5 mo. old marans asleep standing up, slightly puffy head, eyes look sunken

[b0rpingt0n]

Two days ago, I went down to visit the chooks and as always they all mashed themselves against their wire enclosure to see if I had food. I noticed Lola wasn't there, and when I went around the front she was asleep standing up. She normally slaps me in the face and doesn't like being carried, but she was all limpy and unresponsive. I separated her immediately. She had JUST laid her first egg three days ago. She was walking around and eating yesterday, but seemed dehydrated and lacking in energy.
I thought because she was so reluctant to walk with her legs straightened, her neck seemed weak, and she appeared to have a sick tummy, I would try a bit of molasses water, which she drank about a tablespoon of, along with about a quarter or a third of a cup of fresh water.
I gave her powerade today, and all she would deign to eat yesterday was hard boiled egg yolk, but today she wouldn't even eat that. I was going to try sneaking some probiotics and calcium supplement, but she refused it.

She will only drink powerade. She wouldn't eat rolled oats, or cat food, or grapes or ANYTHING. I'm freaking out. She's normally a total pig.
I put her in a wire cage above some steaming water (careful not to burn her or put her on hot wire, and I left space for her to move away from it) and she huddled down over it.
She is normally very energetic, but now she stumbles when she lands from more than a foot's height, and walks sort of droopily with her tail at half mast. Her neck feathers look disheveled, and her vent feathers are a mess.

Her eyes are sort of sunken and it seems like she's lost weight because her breastbone feels sharp. (How quickly can that happen?!)

She's had watery green poos, some olive green, others white with green bits. Not much is solid. She hasn't been eating, so I guess that makes sense.
Any advice? I gave her some sulmet today...I will tomorrow too..obviously I'm reluctant to bring out the big guns without knowing what's going on.
Also, I can't get to an avian vet.

 

[soler]

Is it possible she is egg bound? is her abdomen a bit swollen? If you feel it gently, do you feel an egg in there? You could give her a warm bath, and lubricate her vent with some olive oil or vaseline (put some inside and outside, you'll need a latex glove or something of the sort). This won't hurt her even if you can't feel an egg.

I suppose she might have cocci, but it could be worms too. Corid is better than sulmet because it treats more strains, so you might want to switch to that. Also, a vet confirmed for me you can administer amprolium (which is in corid, not sulmet) and piperazine (wazine) on the same day, just mix them separately. So you could both worm and treat her for cocci at the same time.

If you treat for cocci, do the full treatment, not just a day. Also, i force feed my chickens if they are too sick to eat. I give them yogurt, yogurt mixed with their feed to form a mash, some cat food, some grated fruit. I basically open their beak and put pea sized amounts of soft foods in the beak. Some they swallow, some they spit out! I also make sure i make them drink. The food/drink really helps when they are getting weak.

I hope she feels better, poor thing.

 

[soler]

also, you should get that poop tested by a vet as soon as you can. Usually that runs 20-30 dollars, and any vet can check for parasites, this way you'll know exactly what to give her, and not dose her with medicine she doesn't need.

 

[b0rpingt0n]

Yeah I tried. she somehow shoots it out her nose at me.

 

[soler]

it's really important that you keep it hydrated and fed. you can drop bits of water/gatorade on her beak, and they usually drink some like that. For the feeding, do small amounts at a time, like the size of a pea.

 

[b0rpingt0n]

She has been drinking orange powerade...it has more electrolytes than gatorade..she ate a bit of egg yolk and nibbled at grass..

 

[soler]

so still not great. did you figure out if you think she is egg bound, or something else? the poop does make me think worm or cocci. Still watery?

 

[b0rpingt0n]

I dewormed the flock recently, so worms are ..possible I guess but not likely. I gave her a sauna treatment and felt around for an egg (no go) :/ my friend keeps telling me she's congenitally weak and susceptible because she's purebred. I just don't know.

 

[soler]

I definitely doubt she is weak because she's purebred! I have pure marans and they are some of my strongest and largest birds.

If you don't want to test the poop which would be very helpful, then try and treat for cocci with corid. If she gets better, then that was it. You should treat them all in that case. Corid for 5 days.

What did you use for worming? because wazine only does roundworms, it is possible she has different worms.

 

[eggburt]

um hi sorry I'm the original poster, but on my dad's account (too lazy to log out

) but I just wanted to say that I talked to the vet today and they would be happy to test it for me, and will have the results tomorrow. I am pleased...now to collect her poop