Poor Sick Chicken! Please help!

[ColoradoLyssah]

Oh please take a look at my Dominique.
She's not quite a year old and for the past month or so, she has lost vitality.
She has started becoming solitary, she pulls her head into her feathers, has a hunched back appearance, is very skinny/bony, and tries to sleep standing up all the time. Before pulling her into our hospital cage, I noticed her comb was shrunken and pale colored and the other symptoms. She will come out with the others and stand outside with them, but now she just wants to sleep standing up off and on all day and will eat if encouraged. When we brought her in two days ago, I thought maybe that's just how she was naturally. We don't know if she's laying, we've never caught her. She did well when we first brought her in, enjoyed special treatment and perked up with food and treats. We were going to put her back outside today, but my partner messaged me at work and said she wasn't doing well suddenly. Today, she is having a hard time standing up, her balance isn't good, in addition to the other symptoms and she isn't interested in food or water unless we put them near her face. We thought it might be sour crop, so we made her vomit and some undigested food did come out. We gave her water with electrolytes and antibiotics once things were cleared, and put yogurt in her food dish. We're administering water to her every few hours, but she hasn't gotten any better and you can see from the picture she doesn't look good at all. I also included a picture of her when she was a bit younger to show that she hasn't always looked like this. Does anyone have any ideas? I've ruled out mites and she was vaccinated for Mareks when I bought her from the hatchery. We change out their food every other day so I don't think it's mold, and we run a tight ship with cleaning, and clean out the coop thoroughly every day. Water gets changed out daily. Please help, we're both so worried about her.

 

[sunflour]

Sorry about your Dominique, she looks very ill. Having lost 2 of my hens I know how you feel.

At this point, IMO care and comfort is likely the only option.

But do try to do a thorough physical examination to see if you can get more clues and hopefully someone more experienced then me will offer suggestions.

 

[jessica5113]

It looks to be cocci. I had a few chicks who were strong and healthy and then all of a sudden they started hunching up like your girl. They get that "roach" look and their feathers puff out as if they are cold. See if she will drink some Gatorade or pedialyte to try and get some electrolytes in her and if you can get to a co-op or tractor supply and get an antibiotic shot to administer in her breast if you can. The quicker you get to her the better. Does she appear to have red or bloody stools? The shot is gonna freak you out because once you give it to her she's going to go limp and you will think you have killed her but she will come back to life soon. I just hope its not too late. Mine got to this stage and I woke up the next morning and we had lost 3 of the 4 after giving antibiotics in their water and electrolytes. Best of luck to you.

 

[sunflour]

She died today.

Very sad. The vet suspected either a blocked gizzard or cocci. We're going to test the feces of the other birds in our flock just in case.

I am so sorry

. That's what I think happened to my Big Buff - at first I thought it was an impacted crop, but her blockage was more likely in the gizzard or lower.

 

[jessica5113]

She died today. Very sad. The vet suspected either a blocked gizzard or cocci. We're going to test the feces of the other birds in our flock just in case.

oh no I was hoping for a good outcome. So sorry you lost your girl. Bless her. I would go ahead and start the others on antibiotics now just to be on the safe side and to get a head start. If it cocci it will wipe out the rest of the flock quickly.

 

[sunflour]

@ColoradoLyssah

Alaska!

I'm in GA and we have had temps in the 80's this week and it is not yet even Spring! But I do not envy your weather there.

IMO this is the only place you can express love for your pet chickens without getting funny looks and we really do know what you mean.

Hope the tests on the rest of the flock are negative

 

[enola]

What antibiotic did your vet give you?

 

[jessica5113]

Thanks to both of you. Our vet gave us a jam jar of antibiotics so we're good to go there if we need to treat all. They get tested today, fingers crossed. 
The worst part of it all, is that the ground is frozen solid. My handle is ColoradoLyssah, but right now we're living in Alaska. I had to put her funeral box in the freezer to keep until May. If it wasn't a pet (we only had 8 chickens total, and we worked hard to transfer them from Colorado to Alaska), I'd laugh about it. 

ok so curiosity has gotten the best of me and I must ask. Why do you have to keep her in the freezer till may? I've never heard of such before.

 

[enola]

The ground is still frozen in Alaska.

 

[jessica5113]

The ground is still frozen in Alaska.

oh ok lol duh! Boy that was a blonde moment if I've ever had one!!

I just thought with her passing there was a specific reason why she had to be kept In the freezer.