Hen not eating or active

[derbychick]

I have a Golden Comet who seemed very sick a couple of days ago. We discovered her huddled in a corner of the pen after we had been away for the weekend. She could barely keep her eyes open and wouldn't eat any treats. She had a watery crop, so I massaged her crop and she immediately perked up, pooped a watery poop with some black pebble-like pieces in it, and joined the others. Yesterday she grazed around the yard with the others and I saw her eat some worms, so I quit worrying. But by the end of the day I realized that her crop was still empty, so she hadn't eaten very much. Today she did eat almost an entire hard-boiled egg, but she is still not very interested in foraging and won't even look at the chicken feed or worms that we've offered her. While her buddies are actively scratching and pecking, she's content to just lie in the shade.

I see no signs of mites or lice, she has no palpable lumps or tumors, her comb is still a nice red color, her feathers are all nice except around her neck (3 of the 11 have bare necks
right now, but I assume they're moulting)... I have NO IDEAS. I would think worms, but the rest of the flock are so healthy and active. Any advice is appreciated--since she's in pretty good shape otherwise, I think if I could figure out the underlying problem there might be time to save her!

 

[Pattid]

She sounds exactly like one of mine whom I think has coccidiosis. I've been treating my whole bunch of 6 with Corid since Saturday and while she doesn't seem any worse, she doesn't seem any better. I, too will be watching this post for more help!

 

[Eggcessive]

She has some symptoms of coccidiosis, but she also seems to have sour crop. Corid is the treatment for cocci. Sour crop is a condition that is fungal or bacterial, and can result from long-standing impacted crop, which may be from eating long strands of grass or some other object that has stuck in there. Water and massage are the best treatments for her now. Some use antifungals such as Nystatin (or Medistatin online) or Fluconazole (or Canesoral online.) Some vets may prescribe an antibiotic and an antifungal at the same time. She should not have any whole grains to eat, but only mushy wet feed, eggs, yogurt, or applesauce. Here are a couple of links to read:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/614951/help-me-with-sour-crop-please/10

 

[derbychick]

Thanks for your responses. If she had coccidiosis, would there be blood in her stool? I haven't seen any evidence of that...

 

[cafarmgirl]

Thanks for your responses. If she had coccidiosis, would there be blood in her stool? I haven't seen any evidence of that...

Sometimes you will see blood, sometimes you won't. If you think there is even a remote possibility that this could be coccidiosis just go ahead and run the course of treatment, it certainly does no harm if it's not cocci. You'll have at least ruled it out.

I would also deworm her, all of them actually. Chickens are going to get worms because of their lifestyle and what they eat. Some of the insects they eat as well as earthworms are carriers of roundworms and other parasites, so it's pretty hard for a chicken not to get worms. By the time chickens start showing visible signs of having worms they have a heavy load of parasites along with all the damage the worms cause. The crummier the chickens condition becomes, the harder it is to get them back in good shape. Worms are something that are much better to stay on top of rather then let the get out of control.

Once you've covered those bases see if she perks up. There's a whole lot of things that this could be but start with the common and easily treated stuff and go from there.

 

[derbychick]

Thanks cafarmgirl! Should I treat them all for coccidiosis, or just her? They were all given medicated chick starter (2 years ago), so technically I guess they should be immune.

We also have 14 Cornish X chicks that I did *not* give medicated feed. There has been some limited contact between them, but they aren't having any problems.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is best to treat all your chickens at the same time for coccidiosis so you don't have chickens becoming sick at different times. At the end of treatment it is good to give several days treatment with probiotics (or yogurt or buttermilk) along with poultry vitamins in the water to restore lost vitamins and normal gut bacteria. Corid dosage is 2 tsp liquid (or 1.5 tsp powder) per gallon of water for 5 days. There is no egg withdrawal for corid.

 

[Pattid]

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I think the dose I'd been giving of Corid has been too low. I'm upping it to 1-1/2 tsp per gallon. Yogurt to follow up will be easy. hat's one of their favorite treats! One more question: would worms show up in their poo? I haven't seen any evidence of that and everybody else seems perky as ever.

 

[cafarmgirl]

You will generally only actually see worms in their poop when they are heavily infested and there is just no place else for worms to go or when they happen to pass a dead worm. Sometimes worm eggs are visible in their poop, they may look like sesame seeds or little bits of rice that move. You can have a fecal sample tested by a vet if you want to pay for it, keep in mind false negatives are not uncommon if parasites simply are not shedding eggs when the sample is run. Fecals are something that has to be done on a regular basis if you are going to rely on them. I simply operate under the assumption that they are going to get worms at some point and I deworm twice a year to keep things under control.

 

[derbychick]

Thanks so much for the prompt advice. This forum is great! I wanted to update you--I decided to hold off another day on my Golden Comet before medicating her for anything. And by the next day she was back to normal. Eating worms, bugs, and her layer feed, and keeping up with the flock all day. I have no idea what was up with her, but I'm so relieved she's well! I do think I'm going to worm them, even though I haven't seen evidence of worms. Their egg production has not quite been what I expected for this time of year.

Pattid, I hope yours are doing better!