Older hen emaciated and watery poop

[Sberrie]

Hello all, I have a 5 yo golden laced Wyandotte in her most recent molt she lost a fair bit of weight, however it's now been over for about 2 months and it hasn't come back, only gotten worse. I've seen her eating and drinking like normal, her crop will be full at night.

Tonight I went out and she was laying on the floor rather than her normal shelf. I let her walk around a bit and she did 2 huge diarrheas. The first was totally clear minus white specks, the 2nd was dark green but just as watery.

I haven't noticed any other girls acting like this and it's fairly cold here (40s) so I wouldn't think she's overdrinking from heat.

I've read those symptoms could indicate kidney issues but otherwise am at a loss how to help her so any help would be appreciated

 

[Eggcessive]

Worming her is a start. It sounds like she has had a hard molt, and now her comb has that dry pale look they have when not in egg production. That can be normal in winter with short light days. I would give her a bit of chopped liver, tuna, and alternate with scrambled egg bits, but mainly her usual chicken feed made moist with a little water. Take her aside to make sure that she is getting plenty. A good chicken vitamin or human B complex tablet 1/4 tablet daily added to her food may help. Unfortunately, she is 5 and approaching older age. Cancer and reproductive disorders are very common. Hopefully, she will soon perk up and live many more years.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I gave her ivermectin orally last night

Does she have mites?

She's still coming out of molt, this can make them not feel well. With her being an older hen, sometimes they can have troubles when it they come back into lay.

I'd encourage her to eat her normal feed, giving the egg or some canned fish as a treat is always good too. Vitamins as suggested previously and consider deworming her or get a fecal float to see if she needs to be dewormed.

Deworming may be a good idea to see if that's the cause of weight loss if she's eating/drinking like normal.

You can find Safeguard liquid Goat dewormer at TSC. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

 

[Sberrie]

Well thank you everyone for your advice. However I went out this morning and she had passed during the night

 

[Sberrie]

I’m very sorry your girl passed away. She was very pretty. Looked like a sweet girl.

She always kept her feathers in top shape. She was even preening last night.
Anytime I'd pick her up, she'd immediately start cleaning herself and was so indignant I touched her

 

[Sberrie]

I was only able to get her some dewormer tonight as my local store hasn't had anything available.
I will post pics tomorrow when it will be more light

 

[Sberrie]

Do you mean she's lost more weight? How much, have you weighed her?

Photos of her and her poop?

What are you feeding?

Deworming may be a good idea to see if that's the cause of weight loss if she's eating/drinking like normal.

You can find Safeguard liquid Goat dewormer at TSC. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

I have not weighed her on a scale, just from handling her. She's always been a dense heavy girl, not she's skin and bones.

Feeding nature's best organic layer pellets

I gave her ivermectin orally last night

 

[Sberrie]

Ok went out and got pics right after work. I also fed her scrambled egg which she pecked at and feed moistened with electrolyte water, which she devoured. She also pecked at the remaining grass still around

 

[Sberrie]

Does she have mites?

She's still coming out of molt, this can make them not feel well. With her being an older hen, sometimes they can have troubles when it they come back into lay.

I'd encourage her to eat her normal feed, giving the egg or some canned fish as a treat is always good too. Vitamins as suggested previously and consider deworming her or get a fecal float to see if she needs to be dewormed.

No, no mites. I checked again yesterday. I put her in the infirmary coop last night with fresh straw/feed/electrolyte water (and her own little heater since we're now down to low 20s)

I've always read ivermectin is good for most worm treatment, is it not?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Interesting!
Can the safe guard be given with ivermectin? I'd hate to overload her kidneys by basically ODing her

How much Ivermectin did you give?

I'm not a vet, so couldn't say for sure it's safe to use both together.
Ivermectin would be repeated in 10 days, so if you wish to use Safeguard, I'd wait for at least a week and then use it, but that's just my opinion.