4+ Year old Barred Rock, Brown stinky diarrhea, wet butt, flopped over comb

[Tree hugger]

One of my Barred Rock hens is sick. I've noticed a smell in the coop yesterday. Today she is lethargic, her butt is wet, her comb is flopped over and her eyes are a bit squinty. Up until today she has been eating normally. My hens have plenty of fresh water, crumble and get a bit of scratch in the morning, but are free ranging during the day. Any ideas on what I should do for her? I have her isolated but haven't given her anything yet.

 

[Tree hugger]

Well, obviously I should have noticed the problem and asked for help sooner, because the hen has passed away. I'm concerned for my remaining hens. Do you think it's possible that she ate something and was poisoned? We do not use pesticides, but live on the perimeter of farm fields.

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry about your hen.
Without a necropsy, it's just guessing. How old was the hen? Do you know if she was laying eggs, and when she last did?

 

[Tree hugger]

I'm sorry about your hen.
Without a necropsy, it's just guessing. How old was the hen? Do you know if she was laying eggs, and when she last did?

I've lost track but I believe she just turned 5 years old. Because of her age, she didn't lay every day, but maybe 3 times/week. She had layed within the past couple of days.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. If you still have the body, keep it cold in a cooler on ice, and contact your state poultry vet on Tuesday, and take or send her body for a necropsy. That is the beat way to get a diagnosis. Here is a list of many state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Tree hugger]

Sorry for your loss. If you still have the body, keep it cold in a cooler on ice, and contact your state poultry vet on Tuesday, and take or send her body for a necropsy. That is the beat way to get a diagnosis. Here is a list of many state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Thank you for your feedback. We've already put her in the 'chicken cemetery'. I have cleared and disinfected the coop. I'm down to two hens (they were from the same clutch and we lost another to a predator this spring), so I'm going to wait a little bit to see if anybody else has issues before we think about a new flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would keep an eye on droppings. Probiotics in the feed a couple of days a week may be helpful. Coccidiosis or enteritis could have been a problem, but hard to know without taking some droppings in to the vet. Vent gleet may have also been something that affected the hen that died.