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

[Cacique500]

Just wanted to pop in the thread and say THANK YOU for giving us an update and "conclusion"! Too many times on this forum I see people have an issue, get advice, and disappear...really frustrating sometimes when one of our hens is exhibiting the same problems and we can't figure out if the treatment worked and the bird survived.

I have a hen that's got all the symptoms yours is exhibiting - and I'm also following Kathy's advice so I've got my fingers crossed.

Anyway, thanks again!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Following through with my updates...

You know, Maple was doing REALLY well.. acting completely normal for several months this year. She had even gained weight to the point where you could not feel the bone in her chest. She was doing so well I didn't even have anything to suspect. She seemed to have recovered very well. I was worried that when the weather would get cold, just like last year, she would have problems again... well, I'm sad to say, yes, it happened...

She is dying right now. She was ok yesterday as far as I know, but the weather for the last two days the temperature dipped below freezing. I found her in the coop this morning, huddled, weak, and struggling to breathe. She looks swollen, her feathers are ruffled (feeling cold?) . Her abdomen is full of air. Her lower abdomen seems swollen and firm. There are cold spots on her skin where there is just air under the skin. Her comb is black (but not dry, its pliable) which tells me she is suffering lack of oxygen and as I said, she is struggling to breathe- gasping *pause* gasping *pause* gasping. I tried to listen for a heartbeat and I can't actually find one, as strange as that sounds. Her eyes are closed too- she seems half gone already. I am planning to let her go now and not try anything as I think she is far too past initial stages of illness to pull her back to health. Her turn around happened fast! I think she was fine last night from what I can remember.

All this makes me think its a heart problem? Or that her heart is definitely affected now by whatever it is. I may do a necropsy... then again, this is one of my first girls- one of the original 7 I got way back in 2010, and so that would be difficult for me to do. Other than her, only one remains from the original first flock, and she's got EYP. Both Maple and this last one (Baby) have been "friends" since the beginnings. I'm pretty certain i will loose Baby after Maple goes. That seems to be the way it goes with chickens.

I've brought her inside and made her comfortable. I'm just updating, but I am also wondering if anyone knows anything about what this could possibly be? The cold seems to bring it on. It did last year and when I had her inside all those months earlier last year, she seemed to recover very well with a lot of TLC. She was fine this spring summer and fall. We didn't really have cold winter weather until this week. It got very cold very fast too. I'm just the slightest bit worried about illnesses going through my coop, so if anyone reads this and knows what she could be dealing with via the symptoms I listed above, please let me know.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I"m sorry Cacique500 I didn't see your post until now.

Glad to be of help.. .if anything. Its difficult to know what to do when your bird gets sick and I share your frustration which is why i kept updating. When someone else has a chicken that shares the same symptoms and they don't share the treatment plan or the outcome its so ... devastating! Because you want to know also how to save your bird, if possible- you are hoping for that little tid bit of information that might just save them. Just think of the wealth of knowledge about chicken health that could be amassed from these boards if people were really thorough about noting everything. I know chicken health is kind of scoffed and laughed at by the world, ("its just a chicken") but to me, we owe these creatures respect for as much as they feed us and sustain us.

I hope that your bird managed to make it through. Is she ok now?

Yes, Kathy was INCREDIBLY helpful and I am very grateful and thankful for her advice, knowledge, expertise, time and help. Because of the knowledge she shared with me in this incident I as able to save another bird of mine. Thank you Kathy once again!

 

[casportpony]

Sorry she not doing well... This air in her belly, could it be fluid? Either way, extra pressure could be pressing on her heart and lungs.

-Kathy

 

[Bocktobery 10]

HI Kathy,

Nice to hear from you again.

She is heavy to lift, so yeah, I suspect there is fluid in there but its not felt through the skin like other illnesses. If she has fluid its inside the body. She is cool to the touch, sadly. (Another reason why I feel death is near) There is also air- Her crop feels filled with air. Again, she seemed fine two mornings ago- She and her friend chicken Baby were sunbathing.

I have her in the sunshine in our house right now in a box with rag towels... nice and warm. She seems to be resting comfortably and remarkably her comb is not so black anymore... its still darkish, but not blackish red. So I guess the extra warmth is helping in that respects. She is not gasping anymore, though I still feel death is near. She just seems so so so weak. If she'd pull through by any chance, she would probably be very weak for a few days or so.

Kathy, if you don't mind me asking, if you were to do a necropsy on her, what organs would you look at first? What do you think I should look out for the most in order to understand what occurred with her body? And do you know of anything in which a chicken would be cold sensitive to the point of freezing temps bringing on death? Side question, do chickens have thyroids? Can cold weather bring on heart related problems if the heart was already weak? She did spend three months of her life barely eating beginning of last year.

 

[casportpony]

HI Kathy,

Nice to hear from you again.

She is heavy to lift, so yeah, I suspect there is fluid in there but its not felt through the skin like other illnesses. If she has fluid its inside the body. She is cool to the touch, sadly. (Another reason why I feel death is near) There is also air- Her crop feels filled with air. Again, she seemed fine two mornings ago- She and her friend chicken Baby were sunbathing.

I have her in the sunshine in our house right now in a box with rag towels... nice and warm. She seems to be resting comfortably and remarkably her comb is not so black anymore... its still darkish, but not blackish red. So I guess the extra warmth is helping in that respects. She is not gasping anymore, though I still feel death is near. She just seems so so so weak. If she'd pull through by any chance, she would probably be very weak for a few days or so.

Kathy, if you don't mind me asking, if you were to do a necropsy on her, what organs would you look at first? What do you think I should look out for the most in order to understand what occurred with her body? And do you know of anything in which a chicken would be cold sensitive to the point of freezing temps bringing on death? Side question, do chickens have thyroids? Can cold weather bring on heart related problems if the heart was already weak? She did spend three months of her life barely eating beginning of last year.

I gotta run, but will be back to answer more of your questions.

-Kathy

 

[Bocktobery 10]

That's fine.

I gotta run, but will be back to answer more of your questions.

-Kathy

Ok, no problem. Thanks for the manual.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

She is still alive... not gasping for air at all anymore and as I said the color returned to her comb. Her body feels cold to the touch though (not a good sign!). I've put a heater under her to help warm her up slowly. Before all that she even perked up a bit- lifting her head and opening her eyes and looking around, only to doze back into sleep. She was actually holding her head up instead of listlessly drooping it. She actually seems a bit better now.. !?

Could she be suffering from some hypothermia? The temps got down in the 20's last night. All the other chickens are just fine. Not frostbite on combs or anything.

 

[casportpony]

She is still alive... not gasping for air at all anymore and as I said the color returned to her comb. Her body feels cold to the touch though (not a good sign!). I've put a heater under her to help warm her up slowly. Before all that she even perked up a bit- lifting her head and opening her eyes and looking around, only to doze back into sleep. She was actually holding her head up instead of listlessly drooping it. She actually seems a bit better now.. !?

Could she be suffering from some hypothermia? The temps got down in the 20's last night. All the other chickens are just fine. Not frostbite on combs or anything.

She probably is somewhat hypothermic. Best to keep her in a room that's 80-85 degrees.

-Kathy

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I'm reading now about it.. and I think she does. Her body was cool to the touch, now that I have a heating pad on her, she is warm in those areas and has perked up even more. She showed signs of wanting to eat, but then settled back down to rest... So, its quite possible that because of her old age and weak nature from illness before, that she may be suffering from hypothermia.

Now I'm worried about the rest of the flock! She will stay inside tonight of course. I'm surprised she made it this long.. Still not out of the woods yet.