Please tell me what this is? *PIC* UPDATE *She Died

Just discovered my red star standing all by herself in the middle of the yard yesterday. All ruffled up, wobbly at times. She allowed me to walk right up to her and pick her up. She is a rescue from a friend and we have had her for about 6 months now...I'm guessing she is about 2 yrs old. She is low on the "pecking order" but usually very active and happy. One of my best layers but now that I think about it I haven't had an egg from her in several days. When I picked her up I noticed immediately that she is extremely skinny, her breast bone is protruding. Also, she obviously has had diarrhea and it was dried all over the vent area. Last night my husband and I let her soak in warm water for about 15 minutes ( I do not feel any hard areas when palpating her abdomen and an internal exam was negative). We cleaned her up and dried her then she overnighted in the dog crate in the kitchen. She took some scrambled eggs and drank alot last night but her diarrhea is very watery still this morning ( no blood)- appears to be mostly water with a grainy type residue. I have added electrolytes to the water and some antibiotic powder as well. Picking up yogurt as well this morning. She will remain in the house in the dog crate seperated from the others for now. Any suggestions would be welcomed, as well as a best guess on what she might be suffering from. Thanks...

See if you can collect a poo sample and have a vet check it for worms. Isolate her from the flock. Keep her warm and see if you can get some food, electrolytes, yogurt, etc. into her. You already seem to have it under control tho. I would hold off on the antibiotics until you find out more.

If you've already started antibiotics, do not discontinue; this could cause antibiotic resistant bacteria. That being said (for future reference) it's not a good idea to just give them antibiotic because they seem sick.

I think you are doing the best thing you can be doing; making sure she's eating and drinking, vits/electrolytes are good, but don't use for more than a few days at a time (when I use them, I go 3 days on, 2 days off). The key now is to make sure she's hydrated and eating. Offer her a buffet if you can't get her to eat - yogurt, cooked oatmeal, cut up fruit/veggies...the last sick one I had, the only thing she'd eat was cooked eggs. So, I mixed them in with a bit of yogurt and a tiny bit of flock raiser, and she ate that. Wasn't the healthiest thing, but at least she was eating and began to gain weight; once she felt a little better, I weaned her back onto her regular feed.

This type of thing seems to happen often with chickens, unfortuantely. If there's any way to take her to an Avian vet, that's the only way you'll know for sure what she has. Good luck, keep us posted.

If she's really weak and you fear for her and are able to get her in for blood work you may learn what to do. I had a hen get like this last fall. Parasite tests were negative but blood work showed infection and/or inflammation (they read the same on the test the vet did) and it turned out antibiotic and antiinflammatory got her well. She was very rapidly in bad shape when she got ill and I don't think she would have made it without that quick (same day) intervention - he began treatment before blood work even came back because the poor thing got hit hard by whatever ailed her. She is doing well now. Hope this works out Your hen's weight loss may indicate parasite. Has she been wormed in recent times?
JJ

Thanks for all the quick responses. We don't have an avian vet that I know of around here but I don't think my husband would go for the $$ for a chicken. Just called hubby at home and he says she is eating a few scrambled eggs and moving around a little in the dog crate. Will pick up yogurt today and get that going. Will keep you informed and thanks again.

Update on Red Star: My little red star made it through the night but when I went to bed last night I had my doubts. She took only a small amount of yogurt with some crushed laying pellets mixed in. She is however still drinking. Very watery diarrhea continues with a strong ammonia smell. I cleaned her up again last night and noticed her abdomen is swollen and soft and squishy feeling. She doesn't seem to be in any pain but I have to wonder about that. The ammonia smell is almost overpowering and I have never noticed that before. If anyone has anymore ideas or suggestions I would welcome them. I feel like I am just offering her palliative care at this point but who knows....

Your bird has a different problem than my Ellie had. But she is also in some pretty serious and time sensitive trouble. Some folks on this site have had experience with symptoms you describe and hopefully will see your post soon as I think the right intervention soon is critical, from what you describe. You might find some info using the "search" mechanism on this site, using key words re: her symptoms. Perhaps try calling avian vets to see if you find a kind soul willing to advise via phone if you aren't going to bring her in or they are too far away. Peter Brown may be able to help via phone. See First State Vet Supply website for his contact info.
JJ

It's possible her has a case of peritonitis or is eggbound and now showing more definitive symptoms. You may want to check these threads before deciding what to to. Among your options is a shallow belly bath to help her muscles relax in case she can pass part of an egg, though if she has an infection more would be needed, like antibiotics. If you decide ob the belly bath, best to have help and you need a warm place and lots of absorbant materials as you remove her. If she passes anything it could be quite messy, too. There are some excellent descriptions and options for treatment in these links-


https://www.backyardchickens.com/se...e=ISO-8859-1&q=eggbound+peritonitis&sa=Search

Thanks for the reply, we gave her a warm soaking bath 2 nights ago when we first discovered her not feeling well. Examined her vent and palpated her belly and found no signs of an egg. If she is egg bound that is not the same as her being an internal layer is it? Anyway, she really seemed to relax in the warm water . Last night she got another "mini" bath because I had to clean her up again and that's when I discovered that her abdomen seemed larger and very squishy feeling. I'm still at work and can check the thread you gave me for more info. Just hope she's made it throught the day okay. I won't be home for a few more hours. Thanks for the reply.

I was wondering if the bathing is making progress, that whatever is 'up there' is moving down. Not sure of course. It's so hard when you work full-time.

Yes, 'eggbound'' is different from 'internal layer'. I wish you luck as you continue to assist this girl. The other possibility is that she has been making a new egg and is having trouble getting it down. I would love to hear she has laid an egg today, that's just me hoping you get a happy ending...