Please Help! Hen acting listless, has a pale comb and diarrhea

[Chickenchick11]

Please help! My two year old White Rock hen is acting listless, not eating, has a pale comb, and diarrhea. She was acting fine yesterday. She's had a pale comb for a couple days, but I thought she was just taking a break from laying. Does anyone have any idea what's wrong with her?

 

[TwoCrows]

First, give her an internal exam to make sure she is not egg bound as this will take them down hill fast. Put on a latex type glove with some KY-Jelly or Vaseline on the index finger and stick your finger into her vent straight back. If she has a stuck egg, you should feel it within the first inch or two. Any deeper and she is not egg bound. If she has a stuck egg, you can read this article on getting the egg to move....https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention

Next, look her over for lice or mites. Either of these can pale up a comb and suck the life right out of them. Lice will be crawling around the vent and back sides of the bird. Mites might give the skin an appearance of dirt on the skin and you might see eggs around the vent...looks like dirt at the base of the feathers.

When was the last time she was wormed? Worms consume all the food the bird eats and eventually kills the bird.

Check her over for any injuries too from roosters...look along the sides and up under the wings and such. Give her an over all exam too. If you think she has not been eating and does have a full crop, she could be having slow, sour or an impaction in the crop.

 

[Chickenchick11]

My mom and I did a vent check and we couldn't feel a egg. I looked her over and I didn't see anything that looked like dirt or eggs on her. I did find a weird feather thing on her back that I will post a picture of in a moment.

I know she and the rest of my flock needed to be wormed sometime this year, I can have my dad stop at the feed store pick up wormer on his way home from work. I don't have any roosters, just seven hens. I looked her over for injuries but didn't see any. I'm 99% sure she doesn't have a impacted/sour crop because I dealt with that last year in a different hen and her symptoms were different.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

What does her crop feel like? Hard, soft, etc?

 

[Chickenchick11]

Her crop feels kind of squishy. She ate some tomato and layer feed, and drank some water earlier.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

She doesn't have mites or lice right? What's her breathing like? Does her breath smell abnormal?

 

[Chickenchick11]

She doesn't seem to have mites or lice. She's breathing with her beak open, and her breath smells normal.

 

[TwoCrows]

Sounds like her crop is probably normal, but just in case, check it first thing in the morning before she eats or drinks anything. Take away all food and water tonight so you know when you feel her crop tomorrow morning, you know she hasn't had access to anything. If it is full, here is a good article on sour and impacted crops...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

Good job on the egg check.

I would get her wormed as soon as possible. Worms kill them quick if you haven't done so in a while. And this way if she is still sick in days to come, you can rule out the worms.

I would get a good wormer. Something like Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer. This stuff will take care of most worms. If you can't find the liquid, the Equine equivalent of Paste will work. In the future, you might keep some Valbazen on hand which kills all worms. If you have a TSC nearby you should be able to get the Goat Wormer in the horse section.

If the wormer doesn't fix her up, she could have some bacterial infection going on. I would try the worming first before going the antibacterial route just yet.

 

[TwoCrows]

Is she gasping for air, neck stretched up or just breathing heavy through her beak?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Sounds like her crop is probably normal, but just in case, check it first thing in the morning before she eats or drinks anything. Take away all food and water tonight so you know when you feel her crop tomorrow morning, you know she hasn't had access to anything. If it is full, here is a good article on sour and impacted crops...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

Good job on the egg check.

I would get her wormed as soon as possible. Worms kill them quick if you haven't done so in a while. And this way if she is still sick in days to come, you can rule out the worms.

I would get a good wormer. Something like Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer. This stuff will take care of most worms. If you can't find the liquid, the Equine equivalent of Paste will work. In the future, you might keep some Valbazen on hand which kills all worms. If you have a TSC nearby you should be able to get the Goat Wormer in the horse section.

If the wormer doesn't fix her up, she could have some bacterial infection going on. I would try the worming first before going the antibacterial route just yet.

Is she gasping for air, neck stretched up or just breathing heavy through her beak?

X2