not be liquid enough and be too solid to get down the tube. Its worth a try I suppose. Raw egg, yogurt, milk, ... blueberries... anything she will eat is good, just to get some food in her. That's priority number one... well, other than just tube feeding her water first. (The system won't 'go' or move without hydration, so always give plain water first!)


I don't' know anything penicillin at all. Not sure if that is the best choice. My vet prescribed Baytril, which she told me was a very broad spectrum antibiotic that will help fight many different things. What I learned about medicines is that it has to fight the specific bacterium or what-have-you... so that too is difficult to figure out, meaning the wrong antibiotic may not touch whatever it is that is causing the problem. I'm not sure I would inject her either, being that thin. Again, I know nothing of penicillin, and never worked with it... perhaps ask here on the emergency board? Perhaps someone else could help you from there. I'm sorry, I just don't know anything on that drug. There is also another antibiotic that is sold at Tractor Supply stores- I think I mentioned it here in this thread of trying it. I can't remember the name, sorry that is not helpful, but its very common- Tetracycline, I think? Comes in a water soluble powder. It might be worth a try to use that.

Oh, the other thing I wanted to note on was that with EYP, you can't drain the belly. I think that is with ascites. Its where fluids accumulate and then can be drained using a needle. With EYP the abdomen will be very firm, hard and rounded not at all gushy or wubbly with, say, acites and fluid retention. All of my hens that had EYP looked as if a very firm ball was lodged in their lower abdomen- the abdomen walls so pushed out at the end you could see the veins. How they die from it is that the internally 'laid' (stuck) eggs accumulate and swell the abdomen and sooner or later the organ walls can split open and the infection gets into the blood or they bleed too profusely internally- or both at the same time. It doesn't sound like your bird has anything like that though... you said she was light to pick up. My my birds had EYP they were skinny everywhere else but their abdomen and they were heavy in that area.

Giving the nutridrench is a great idea. Definitely keep doing that!

Sounds gross but maybe you could post a picture of her poop? Any yellow streaks? Is it green? Small? Any white parts? Is the water bit with a tinge of yellow or green or white? Is it watery or more like gelatinous?

It does sound like the cold weather is affecting her greatly. Its best to bring her in- anywhere- out of the cold when a bird is sick. If the cold has been affecting her in the negative , it probably means the bird's body doesn't have the strength to fight infection and keep the body warm at the same time. Its too much for her to handle, so she will need the warmth to keep her strength to fight the infection.


You mentioned her being off balance.... sometimes food poisoning can do that- and often an animal will drink large amounts of water if poisoned by something like algae or large amounts of bacteria- you had mentioned she is drinking a lot. Could she have gotten into something she should not have? Anything laying around that could be causing food poisoning?

Anyway, just trying to help surmising what could be done.

Thank You so much. I have a board going and not really getting responses. I looked through pictures and come up with a time line.
1/11 is when she fell down and I brought her in the first time. She was very thin. Slightly off balance but not too bad. Her poop was sometimes watery sometimes solid.
Poop from 1/14
She ate pretty much anything I put in front of her. I make what I call a pancake. It's wet food with slivered garlic and dried oregano. Then I give whatever else that's enticing. A little bread, grapes, tomatoes. Whatever is handy and delicious.
1/17 She went back with the flock.
2/5 She was huddled in a corner and I brought her back in.I set her on the deck outside the coop door so I could lock it and this was her poop. The decking itself is wet but you can see not a good color, watery, bubbly. A little slimey.
2/12 It actually splattered.

2/13 Again very liquidity and slimey looking. Bubbles in it...very strange.
2/17 I thought she was a goner. Didn't want to stand up and made the most pitiful noise. This is when she really was not wanting to eat. Up until then she was eating pretty good. I was making her the pancake, giving her yogurt, scrambled eggs. Again anything yummy I thought she would eat. (roast was a hit believe it or not. With cooked carrots and potatoes) The 18th is when I started the nutri-drench. I'm not sure on her weight so I've been giving her 1cc straight down the throat
For not feeling well she sure is strong. LOL She eats a little better and poops are smaller and a little more firm. But smelly. Like she doesn't feel well. I will get a new poo picture in the morning.
Any new thoughts with the lovey pictures I shared?
I really don't get her at all. And no bird vet around...

