2/10 Respiratory or something else? - SHE IS NOW SICK - suggestions welcome -is-there-a-chance-a-production-breed-will-never-produce-an-egg-see-pics

[Bawkbok]

Original thread located in behaviors and egg laying. (production breed not laying) I don't know how to move a thread from one forum to another so I just provided the pertinent information here. Sorry for any confusion.

Golden Comet almost 9 mos. old, no eggs yet. Below is pics of the progression of her illness.
Saturday she presented with watery bubbly poo, was acting normal, eating and drinking.

Sunday - Poop all watery, clear mostly and white liquid, firehose style. No pics. Absorbed into dry ground to be useful here. Drinking excessive amounts of water, less interest in food, acted ok, not as cheerful and chatty as normal, movements slow, standing around.

Monday (today) - no interest in food at all, upon emergence, crop completely empty, drinking excessive amounts of water. Stood in the corner of the run without moving, head and neck retracted, for almost an hour. My entering forced her movement.
Poop is now chunky bright white and forest green and white gellatenous like.

Decided to let them out of the run to see what she would do. She is slow to move, walk is a waddle side to side. She foraged a little but is not scratching. She did take a sand bath.

She looks and feels heavy.
Vent - pic below - was moist and red, now dry and pink.
Eyes, nares and ears all clear. Mouth is clean.
No mites, lice or other creepy crawlies on her.
Protested being held underside like it was uncomfortable. Belly felt large and soft but not squishy like full of water.
Comb is starting to look pale.

Treatment thus far:
Sunday - probiotics in fresh water / applied KY jelly to vent / gave a Calcium Citrate with D3, 600 mg
Monday - probiotics in fresh water / applied KY jelly to vent / gave a Calcium Citrate with D3, 400 mg

Is there something else I could / should be doing to help her. She is no longer interested in food - Kalmbach layer feed, 17% protein.
Oyster shell and grit always available.
She ate some scrambled egg Sunday - have not offered any today.
Behavior seems on and off between standing statuesque to slow deliberate movements from one place to another for rest. She is not isolating herself from the others but not actively engaging with them. She is no longer going to the nest during the day, not attempting to lay.

I don't know what to think or what else to try. Thank you for suggestions and advice.

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Original thread located in behaviors and egg laying. (production breed not laying) I don't know how to move a thread from one forum to another so I just provided the pertinent information here. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is a link to your previous thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-produce-an-egg-see-pics-of-our-girl.1644009/

I would suspect that your hen has a reproductive disorder and could be laying internally, and suffering infection or egg yolk peritonitis. The swollen lower abdomen could be that and possibly ascites. Unfortunately, she will probably keep going downhill until she dies. I would be interested in finding out what was going on with a home necropsy, or have your state vet do a professional necropsy. If you do one at home, take pictures of the liver, intestines, and other organs. Ascites fluid is yellow and you would see it when the belly is opened. Here is a list of state vets to contact for a necropsy:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...7IOlHOhP-eD8qMtZ70RNq6BMO9kVUn3x6so7q0Z_JgEr8
Here is a video of a necropsy which is helpful in identifying organs:

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you @Eggssive for your reply. Are you saying to stop all treatment, i.e., Calcium, the KY jelly, probiotics? I was thinking of deworming her - I have Valbazen. So there is no way to help her out of this dilemma? The calcium won't help her dispel any internal egg fragments?

I was just out there to check on her again. She is always drinking water and now her poop is back to clear water again. It seems she drinks and poops, drinks and poops. She jumped up on her favorite stool which I thought was a positive but she attempted to lay down on it and kept getting up and assumed a permanent standing position. Is this hopeless? There is nothing I can do?

 

[Eggcessive]

You can try giving her calcium, but if nothing happens, she probably is not going to respond to that. I never recommend calcium to be given over 7 days. I would just offer tempting foods, such as watery chicken feed, some cooked soft egg, and an occasional treat such as tuna. Make her comfortable. If you have an antibiotic such as amoxicillin or enrofloxacin, you could try it. Check her crop in early morning before she eats, to see if it is emptying. Worm her. Those things might extend her life, but it sounds like she has been going downhill for a long time. If she ever seems to be suffering, then consider putting her down.

Once I did a necropsy and saw what was going on with a very sick hen, I regretted not putting her out of her misery earlier. Sometimes they pass quietly on their own. But let us know if you need help on identifying anything in necropsy pictures. Sorry, but these reproductive issues and cancer are the most common cause of death in hens.

