1 year old hen has watery poop, shaking, panting, inconsistently shelled eggs - what's wrong??

chickenperson56

Hatching
6 Years
Apr 23, 2013
6
0
9
My one year old Golden Laced Wyandotte hen has been like this for several days. At first she laid thin shelled eggs infrequently and we assumed it was a lack of calcium, so we gave her more. It worked for a little while, but recently it got more frequent and she's had watery poop, has been shaking (only noticeable when holding her), panting hard and loudly while holding her wings out. These behaviors come and go within a day. She's not overheated or cold. She acts fine, clucking, purring on the roost, clear eyes, eating, and drinking.
I don't know what's wrong and any help would be much appreciated!!
 
Get some picutes of her poop if you can.
She's obviously sick but without putting hands on her the only clues I can have are the leavings. kinda like a chicken diary... gross as it is.

I hope shes still running around, and maybe over it.
For some reason few people mention that soft shelled eggs are the first sign of an inpending fight with infection.
Its not always calcium, there's a lot more to a chicken than the egg.

If you want to be proactive then grab a broad spectrum antibiotic, but make sure she shows some biotic ailment signs.
Are her poops excessivly watery but to a green or yellow tint? Is the panting continuing even after she is put in the shade or other cool place for a while? When she stands still do the wings not just droop, but the feathers all expand so she's like a sad chciken ball?
These are pretty good internal fight signs, but remember it still could be viral. A tough call to make without some photos to work on.

Most medicines dont work on viral and bacterial, but most bacterial do help kill parasites.
Ahh the combinations!

Good luck!!
 
Get some picutes of her poop if you can.
She's obviously sick but without putting hands on her the only clues I can have are the leavings. kinda like a chicken diary... gross as it is.

I hope shes still running around, and maybe over it.
For some reason few people mention that soft shelled eggs are the first sign of an inpending fight with infection.
Its not always calcium, there's a lot more to a chicken than the egg.

If you want to be proactive then grab a broad spectrum antibiotic, but make sure she shows some biotic ailment signs.
Are her poops excessivly watery but to a green or yellow tint? Is the panting continuing even after she is put in the shade or other cool place for a while? When she stands still do the wings not just droop, but the feathers all expand so she's like a sad chciken ball?
These are pretty good internal fight signs, but remember it still could be viral. A tough call to make without some photos to work on.

Most medicines dont work on viral and bacterial, but most bacterial do help kill parasites.
Ahh the combinations!

Good luck!!



Thank you for your reply!
She's doing much better, the only symptom still there is the really watery poop. I haven't seen a solid one from her in a long time. Eggs are normal again. I haven't tried antibiotics, I've been giving her diatomaceous earth, oyster shell, chili powder (worm preventative, just in case), and grit, in addition to her regular layer feed. And interestingly enough, a mix of ACV and NutriDrench in her water that seems to have helped fight off the other symptoms as she got better soon after I started adding more NutriDrench.
Based on her seemingly better health, do you have any ideas on what could have been wrong?
Thanks again!
 
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Sounds like what I've been going through with my one year old hen. She began laying thin shells, began to drop eggs in the run and on the roost, some eggs with no shells. She was having nasty diarrhea and the feathers on her butt were nasty. I noticed her panting a few times for no reason as she wasn't overheated or thirsty. She was still eating and drinking but I began to notice her kinda' laying around in the run. Her comb was still bright and she looked good even though she was acting funny.

I gave oyster shell free-will, gave her sardines, crushed egg shells. I'd get one good egg and then back to the thin shells.

I noticed some rice-looking worms in her poo so wormed her using Valbazen. Within 48 hrs. the diarrhea was gone and she was back to laying large, hard shelled eggs! I had stopped everything else except the oyster shell before worming so am guessing it's the worming that has made the difference.
 

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