9 year old hen with pale comb, almost no tail feathers, now moving slow and less interested in food/treats

[BDutch]

Just to share.
Look at the comb colours of the old hens mentioned in my previous post.

, it seemed like her friend was just helping her tend a spot that she could not reach herself? So I decided to rub some of the purple pick no more and antibiotic ointment on the area.

Why? I really don’t understand why you interfered.

I would give her time to recover and maybe give some extra nutritious treats. Chickens that stopped laying don’t eat much.

 

[My1stChickens]

This morning more green poo and vent is nasty again. I put her in a cage with electrolyte water, and a measured amount of feed topped with meal worms and scrambled egg. Left her to see if she'd eat.
Came back in two hours. She ate about 6 small bites of the egg, but that's it. She stunk to high heaven. With help from a friend examined thoroughly- no signs of parasites anywhere. Bathed her, then noticed breastbone was easy to feel but crop looked full higher up. It was soft and squishy. Her breath was different from yesterday, a bit sour. So I am going to treat for sour crop. Once I got the monostat in her, I put her out in the run because it's warm and sunny. I won't know if she eats, but she's out, and she's gotten the first dose. Plan to do 2x/day for 7 days as per instructions on this forum. It's been a few years since I treated sour crop, but I seem to recall seeing improvement in 2-3 days. Fingers crossed.

Question: does sour crop also account for her nasty vent area?

 

[My1stChickens]

Why? I really don’t understand why you interfered.

Fair question. I don't think it was logical to try to treat her when there was not a bare spot. I think I was concerned and just wanting to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING to help her out but it was not needed.

Thank you for sharing the pictures of your old ladies. Interesting how light/grayish the comb on the right is. But they look really good!

 

[My1stChickens]

She's taking to hiding in a nesting box, open mouthed breathing. I moved her back to the cage and turned on a fan. She seemed really warm. She turned down a bite of watermelon. Stinky, miserable. When it cooled off I let her out, and she walked around a bit-- and went and ate some grit. I seem to remember grit is good for sour crop? Came home from a class, and it was after dark. She was not on the roost but in the nest box again. Gave more miconizole and put her in the cage. Totally liquid poo. Stinky. But upright. She decided to stand and stare at the feed dish. Comb showed a little pinker. Hopefully she rests well, and this is really sour crop and with treatment she'll be better in a day or two.

@Wyorp Rock -- is diarreah consistent with sour crop? I can't remember, it's been years since I had one with sour crop. Sigh

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This morning more green poo and vent is nasty again. I put her in a cage with electrolyte water, and a measured amount of feed topped with meal worms and scrambled egg. Left her to see if she'd eat.
Came back in two hours. She ate about 6 small bites of the egg, but that's it. She stunk to high heaven. With help from a friend examined thoroughly- no signs of parasites anywhere. Bathed her, then noticed breastbone was easy to feel but crop looked full higher up. It was soft and squishy. Her breath was different from yesterday, a bit sour. So I am going to treat for sour crop. Once I got the monostat in her, I put her out in the run because it's warm and sunny. I won't know if she eats, but she's out, and she's gotten the first dose. Plan to do 2x/day for 7 days as per instructions on this forum. It's been a few years since I treated sour crop, but I seem to recall seeing improvement in 2-3 days. Fingers crossed.

Question: does sour crop also account for her nasty vent area?

Sour Crop could cause some nasty poop. Is her crop emptying overnight?
What does it feel like first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink?

Miconazole given 2x a day for 7days in a row is a common treatment for Sour Crop. Instructions are in the link.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Even though she's starting to molt, she may be having a hard time expelling an egg or egg material. I think I'd get some Extra Calcium into her just to see if she expels something in the next few days.
Give 300mg Calcium Citrate +D3 once daily for 3days.

Grit is fine to have available free choice. Do you have photos of her poop?

She's taking to hiding in a nesting box, open mouthed breathing. I moved her back to the cage and turned on a fan. She seemed really warm. She turned down a bite of watermelon. Stinky, miserable. When it cooled off I let her out, and she walked around a bit-- and went and ate some grit. I seem to remember grit is good for sour crop? Came home from a class, and it was after dark. She was not on the roost but in the nest box again. Gave more miconizole and put her in the cage. Totally liquid poo. Stinky. But upright. She decided to stand and stare at the feed dish. Comb showed a little pinker. Hopefully she rests well, and this is really sour crop and with treatment she'll be better in a day or two.

@Wyorp Rock -- is diarreah consistent with sour crop? I can't remember, it's been years since I had one with sour crop. Sigh

 

[My1stChickens]

Thank you @Wyorp Rock for your thorough reply.
I do not know if her crop is emptying overnight. I usually leave food out for them since they wake up earlier than I do.... and today is the first day I noticed a squishy crop so I had not been monitoring. I did not leave food out tonight so I can check in the morning. At 11pm she was resting comfortably, and it felt like she had at least 1/2 cup of liquid in her crop. No firm lumps, just liquid and quite high on her crop. Lower down, breastbone is sharply prominent.

She has not laid for at least a couple months. She laid over the winter, then took a break, then a bit more in the early summer, then quit again. Should I still give her the Calcium Citrate? (I do have it, and it has D3 with it. Giant honking tablets, a half tablet would be the daily dose. I usually give it in grapes, but she won't eat so I guess I can try to dissolve, make a paste and just put it in her mouth. She could be going to the nest box thinking she'll lay, but I suspect she just was hiding. No way to know for sure. If you think the Calcium Citrate is a good idea or at least won't hurt, I'll do it.

Last night she put herself on the highest roost in the whole coop, but she was on the end so I can tell which was her poop. Pictures attached. For a few days I've seen traces of green but it appeared very liquid. This is the first really green poop. By this afternoon, her poop was just small amounts of pure liquid. Looked to be darkish but I it was GONE into her shavings, before I could get a good look.

Several pictures attached. Roost pics in at night are last night, poop is for overnight (that spot is showing at least 3 days of poo). Daylight pics are this afternoon.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor girl!

She looks like she's feeling poorly.
Her friend sure did pluck out her beard. Any chance she has lice or mites?

The green poop may be from not eating well, it's likely Bile.

When you check her crop in the morning, take a look inside her beak just to make sure there's no canker, mucous, etc. inside the beak.

If she's not laid this long, then the calcium may not help anything, so give her another day and see how it goes before trying to get that down her.

With her age, molting, etc., she may just be exhausted. Unfortunately, some of these ladies begin to wind down and their bodies struggle to make it through. Hopefully this is not the case, and she'll be able to rally and get through this.

You are doing everything you can for her. I know it's hard to see her like this, just keep watch on her and see how it goes. I'd leave her with her friends unless they begin to bully her.