6 month old hen acting lethargic, not eating

[Jane Ellen]

My 6 month old Rhode Island White is acting funny. Yesterday she stayed in the coop all day sitting on the floor. She hardly ate anything but continued to drink water. Her poop is kind of runny with bright green spots and streaks. She did not roost with the other two hens last night, stayed on the coop floor in the same spot all night. I removed her from the coop this morning and put her in a box with water and food in the house. She sits in the box quietly and stands up when I lift the box lid but does not appear to want to get out. She continues to drink water and ate a tiny bit of mash mixed with water. Any ideas?

 

[Judy]

There are a whole lot of possibilities. Is she perhaps too hot? Chickens can die at 100 F from heat exhaustion. They need shade, breeze and plenty of cool water. If they are overheated, they will pant with their mouth open and hold their wings a little away from their bodies, before they get to the lying down stage. In a pinch, you can dunk the bird in a bucket of water and let her air dry. There are a number of things people use to cool their birds -- bottles of frozen water they can lie next to, ice in their drinking water, misters, wetting the soil they walk on down. a wading pool they can stand in (if they will,) etc.

Especially if you live in a warm, moist climate like I do, you might consider worming her, if you haven't. I prefer Valbazen becausse it gets all worms and is relatively easy on their system. You can get it online at Jeffers Livestock or Amazon, if it's not in your feed store. It's a cattle or other livestock wormer. You give 0.5 ml by mouth, repeat in 10 days, toss eggs for 21 days. You can squirt it in their mouth, or put it on a bit of bread. I would worm the flock.

If you haven't, check for lice /mites and treat if needed. A bad infestation can get them quite sick, even kill them. They come from wild birds.

I always think of heat plus these two things because they are treatable. It is quite possible she has something that isn't treatable, like internal laying or a tumor. I hope it turns out better than that for you.

http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ll-seeing-live-worms-in-poo/0_20#post_9315842

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

 

[Jane Ellen]

Thank you so much for the information, flockwatcher.

It's not heat. I live in Portland, OR and the coup and run are in a shady cool spot. The other 2 hens are fine in the same environment.

I could try the worming but I have a feeling it's something else.

Is there a way to tell if they're laying internally? We think she may have laid one egg so far a few days ago. Does internal laying make them sick?

She's not eating at all now. Could it be an intestinal infection?

 

[Eggcessive]

It is always hard to guess at what is wrong when they act tired and won't eat. Coccidiosis is always something to think about, and they only have blood in their stools with certain strains of it. Here is a thread one internal laying with experienced BYC members: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/639749/timeline-of-internal-laying-update

 

[Judy]

Yes, unfortunately, internal laying is always fatal in the end. Here is another thread about it

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers/80_20#post_6235380