Abruptly sick hen, feedback please!

[Houdini56]

I haven't checked her crop often enough to have a good comparison, but to me it felt small (not flat) and soft/squishy. I don't notice any odor. FWIW, I don't see her eating any crumbles at all the last day or so, and have been giving her yogurt, the scrambled egg, and this morning a bit of cottage cheese. Every time she eats like she is quite hungry.

I'm going to Coastal later today and will see what they have in the way of vitamins or probiotics, etc. for poultry.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Any chance taking her to see a vet is an option?

 

[Houdini56]

Well, we haven't talked about it yet. Between dog and cat we spent almost $1K in the last two months so "vet" is basically still a curse word for us right now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Now drinking LOTS of water, and her poop this morning was large, very runny, and yellow, like yellowish water.

She keeps her head pulled in close to her body most of the time, though extends her head normally when eating or drinking.

Drinking lots of water is often a crop issue, but do keep in mind that there's usually an underlying condition that causes the crop to slow. (Some causes are reproductive disorders, infection, worms and coccidiosis)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Houdini56]

Thank you for this...will check her crop again tonight. This morning just feels a bit soft, but really barely what I would call an enlargement in the area. Tonight will have a basis for comparison. She isn't eating any crumble, just things like yogurt and scrambled eggs, and ate just a little this morning. Will see how today goes.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Worms always seem to come to mind to me when a chicken slows down almost immediately. We've seen it, and we've lost birds in less than an hour from the onset of symptoms.

These Comets are 2.5 years old. Have they even been de-wormed? Have others in your flock ever suffered from intestinal worms? Have you done a thorough examination of her exterior for parasites, paying special attention to her vent, under her wings, her legs and around her neck/mouth/eyes?

 

[Houdini56]

There aren't any visible signs of worms to my eye with looking her over. Need to try again under the wings as she was resistant. And no, none of my three hens have ever been dewormed. I'll continue to look her over each day.

Basically she continues with an up-and-down course. Part of the day she will drink a lot of water, but then that may slow down in the afternoon/evening. At times she has no interest even in treats, but this morning when I got her out for a walk she actually poked around with her beak and I saw her get a small grub. Then she ate quite a few mealworms. She continues with mostly yellow water for poop, but in the last day it has also had a little dark poop in it, too, more what I would consider normal.

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate it.

 

[Swbertrand1]

There aren't any visible signs of worms to my eye with looking her over. Need to try again under the wings as she was resistant. And no, none of my three hens have ever been dewormed. I'll continue to look her over each day.

Basically she continues with an up-and-down course. Part of the day she will drink a lot of water, but then that may slow down in the afternoon/evening. At times she has no interest even in treats, but this morning when I got her out for a walk she actually poked around with her beak and I saw her get a small grub. Then she ate quite a few mealworms. She continues with mostly yellow water for poop, but in the last day it has also had a little dark poop in it, too, more what I would consider normal.

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate it.

If you're experiencing extreme heat where you're located, the birds could be suffering from heat exhaustion too. Worms, however, can magnify their symptoms and vice versa.

Are they getting any electrolytes and/or vitamins? Electrolytes in their water will help them cope with the heat, and even taking them inside for an hour or so of A/C helps a lot! Don't rule out worms either. Worms can sap the strength of even the healthiest bird in short order.

If they were my birds, I'd start with vitamins and electrolytes using a product like this:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...-vitamins-and-electrolytes-with-lactobacillus

or this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS3QY8O?tag=10bestreviewz-20

If they didn't respond to that in about 12-24 hours, I'd start them on Safeguard de-wormer (below), AND watch their stools for blood in the stool, not because of the Safeguard, but you're looking for signs of Coccidiosis.

Safeguard (Fenbendazole) 10% suspension liquid goat de-wormer can be found here, and I'd recommend keeping it on-hand all the time; we do. Tractor Supply is a good source for this too):
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/safeguard goats?

If you'd like to be prepared to treat Coccidiosis, purchase some Corid which can be found here:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/brand/CORID?

It's often difficult to determine exactly what is wrong with a bird because they hide illness so well, so we must sometimes treat based on some intuition. Heat, illness, and worms seem to be some of the most troubling conditions birds face followed closely by predators and malnutrition.

Good luck, and let us know how you proceed. Dosing instructions for Safeguard can be found here (refer to posts #2 and #9 in the thread):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-dosage.1437427/

 

[Farmgirl1878]

You might try offering her a wet mash of her chicken chow with cool water. My girls act like that is a supreme treat!

My alpha, Butterfly, was doing the same thing last week. No obvious symptoms, like for coccidiosis or egg bound, just off her game. She’s doing better now and I have no idea what was/is wrong…. Hope everything works out.

 

[Swbertrand1]

You might try offering her a wet mash of her chicken chow with cool water. My girls act like that is a supreme treat!

My alpha, Butterfly, was doing the same thing last week. No obvious symptoms, like for coccidiosis or egg bound, just off her game. She’s doing better now and I have no idea what was/is wrong…. Hope everything works out.

+1 on this. Also, you can mix some Yogurt in for a tasty treat (ours like "mixed berry" flavor), and if they like it, you could even slip some liquid vitamins in too (Poly-Vi-Sol or Nutri-Drench) to give them an extra boost. The cool mash will be welcome if they're hot, and it will get some nutrition in them.