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

[deacons]

Not sure if anyone's following along with Goldie's little journal, but I'm going to continue posting because I'm really struggling with what to do here and this is helping me thinking through options.

So today, I separated her first thing in the morning in the hospital crate. I made her some scrambled eggs, mixed in some probiotics, and sprinkled over some mealworms, which she loves. I also added her antibiotics to the water.

When I checked on her at noon, she hadn't touched the food or water. I've never had a chicken refuse scrambled eggs.

I took her out of the crate and set her on the ground with the food and water, thinking maybe she felt too confined too eat? She still didn't touch them.

I sprinkled some mealworms and sunflower seeds in front of her on the ground, and she picked them up in her beak, mouthing at them a lot, but ultimately kept dropping them without eating. It was like she wanted to eat but couldn't.

I wet down a handful of layer pellets to make a mash, and she was more enthusiastic about that. She did eat a good bit of that- but probably not enough, given it's all she'd eaten all day. She also drank some of the water.

Her poop looked like this- very green colored, and I could see lots of undigested grains throughout it (she did eat a lot of scratch and mealworms yesterday, she was very interested in food then):


In the picture, it looks like there's yellow material on the right, but I think that's just the bad lighting in the garage- that was really clear and the flash is reflecting off it. The urates were thicker than usual, but I don't think what you're seeing is egg material passing.

After about an hour of keeping her separated from the others to see if she'd eat, I let the rest of the group out to freerange. She perked up almost immediately, like she was depressed about being isolated. She's now still out with the others- she's a little sluggish, and her color isn't great, but she's out moving around, scratching and pecking, with some breaks to lay down near where the rest are scratching around.

Also, she has lost enough feathers that she could be lightly molting. So I'm not sure if the sluggishness/bad appetite is because of molting, or if the molting is because she's sick/stressed.

Her crop doesn't seem to be impacted. She does still have a somewhat unpleasant smell around her beak, but no obvious discharge from her nose or mouth. I'm thrown off by seeming hungry but not eating.

Not sure what to do from here.

 

[GitaBooks]

It sounds like a virus, maybe bacterial. I hope she gets better soon, but I'm not sure what to do. I'm not an expert. But best of luck!

 

[deacons]

Goldie is still with us, but I still don't think she's going to perk up from this. Her comb has flopped almost completely over on its side, and it has some purplish spots.

I separated her for the last two mornings, and she refused to eat or drink while separated in the crate. When I took her out, she pooped, ate, and drank right away, so I've decided the separation is doing more harm than good. Now she's just out with the others. Everyone seems to be respectful of her and is not picking on her even though she's clearly weak.

She did have a bit of spring in her step for awhile this morning while free-ranging. I did see her eating this morning. And was able to get her to drink some of the water with antibiotics. Certainly not enough, but some.

I read through @speckledhen 's threads about EYP in some of her hens, and I have to assume that's what's going on with Goldie. That said, her belly is not at all swollen, hot, or any of those things. But, her poop is just not right- it's been green all week, watery, and the urates are very thick. I don't see any actual yolk or yellow material passing, but the white part of the poop just doesn't look right.

Uggh...I am agonizing over whether I'm doing the right thing by not putting her down. I just keep checking in on her, and despite her discomfort, her eyes are still bright, she is happy to be with the others, and she is eating and drinking some. She's buddied up with a hen who is typically a huge bully, but in a heavy molt right now, and the two of them are a sad looking little pair dosing in the sunshine while the rest of the flock are zooming around. I'll try to grab a picture of them later today.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm so sorry, that can be very hard. Our dog was sick for a long while, it was hard to see him that way, but when he perked up it was so wonderful to see him play and run around like a puppy.

 

[deacons]

Back with another Goldie update. She is, surprisingly, still with us.

Friday evening and Saturday weren't great. She was sooo pale- her little face and comb were basically beige. She refused to eat or drink anything I put in front of her, so she was no longer getting even a small amount of antibiotic in. She was mildly interested in sunflower seeds, so I was hand-feeding her those. She must have snuck a few sips of water at some point or else I don't think she could still be standing. The vet wasn't able to get her in over the weekend, so I decided that if this morning (Monday) she was still acting that way, we'd go to have her put to sleep.

However- yesterday afternoon, she perked up again. She became very interested in food and ate a ton. She went out freeranging and was pulling up- and fighting for-fat earthworms. She ate a lot of tomato and watermelon so seemed to be hydrated. Her color pinked up a little- it's still not great, but she's no longer deathly pale. I do think her comb is permanently flopped over though. Her poop was just awful over the weekend- yellowy urates and bright green solids. It's still not great, but the urates are white again and the solids are a little more normal. She's molting now and there are feathers everywhere. She does seem to be growing in some replacement pin feathers though- not sure where she's getting the energy to do that with the little she's willing to eat!