FlyingNunFarm said:

Thank You so much. I have a board going and not really getting responses. I looked through pictures and come up with a time line.
1/11 is when she fell down and I brought her in the first time. She was very thin. Slightly off balance but not too bad. Her poop was sometimes watery sometimes solid.
Poop from 1/14
She ate pretty much anything I put in front of her. I make what I call a pancake. It's wet food with slivered garlic and dried oregano. Then I give whatever else that's enticing. A little bread, grapes, tomatoes. Whatever is handy and delicious.
1/17 She went back with the flock.
2/5 She was huddled in a corner and I brought her back in.I set her on the deck outside the coop door so I could lock it and this was her poop. The decking itself is wet but you can see not a good color, watery, bubbly. A little slimey.
2/12 It actually splattered.

2/13 Again very liquidity and slimey looking. Bubbles in it...very strange.
2/17 I thought she was a goner. Didn't want to stand up and made the most pitiful noise. This is when she really was not wanting to eat. Up until then she was eating pretty good. I was making her the pancake, giving her yogurt, scrambled eggs. Again anything yummy I thought she would eat. (roast was a hit believe it or not. With cooked carrots and potatoes) The 18th is when I started the nutri-drench. I'm not sure on her weight so I've been giving her 1cc straight down the throat
For not feeling well she sure is strong. LOL She eats a little better and poops are smaller and a little more firm. But smelly. Like she doesn't feel well. I will get a new poo picture in the morning.
Any new thoughts with the lovey pictures I shared?
I really don't get her at all. And no bird vet around...

Click to expand...

So sorry I did not see your response until now. For some reason, i am never notified when I get a response.

Your photos really baffle me! So I'm afraid I can't help. I do know that chicken stool doesn't have to be consistent. The second and the third photo look to me like two separate types of movements... The third looks like cecal movement... the second definately has a lot of urates in it. ... also signs the chicken is not eating. The last and forth photo looks ot me like it ate something, but it wasn't so solid. ?? I really have no clue. Just taking a guess. The forth photo is giving me vibes about internal parasites. Did you look in the fecal matter for signs of worms? I'm pitiful when it comes to identifying specific chicken illnesses- I only can recognise the signs of a handful of them- and those that my hens have been through.

Saying that, I do know that tube feeding them and giving antibiotics can be a first round defense when they get ill if you don't know any specifics. Really, without intensive testing, there's no way to tell.

Good photos though... perhaps they will help someone. I hope that you got more responses on your other post! So sorry I can't be of any more help.

Just wanted to update on the hen in which this thread was started.

She passed about three weeks ago. She was doing ok. I think she had a weakened heart through all her trials and she seemed especially susceptible to the cold weather. Well, there was an unusual cold spell right before spring arrived and she died during the night. I didn't feel it was much of a threat that night for icy temperatures since she had withstood 30 degrees F before, (I would only bring her in if it got below 30 degrees F) so I decided to leave her be and not bring her in for the night. I found her on the coop floor in the morning. She wasn't showing any signs of distress or illness before she died- the only symptom was that she had a darkened comb, which was an everyday thing. I do believe she had some sort of cardiac disease from all the stress of her ailments- (not eating much for several months could do that I suppose). She would have been 7 years old in May. I just think age and being in a weakened state led to her sudden death.

With much deliberation, I decided not to do a necropsy, Just wasn't in the mood and I had too much of a bond with her to do it, though I realize it might shed some light on what she's been dealing with.. This was my last hen of the original seven that I started off with. I'll miss her waiting for me on the porch at night to come in on cold nights. She always seemed to know when she needed to come inside and trusted that I'd find her out there. She was one smart resilient hen!