Lethargic, puffed up, white poop! Is this chicken going to make it?

[GitaBooks]

Hens lay every 25 hours, and I hear that they lay an hour later every day and when they reach evening they restart by skipping a day. At least that's what I hear.

 

[deacons]

I was writing about my little Goldie on another thread about weird laying issues in older hens, so thought I'd pop over here for an update. She's still with us and seems to be thriving, actually. She's put back on the weight she lost, and her feathers have continued to come back in. Her wings, which looked so awful from all the pecking, are slowly but steadily filling back in with new growth and the others don't pick on her anymore. For a couple of weeks (I think the last time I posted) I was finding shell-less eggs and did see a couple of lash "eggs," but it's been at least a couple of weeks since I've found any of those. She does visit the nest most days and hang out in there without actually laying. I've read that can be a sign of internal laying. Still, she shows no other symptoms of that, so as I've been saying, as long as she's feeling good and not suffering, she certainly has a retirement home here even if she never lays again. I know at some point her issues will catch up with her, but for now, just happy to have her with us.

 

[deacons]

Well, it's been almost exactly one month since my last update. Unfortunately, I'm back since Goldie seems to be struggling again-it sort of feels like we're back to square one.

She is again seeming puffed/hunched up and less active than usual. Her poop is whitish and somewhat green.

Her comb is drooping and the tip of it is a purplish color.

I picked her up today and she has a bit of an unpleasant smell near her mouth- it isn't particularly yeasty or rotten smelling, but it is a noticable smell that I've never experienced with another chicken. Her vent is a little messy.

Today was our first cold morning- about 45*F- but it will only get colder from here. She huddled up off to the side on her own and seemed to stay separated from the rest of the flock while they were in the run.

Obviously none of these things are good.

She has periods where she likes being out with the flock freeranging- she'll move slower than the others, but she will get out and move around, scratching for bugs. She still seems to be eating. When I picked her up, she didn't feel emaciated like she did early on with this. I can feel her breastbone but it's not awful. Her belly is not hard, swollen, squishy, hot, or anything.

Based on all we've been through so far, I suspect she's an internal layer. When I took her to the vet a couple of months ago, he felt no large mass or blockage while doing an internal exam, so it didn't seem that she was full of an infected mass. Of course, that could be different now, or it could have been too small to feel then.

As far as I see it, I could do a couple of things:
1. Call vet and ask for another course of antibiotics. That did seem to help her last time. But is it prolonging the inevitable?

2. Bring her back to the vet and ask for her to be put to sleep. Last time, that was my intention, but he said he didn't think it was necessary since she was still alert and had no obvious internal mass. I could insist, of course. I don't want her to suffer but if she's generally ok to keep going, I also don't want to prematurely dispatch her.

I also don't want to make decisions based on my "guess" about her being an internal layer. For example, I could try deworming her- maybe that's why she looks uncomfortable and is having greenish poop (i.e., not getting enough nutrition)?

And I suppose I could also just do nothing and just let her keep going as she is.

What would you do if she was yours?

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm sorry to hear that.

Make sure she remains warm, try worming her, and offer her probiotics. She may not feel well because the antibiotics killed off all the good bacteria in her gut. Hopefully she will start feeling better again soon.

 

[deacons]

Thanks, @GitaBooks . I also hope this is just a temporary setback. Just out of curiosity, I'd love to hear why you'd start with deworming vs. other options?

 

[deacons]

And here is the difference between her out moving around, and her just standing puffed up.

Out moving around- no, it's not filmed in slow motion, but she looks like she's in slo mo when she moves sometimes:

And here she is just puffed up and not wanting to do anything- she'll stand like this for a minute or two and then go back to what she was doing:

 

[GitaBooks]

Thanks, @GitaBooks . I also hope this is just a temporary setback. Just out of curiosity, I'd love to hear why you'd start with deworming vs. other options?

It just lets you know that the worms aren't the cause, or, if they are, gets rid of them. Worms weaken a chicken, even if they aren't the cause of the disease.

 

[deacons]

Yep, I guess I'm just waffling on the deworming because she already seems like she's lacking condition and I worry that it will hurt her more if her system is compromised.

 

[GitaBooks]

Yep, I guess I'm just waffling on the deworming because she already seems like she's lacking condition and I worry that it will hurt her more if her system is compromised.

Yeah, that is a concern. I'm not expert on deworming (I've never done it for my flock) so perhaps asking some one else if it would hurt her would help.

 

[deacons]

I watched her a lot today and she seems very hungry and thirsty. I'm going to separate her for part of the day tomorrow and see if just getting some good food and water in her perks her up. Maybe she's just getting bullied off the food. I also found some of her old antibiotics and looks like I may have enough to run her through another course. I think that's my plan for now. Thanks for puzzling through it with me @GitaBooks!