I know she's not going to make a recovery and this is just another step towards the inevitable, but she's still moving around and perky so she stays. It is supposed to be a cool, rainy week so will have to make sure she's not getting soaked through and chilled. She has made it clear that she doesn't like being separated and kept alone, so she and my other molting girl may get some time to buddy up in the garage, where they can stay out of the weather and dry.

I still have mixed feelings about not putting her to sleep, but for now my husband has convinced me that if she's still moving around, she gets to stay. I'm going to continue to record her ups and downs in case this ultimately helps someone else dealing with internal laying make their own decision about what to do in a similar situation.

 

[deacons]

Well, we've been through another tough cycle but Goldie has perked back up again. She is active, energetic, and good color in her face. Today is the first day in about a week when her poop looked normal- not that electric green color.

For the past two days, she's passed a lot of "lash egg" type material. I know this is infection/tissue being passed, so not really something to celebrate, but this is now the second time that she went through a period of about a week looking grave, then passed the lash material and perked up.

I know this cycle can't go on indefinitely, but I hope anyone else that suspects they are dealing with an internal layer will find this journal of ups-and-downs helpful.

 

[GitaBooks]

Well, we've been through another tough cycle but Goldie has perked back up again. She is active, energetic, and good color in her face. Today is the first day in about a week when her poop looked normal- not that electric green color.

For the past two days, she's passed a lot of "lash egg" type material. I know this is infection/tissue being passed, so not really something to celebrate, but this is now the second time that she went through a period of about a week looking grave, then passed the lash material and perked up.

I know this cycle can't go on indefinitely, but I hope anyone else that suspects they are dealing with an internal layer will find this journal of ups-and-downs helpful.

Keep it up Goldie!

 

[deacons]

It is with great sadness that I write the last chapter in Goldie's story. Almost 5 months to the day that I started to worry about her, she died in what appeared to be a peaceful way overnight in the nesting box. Her internal laying just finally caught up with her.

This past month, it became clear to me that she wasn't going to make it through the tough winter.. Her comb shriveled up and turned a pale purplish color. It eventually flopped over completely and made her look like she was wearing a silly little hat As the days and nights started getting colder, she was losing weight quickly. Even though she looked awful, up until the beginning of this week, she was still actually pretty energetic. Her appetite was great, and she was still enthusiastically free ranging with the flock. She was a little slow- sometimes I'd have to carry her to a new part of the yard because she couldn't always keep up with them. Her poop actually became fairly normal, and she wasn't passing lash material anymore.

But then at the beginning of this week, she went into penguin stance. She didn't want to free range anymore and only ate half heartedly in the morning. Her belly started to bloat up and it made her keel stick out like a knife. On Wednesday night, she must have fallen off the roost at some point in the night, because I found her facedown in the shavings She didn't move much Wednesday or yesterday, and we knew this was the end. I feel a little guilty that I made her suffer through those last two days and didn't do it for her. But still, when I found her this morning in the nesting box (I had tucked her in there last night because she clearly wasn't going to roost), she was laying in the straw and looked like she had simply fallen asleep. My other Golden Comet was actually in there with her, which just about broke my heart.

So, with that, Goldie's gone. This internal laying business is just brutal. I really wish I had known about this before getting the Golden Comets. I am sincerely hoping my other Goldie is spared from it and lives to a ripe old age. But time will tell.

Does a flock mourn? This group of 8 has been together uninterrupted since May of 2013, and they were acting strange this morning after I took her out of the coop. I don't think I'm just imagining that because I was sad. The other Golden Comet was walking around and around the coop screaming her little head off. A couple of the others were vocalizing far more than they ever do. I'm sure they know she died, right? Of course, flock dynamics will change some, but Goldie was at the bottom of the pecking order so no one is really moving up a spot. I do have to say though, this past week I was very worried that she'd be picked on or even killed by the others because she was obviously so sick. However, it was quite the opposite. On the cold days, I always found her in the middle of the pile of girls huddled together, I'm assuming because that helped her stay warm. In the morning, when I'd bring out their breakfast, none of them pushed her off the food or pecked at her. She wasn't as fast an eater as they were, but they didn't give her any trouble about eating (and they're always jostling for position at the best bowl). Similarly, on the roost, no one pushed or shoved to try to move her out of her favorite spot. I don't want to anthropomorphize too much, but I had expected them to turn on her because she was weak, but it was the complete opposite, almost like they knew she needed some special attention.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who responded to my original posts and gave me encouragement when I tried to get her better this summer. I do believe that intervening with antibiotics and a little TLC then gave her a few extra months of a pretty good life. I will miss her, but am truthfully relieved not to have to watch her suffer any longer.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss of Goldie. It's always tough to lose one that you have spent so much time caring for. At least she isn't suffering now.

 

[deacons]

Thanks @Eggcessive , I appreciate that. But yes, I am very glad that she's no longer in pain.