2 year old chicken, stopped laying 6 months and now wasting away. I'm clueless.

[mommabear212]

Hello and thanks in advance for reading this!

I have had this happen to one other bird before I got this one and never figured out what was wrong with her. There is a back story there that I can explain if it will help solve this problem.

Whitey is a leghorn that has always been quite small and hates to be handled, running away if she thinks it is a possibility. She is now isolated in my shower, has been for the last 3 days. She started molting about 3 weeks ago and about 2 weeks ago just became weak and sits against the house where the dryer vents. Her breast is getting smaller and she does not have the warmth that she and all my birds have always had. Her comb is cool to the touch. Her back side is large (enlarged possibly) and hard to the touch so I suspected egg bound but she doesn't fit the description of an egg bound chicken as I have read it on these forums. Her backside was hot to the touch until yesterday and it is now cool. That may be from being in the tub though, I suppose. She eats vigorously when she eats, picking her favorite stuff from a local made mix. She drinks when she wants to without trouble.

Because I thought she had a respiratory infection (black spots on comb and stopping egg production being the main symptoms) I had her on antibiotic (duramycin-10) for 3 days and she has been off for 2. Planning to go back on for 3 more days today at the advice of the feed store owner, who has no other advice or recommendation.

I am looking for advice on Whitey. Having searched the internet and some on this website, I haven't really found anything that looked like this problem. Even directing me to an older thread that covers this would be greatly appreciated. I am afraid she will die but the eating and drinking give me hope.

I also have 8 other chickens, some of which cough and wheeze (Whitey never coughed or wheezed), who were treated with the same antibiotics. I have two questions regarding them.

1. Should the wheezing/coughing have stopped by now due to antibiotics?

2. How long after being OFF the antibiotics can we begin to eat the eggs again?

Thanks for taking the time to read and consider my problems and questions! I truly appreciate the help!

Heidi

 

[mommabear212]

Also- the rest of the girls are acting completely normal.

 

[mommabear212]

I don't know if anyone will read this but in case someone is looking for answers to the same problem we did have some resolution.

All of the chickens were on antibiotics. Whiteys comb cleared up and she got her energy back and after living in my shower for 2 weeks was reintroduced to the flock and is now thriving. She still is not laying but that is ok because though I want eggs from all of my chickens, they are enjoyable even if they are not producing.

As a result of this experience, I built an isolation coop where I can put my sick or oddly behaving birds for observation and treatment.

One of my girls wheezes and another one or two make coughing/clucking sounds that make me wonder. I consider putting those girls in iso and treating them with another round of antibiotics but their condition does not change.

I hope this experience helps someone some day because struggling through trying to find the answers to a mystery problem can be very discouraging.

 

[mandsandadam]

I have seen the same when I have looked for answers when my chickens have been ill. A while ago one of my hens got really ill, I tried everywhere, none of the vets in my area have any idea about chickens, eventually I called the place I bought them off in desperation asking which vet he used and he said to bring her to him as all the vets in the area defer to him anyway, problem is he is miles away, by that time it was too late for that bird and he said it would be best to put her down, since then my others have had various things wrong and I have never known what it is, I have always just given the cover all of tonic, epsom salts and hope, with some being taken indoors and living in my bath for a while. I have some now that have been very lethargic, looking like they are eating but actually not eating much at all, just pecking at it, drinking fine, or looking like they are anyway, weakness, being very clingy and wanting to be where i am when I am out in the garden, laying on their side, runs and are just getting thinner and thinner no matter what they eat, I just found out that verm x does not help if they have worms already, this is all I have used to de worm them so now I think it may be worms, i read on another site about a chicken who had the same symptoms having worms, but it seems all symptoms for every illness is very similar. Thanks for posting the outcome, so many put the symptoms on asking for help but you never hear the out come or if they ever find out what it was. I am hoping mine is worms, I though it fitted that she was egg bound but now surely all my chickens cant be egg bound? We will see i suppose.