Vet called.. Giant infection of some kind and anemia. Timeline…

[Bunnygirl66]

Hi there. My two year old buff Orpington Sarah is very sick and I’m trying my best to help her. I’ve been reading this forum like crazy. Anyway the vet just called with her blood work results and said she has a “GIANT infection”. Also anemic. Her fecal came back clean.

It started on Thursday, when she was still in the coop and my other two hens were ready to be let out in to the yard. Not that odd sometimes somebody is still laying. Well after a few hours I checked on her and she was still in the nest box. A few hours after that she finally comes out and looks all fluffed up and weird. She was closing her eyes so I go out and check the nest box and there were two eggs that looked completely normal. I look Sarah over and notice her comb and wattles are really pale. She had zero reaction to the meal worm treat bag. I bring her inside and start combing the internet and realize this could be a lot of things. She wouldn’t move, walk, eat or drink. She pooped one disgusting yellow and dark and watery putrid smelling poop.

We don’t have a whole lot of exotic or farm vets around but just my luck I had an appointment scheduled for Friday morning to check up on my two new foster bunnies I just adopted. I called the vet and asked if we could swap their appointment for Sarah and they agreed. She makes it through the night and we head to the vet.

First thing the vet said is her abdomen feels distended but they did a soft ultrasound and didn’t see any fluid. She felt her reproductive tract and said she didn’t feel anything too unusual. We did blood work and a fecal and gave her fluids and a shot of I believe doxycycline to the chest. She was extremely stressed and was screaming anytime the doctor touched her. She continued to scream at me when I’d touch her at home. She didn’t move and kept her eyes closed the whole rest of the day. She finally drank water at the end of the night.

This morning she’s still not well but better. She ate some crumble and some moist bread and lots of spinach and some strawberry. Showed interest in meal worm bag too! She walked around a little and had some more dark green and yellow poops but the water and bad smell wasn’t there. She also was preening herself. Still is quiet and laying in her hutch in the dining room.

Vet texted the blood work over and it’s a bad infection of some sort. She had no mites or lice and her fecal came back clean with no parasites. Doctors guess is it’s reproductive infection. Second guess is GI tract. I believe we are gonna do x rays on Friday as long as she doesn’t decline. Also Lupron implant and another shot of antibiotic and check her red blood cell count again. What do you guys think based of the info provided?
She’s my favorite chicken and I’m so attached to her but if it’s egg yolk peritonitis it sounds like it becomes a constant problem?
Do you think the anemia is because she didn’t eat for two days before the blood work was done?
Or what else would cause the anemia?

I want her to pull through so bad!!!!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
I attached photos of the blood work the doctor sent and her text. A pic of her latest poop. Her looking sickly this morning and yesterday. And I pic of her and her coopmate enjoying the sun just a few days ago.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

 

[Eggcessive]

Unfortunately egg yolk peritonitis and internal laying are very common disorders in hens over 2 years old. Her poops are dark green with yellow urates, and that is common in hens with ascites or water belly from a liver and reproductive disorder. The green looks like she is not eating enough. I doubt that she will live very long since all of those things are usually untreatable that far advanced. Sorry that you are dealing with all of this. I don’t deal with vets when I have a sick hen. I just try to make them as comfortable as possible until they seem to be suffering, and then I put them down.

 

[Bunnygirl66]

Unfortunately egg yolk peritonitis and internal laying are very common disorders in hens over 2 years old. Her poops are dark green with yellow urates, and that is common in hens with ascites or water belly from a liver and reproductive disorder. The green looks like she is not eating enough. I doubt that she will live very long since all of those things are usually untreatable that far advanced. Sorry that you are dealing with all of this. I don’t deal with vets when I have a sick hen. I just try to make them as comfortable as possible until they seem to be suffering, and then I put them down.

She has perked up a lot today. Jumped out of her nursing hutch and walking around the kitchen. Eating alot. Poop is still yellow but no diarrhea. Her comb is even looking a much better color today. However.. I’m guessing this doesn’t mean much in the long run. These are my first hens. I never knew so many things could go wrong!! Looking at her blood work her liver is definitely not functioning properly. I have gathered that there is no fixing this but is there anything I can do to help her along as long as she’s acting like a normal chicken? Do I waste any time on the implant or trying anything?

 

[Eggcessive]

If she is doing better before the implant is to be done, you could do it for her, but the cost is pretty high I think. It might extend her life some, but there are no guarantees. Most people would not spend a lot of money on hormone implants or vets. This forum has been helpful to those up of us who don’t have vets who see chickens, or can’t afford it. Some chickens live a long time, but some may just live a few years. Reproductive disorders and cancer are things that may take them young. Let us know how she continues to get along.

 

[LaFleche]

If she is still alive today, you could try some milk thistle (capsules or tea) which is well known to help with liver issues.

But of course, it would not help with her reproductive disorders.

 

[Bunnygirl66]

If she is still alive today, you could try some milk thistle (capsules or tea) which is well known to help with liver issues.

But of course, it would not help with her reproductive disorders.

Thank you! I’ll make note of this. She is alive and doing good.. Back to her normal chicken self. Her anemia is gone. Yellow in her poop gone. She just went to the vet yesterday for a last recheck and we did blood work again to see where she is at. Should have the results in a few days. She did start molting a few days ago so she’s not laying at the moment. A little nerve wracking to see what happens once she starts laying again because we don’t know exactly if it was GI issues or reproductive issue that caused the infection.

 

[LaFleche]

She looks much better, indeed!

 

[Bunnygirl66]

Just wanted to say the vet called with the results of her last blood draw and all her levels are back to normal range!! Yay!

 

[LaFleche]

I love good news