pretty new to chickens. Lethargic adult hen. Pretty sure its not respitory.

Background
Just recieved this chicken along with 10 others from a lady 10 days ago. Didn't know to quarentine them before mixing with my OG chickens. The chickens did look a little ragged compared to my OG chickens but they are different breeds and colors so just figured I wasn't used to them. They also were with a huge rooster and some turkeys and I assumed they were just scruffy from over breeding or because of the turkeys picking them.


Yesterday
8am My daughter said we had a sick chicken in the barn. That her feathers were fluffed up and she wasn't with the other chickens. I have never had a sick adult chicken before so I didn't think anything about it I just figured she was fluffed up cause she was cold.

5pm Chicken was in the same place it was in the morning. Brought her in the house. She was lethargic, fluffed feathers, small amounts of a watery slimy fluid leaking out her beak. It had a dirty water color. There is no smell coming from mouth or the fluid in her mouth. If you tip her forward some fluid does come out. Like pouring coffe from a cup.One poop allnight and was diahreah dark green in color. After examing her over I found she is badly infested with both mites and chicken lice. Started giving her water with electrolytes and antibiotics. She has no intrest in eating or drinking so using a syringe to get it in her mouth. Sometimes she imeadiatly starts swallowing other times she just sits there and lets it run down her throat. No food at all yesterday, not sure for how long before that.

Today
I woke up she was still with us. She actually seemed to perk up and listen when I came into the room, but still didn't opwn her eyes. She hasn't improved any as I had thought. She did have one instance of explosive dark green diahreah. After giving her the medicated water, the fluid coming from her mouth over the night, and today has changed to that same color and also seemed less then yesterday. However when I picked her up to examine her vent area and the last bit of water I had given her fell out of her beak. It now seems to be getting more and more mucasy instead of watery. She is breathing through her beak rather that her nose and you can here it poping the the mucas in her beak. Once I wipe the mucas out of her beak the popping or gurgeling stops. It feels like all the water I gave her is still in her crop. Its kind of squishy like a balloon filled with cooking flour. She did just have a bowl movement for the first time since 5 pm yesterday at 10 am and it was explosive diareah in the same dark green shade.



I just don't know what to do for her. I feel bad! I love my chickens like pets. So any suggestions are appriciated!

Bumping.. I sure hope someone can help ya hun!

backwoodsmamma said:

Background
Just recieved this chicken along with 10 others from a lady 10 days ago. Didn't know to quarentine them before mixing with my OG chickens. The chickens did look a little ragged compared to my OG chickens but they are different breeds and colors so just figured I wasn't used to them. They also were with a huge rooster and some turkeys and I assumed they were just scruffy from over breeding or because of the turkeys picking them.


Yesterday
8am My daughter said we had a sick chicken in the barn. That her feathers were fluffed up and she wasn't with the other chickens. I have never had a sick adult chicken before so I didn't think anything about it I just figured she was fluffed up cause she was cold.

5pm Chicken was in the same place it was in the morning. Brought her in the house. She was lethargic, fluffed feathers, small amounts of a watery slimy fluid leaking out her beak. It had a dirty water color. There is no smell coming from mouth or the fluid in her mouth. If you tip her forward some fluid does come out. Like pouring coffe from a cup.One poop allnight and was diahreah dark green in color. After examing her over I found she is badly infested with both mites and chicken lice. Started giving her water with electrolytes and antibiotics. She has no intrest in eating or drinking so using a syringe to get it in her mouth. Sometimes she imeadiatly starts swallowing other times she just sits there and lets it run down her throat. No food at all yesterday, not sure for how long before that.

Today
I woke up she was still with us. She actually seemed to perk up and listen when I came into the room, but still didn't opwn her eyes. She hasn't improved any as I had thought. She did have one instance of explosive dark green diahreah. After giving her the medicated water, the fluid coming from her mouth over the night, and today has changed to that same color and also seemed less then yesterday. However when I picked her up to examine her vent area and the last bit of water I had given her fell out of her beak. It now seems to be getting more and more mucasy instead of watery. She is breathing through her beak rather that her nose and you can here it poping the the mucas in her beak. Once I wipe the mucas out of her beak the popping or gurgeling stops. It feels like all the water I gave her is still in her crop. Its kind of squishy like a balloon filled with cooking flour. She did just have a bowl movement for the first time since 5 pm yesterday at 10 am and it was explosive diareah in the same dark green shade.



I just don't know what to do for her. I feel bad! I love my chickens like pets. So any suggestions are appriciated!

Click to expand...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/151473/casportpony
I private messaged her your thread...she has an amazing amount of knowledge...if anyone can help it's her
best of luck I'll be looking for updates

Sorry to hear that but I would try to keep giving the antibiotics and see if she will eventually perk up.

I'm really sorry, but open mouth breathing, crop stasis and vomiting sound like the death process has started. Rarely, and I do mean rarely, they can bounce back with extreme supportive care, but that's only if their organs haven't started to shut down.

How is she now?

-Kathy

Be sure to keep her away from the others.

From the Chicken Health Handbook....a homemade recipe for electrolyte solution:

1/3 teaspoon salt substitute (No Salt salt substitute has it)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 quart water

Edited: I thought it was a respiratory issue, so I editing what I had written.

I did forget to mention that yesterday while inspecting her her notrils were plugged with what looked like dirt. I didn't want to dig in to far just got the stuff off of the outside. As of right now she looks about the same. I keep thinking maybe she is getting a little better but then something happens to make me think not. When I got home from town she was laying there just breathing. I picked her up and set her on the side of the tub so that I could give her some water. I gave her a little of the medicated water then thought well maybe the slime looks a little thicker because of the medicine. Kind of like drinking milk when we are already congested. So I just got some straight water and hand fed that. She didn't even try to swallow just let it run down her throat. So I think dang she is getting worse at least yesterday I could sometimes get her to swallow once she felt the fluid in her mouth. But then all of a sudden she let out a cluck, then a couple more, and actually kept her eyes open for at least a whole minute. That is way better than before. She hasn't made a sound one since I brought her in and this is the chicken 10 days ago that yelled like a human when I tried to hold her. So the noise made me happy. Yesterday she would only hold her eyes open for a couple seconds at a time so a whole minute also made me happy. But then I tipped her forward to drain some of the mucas in her mouth and I think all of the water she has had today just ran right out her beak. Then she seemed even more tired than before. The color was different though. This time it was pale yellow like watered down medicated water with a brownish red tint. It almost made me think blood but wasn't quite red enough. It was also the same consistancy as the watery fluid. I am so bummed I really want this girl to live but like was said she may be on her way out. When I first got my chicks I did have a few that also was breathing like her and had the mucas and they eventually died. Usually within hours. Since it has been at least 24 hours since we noticed she was down, I am praying that is a good sign.

Can you go to a vet and buy supplies to tube feed with? Should cost less than $5. Ask them for a size 16 or 18 french catheter and a 35ml catheter tip syringe. If you can do that, I can teach you to tube feed, it's very easy any way less stressful for both the bird and human. In the meantime, try to keep her warm and quiet. Birds that are this sick are often hypothermic, so you might want to put a heat source in with her.

If there's still dirt in her nostrils, try to get it out.

-Kathy

Kathy is just feeding the water into her beak with a syrenge slowly bad? Is that why she keeps losing it when tipped? Let me call some vets and find out.

I was not able to get the supplies this evening but will be able to in the morning.