 

[Bawkbok]

You can try giving her calcium, but if nothing happens, she probably is not going to respond to that. I never recommend calcium to be given over 7 days. I would just offer tempting foods, such as watery chicken feed, some cooked soft egg, and an occasional treat such as tuna. Make her comfortable. If you have an antibiotic such as amoxicillin or enrofloxacin, you could try it. Check her crop in early morning before she eats, to see if it is emptying. Worm her. Those things might extend her life, but it sounds like she has been going downhill for a long time. If she ever seems to be suffering, then consider putting her down.

Once I did a necropsy and saw what was going on with a very sick hen, I regretted not putting her out of her misery earlier. Sometimes they pass quietly on their own. But let us know if you need help on identifying anything in necropsy pictures. Sorry, but these reproductive issues and cancer are the most common cause of death in hens.

Thank you for your feedback and input. I have both of those antibiotics and will introduce one today.

Her crop was empty this morning. She is still not eating, not even mash, which is one of her favorites. I will offer watermelon, another favorite and see if she partakes. She is still drinking water (probiotics added) but I found this by the water bowl this morning about an hour after they emerged. See pics below, both sides of whatever that is. Looks like it may be a lash egg? What is that tail thing?

She is walking better, more interest in life in general today - my hopes are improving but I am a realist and know the hard day still looms before us. Tail is way up as normal. I let her out in the yard to enjoy her thing for as long as she can. She foraged and scratched with much more interest, not 100% but much better than yesterday.

Is it ok to worm at the same time with the antibiotic? I recall reading something about that here before but now I can't find it. Thanking you immensely for your knowledge.

Also, I do not have necropsy tools - what is the best instrument/s to have for necropsy? I need to order to have on hand for whenever.
Thank you.

 

[CoopBoots]

She is still drinking water (probiotics added) but I found this by the water bowl this morning about an hour after they emerged. See pics below, both sides of whatever that is. Looks like it may be a lash egg? What is that tail thing?

Almost definitely lash material.They can come in a variety of forms but i don't think the tail bit is unusual. Can you cut it open and share a picture of the inside to help confirm?

Really sorry about your pullet's condition.

 

[Bawkbok]

Almost definitely lash material.They can come in a variety of forms but i don't think the tail bit is unusual. Can you cut it open and share a picture of the inside to help confirm?

Really sorry about your pullet's condition.

Ok, I cut it open and there is no liquid at all, it's soft but firm inside. It has an organic odor - almost like an onion - but not in a good way. It wasn't there at coop time last night and there's no way with the run coverings that it blew in or fell from a tree. Her new favorite place is in front of the water bowl and that's where it was located, so I'm almost certain it came from her. Since I didn't see it happen I can't be positive about that. Your thoughts?

 

[CoopBoots]

Ok, I cut it open and there is no liquid at all, it's soft but firm inside. It has an organic odor - almost like an onion - but not in a good way. It wasn't there at coop time last night and there's no way with the run coverings that it blew in or fell from a tree. Her new favorite place is in front of the water bowl and that's where it was located, so I'm almost certain it came from her. Since I didn't see it happen I can't be positive about that. Your thoughts?

Definitely wait for Eggcessive's advice, but that looks like lash egg to me and, if so, is a product of salpingitis/infection of the oviduct. Antibiotics might help but I'm not qualified to recommend a specific one or to give you any kind of prognosis. Her behavior says it is probably pretty serious. I've seen lash material myself but never in a hen that was acting this sickly, and not of this size.

 

[Bawkbok]

Thanks everyone for your input. I let her free range again today to be a chicken. She does ok, walks slower than normal, used to do her cute little strut across the yard. She found some bugs and ate some weeds, but she is not eating any feed, or her favorite treats, or scrambled eggs, or mash, nothing. I cannot watch her slowly starve to death and I miss hearing her sweet little happy voice which has now gone silent. I'm already crying buckets knowing our time together is short and I'm going to have to find my big girl pants very soon to do that which must be done. It feels like murder to me but I know it's the right thing for my baby. Damn these birds anyway.

 

[WingItRanch]

Thanks everyone for your input. I let her free range again today to be a chicken. She does ok, walks slower than normal, used to do her cute little strut across the yard. She found some bugs and ate some weeds, but she is not eating any feed, or her favorite treats, or scrambled eggs, or mash, nothing. I cannot watch her slowly starve to death and I miss hearing her sweet little happy voice which has now gone silent. I'm already crying buckets knowing our time together is short and I'm going to have to find my big girl pants very soon to do that which must be done. It feels like murder to me but I know it's the right thing for my baby. Damn these birds anyway.

I'm thinking of you! I know exactly how you feel. Hopefully the meds will help her improve and you won't have to do what I did today.