5 year old hen, thin, eating active, but slowing down.. diarhrea with yellow white slime

[Bocktobery 10]

She is still alive. Doing ok. Didn't eat until this evening, but only a little bit. I'll be giving her food through tube starting tomorrow morning. She even perched on the side of her box instead of laying down in it and not moving. She's pooped a little bit and it looks ok, just too small of an amount. I noticed her comb darkens when I move her around... again, would that signify a heart problem? Otherwise, its nice and red and normal looking. She pants sometimes, but other times appears to rest comfortably. She seems to be making a comeback and I'm very surprised.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Noticed she is limping. She keeps favoring her left leg. Can't put much pressure on her right. (Internal organ swollen?) She moved around more yesterday, but isn't too much today. She's not eating as much today by herself. Her comb keeps turning different colors and she is still panting lightly. I started giving her antibiotic today just in case.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

She is still limping. At times she seems energetic but mostly just stays in her box. I've noticed that her mouth looks blueish... is this another possible sign of poor circulation? I'm tube feeding her now and have her on antibiotics. She did rather well yesterday eating a whole cup full of cooked peas. She doesn't seem interested in anything else, not even yogurt or egg. Her comb turned brackish when trying to tube feed her but returned to normal red color later. I also noticed that on the bottoms of her feed there are discolored pads- like they are filled with a bit of fluid, darker color than the normal skin color, just a shade darker, not black or anything.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Update.. remarkably, she's pulled through again! She's been inside now while the weather is very cold outside. I think I had a case of hypothermia last month with her. She's ok now though.

 

[deacons]

Wow, I just read through all of this start to finish. I have an older RIR who is showing some symptoms of being just a little "off"- a little slow, hungry but only mouthing at food, slow crop. I haven't had to do anything yet to intervene, but you can just tell by watching her she's a step off and this may be the beginning of something that gets more serious.

You've done an amazing job with Maple, thank you for sharing her story with us. If you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear if she pulled through her latest challenges. Sending good thoughts your way.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Hey just want to update. I still have Maple. She has been doing quite well- no problems since I last updated. ... Until today I noticed the same symptoms are back again! Is it the colder weather setting it off?! Anyway, whatever this is, it appears to be seasonal. She is sick again. Not sure if I will be able to keep her going this time, but I will try. I've forgotten everything that helped and so I will be reading this thread again when I find some time!. I suppose I will have to start tube feeding her again as she is off her food- though she will nibble at a small amount. She is mostly sitting still, a bit ruffled up- green poop with yellowish slime - just like the photos in this thread.

deacons- I just saw your note- so sorry I didn't see it until now or I would have updated when you posted. Thanks for your kind words- Yeah, she's been fine- absolutely fine, getting along on her own and back out with the flock. No problems- she is an older girl, so she moves slower than the others, but she has been doing her chicken thing for a while now with no problems. Its only today that I will be bringing her back in as I noticed she's hanging out by the back door (a sick chicken's notification to me they are feeling unwell) and she isn't interested in eating some treats- so its back again, whatever it is.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Just another update, she recovered quickly and is ok.

Seems to be something that happens with her when the weather turns cold.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@Bocktobery 10
Each time it got cold and you brought her in did you have to tube feed her? I have an older girl with extreamly similar symptoms. She got very thin but was acting normal. Got watey poop but no blood like cocci or worms like she has an overload. She isn't filling her crop. It almost always seems empty. She is off balance too. Laid a ping pong ball lash egg then another smaller one. She perks up then gets worse and perks up again. I'm completely lost on what could be wrong with her.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

FlyningNunFarm..

To answer your question, I didn't have to tube feed her the last couple times she got sick- she pulled through the last few times ok and was only sick for a very little time. The first time she got ill, she was ill all winter, and I had to tube feed her for maybe a week or two or so, but even then just before and after that she ate very little. I was amazed she pulled throug then.. She is doing just fine now. I bring her inside when the temperature falls in the 20's. It seems to me that whatever she had wrong acts up every now and then, and that cold weather brings it on. She almost died twice from hypothermia! I have a feeling she's got a heart that is weak now because of all she went through,but she is doing just fine really- still! (knock on wood!)

I'm sorry to hear about your hen. I wanted to say after reading your post lash eggs are not a good sign, and in my experience a sign of internal laying which eventually could cause serious health problems for your hen. It usually is a sign of egg yolk peritonitis. (I have a thread on these boards about a hen of mine who died from it, and posted pictures of what it looks like internally when I did the necropsy- be warned though, it is graphic) I had taken a two of my hens that had that to the vet- but much too late. I waited until her abdomen was too swollen. The vet told me its best to have the operation for them when its in its early stages. (They basically give the hen what is equivalent to a hysterectomy) Even at that it can be risky as chickens are prey animals and do not respond well to pain and stress.

I can tell you this... If your hen's abdomen is not swollen- and it will feel as if its a heavy ball in there if its internal laying- and she is just getting sick from time to time, she may benefit from taking an antibiotic. What happens with egg peritonitis is that, since it is old egg lodged in there, it can get infection, and if somehow the organs holding this mass of egg stuff gets broken- even if a little- that infection will spread and make your poor hen sick in different parts of her body. Her body is still hanging in there, fighting the infection, but if with the help of an antibiotic it should help her immensely. If it is egg peritonitis then eventually she will succumb- but then can live for a while yet. I had one that lived with it over two years... another one one and a half. I gave both antibiotics to them intermittently when needed and as prescribed.. it seemed to work very well. Its a common ailment, and sadly there is not much that can be done for the bird suffering from it.

This is just knowledge I have found along the way that I wanted to share just in case it helped with the situation with your poor hen. I'm in no way an expert, but when you mentioned lash egg- that is what makes me think it may be the egg yolk peritonitis. The symptoms of sick birds are all very similar, which makes it so hard to tell exactly what is wrong and how to remedy it, if it can be remedied. I can't remember now if Maple (the bird in this thread) had lash egg or not, but she is a very old hen, and not laying by the time she got sick, so a little lash probably would not hurt her too much if she did... eventually the body will clear it just as long as no more eggs are being produced.

Is your hen in the prime of egg production, or is she an older hen? If she is not filling her crop at all and has green poop that is hardly substantial, then YES, by all mean, DO tube feed her. Sometimes it only takes getting that chicken over the hump for it to survive and thrive again. I guess it all depends on what is going on internally, but if you love and want to help your hen, its definitely worth a shot!

Are there any more symptoms that your hen is showing? How old is she and what breed? When you say off balance- could it be an enlarged abdomen that is causing it? Or is it more like she is drunk? (If she's been off food and starving, it could just be from that too, I am surmising) Again... i'm no expert,... just trying to help, if I can and share knowledge and experience.

Sending love, prayers and best wishes to you and your hen.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

She is a 3+ year old RIR. Bossy is what she was named because that was why she needed a new home. She was picking on younger smaller birds. So took in her and her sister and told "about 2 years old" She was a champion layer until August this year. She layed eggs intermittently for about 2 weeks then stopped completely. She didn't show signs of molt at the time but with the season I figured that's what was going on. Come mid December and she is really looking rough and has lots of missing feathers. December in Ohio is not the best time to be naked. She was still her bossy self and acting normal. Then one day I picked her up and she was so thin I couldn't belive she was still alive. I felt awful. How did I not notice? She fell off the ramp to go outside and wouldnt get up.I brought her in the house and set her up with food and water. She ate and drank and pooped and perked up in a day or two. It was colder again so I kept her in the house about a week.