Americauna hen just over 1 yr - something amiss - any ideas?

[rlkern]

Hi all. I have a wonderful Americauna hen that is as tame as they come. She's right at about a year old. She had mishap last summer but survived that and has been great ever since, laying well. Just the last few days though she's been off. She's the last one out of the coop in the morning, wants to lay down and sleep mostly and doesn't seem to be eating much and, although I haven't watched her 24/7, she doesn't seem to be drinking much either. It just turne pretty warm here and I would think the water intake would increase. Her dischare has been quite yellow along with the grass she ate this morning. I've just pulled her inside and kenneled her up to monitor this better. The other 7 hens and 1 roo seem perfectly normal. Her vent looks clean too. Any ideas? I'd hate to lose her after being such a trouper through her ordeal last year. And sweet is an understatement of this one's personality.

 

[Judy]

I'd start with ruling out lice/mites and worms (by having a fecal done by your vet.) I'll give you some links, including the famous poop chart (warning -- lots of pics of poops.)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=472405

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

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

 

[rlkern]

I'll check her for the lice/mites first. I just changed out all of their bedding last weekend (spring cleaning) and although I treated the bare wood in the coop, I did not go back and spray down the wood chips or spray the chickens themselves down. I might do that today. It's something called "Chicken Protector" or close thereto. I've not done a worm test on any of the girls to date as they all seem fine except for one that was losing some of her feathers a few weeks back (too young to be molting really). But I'd increased her protein consumption a bit and now she's not losing any more feathers and new ones are growing back. I did check her out for mites though and didn't see any. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Country4ever]

How do her crop and abdomen feel? What does her vent look like?

 

[rlkern]

If by "crop" you mean her underbelly (still learning about pieces and parts of chickens), I did feel around her underbelly and nothing feels hard or strange. Her vent looks clean, not clogged or anything and still looks moist to a degree. I didn't see any obvious signs of mites/lice but I sprayed her down with Poulty Keeper anyway just to be safe. She's in the house kenneled now so I can watch her. I was getting concerned about her not drinking so I got some pedialyte and some eye droppers (those are not easy to find...) and got some of that down her. But just a few minutes ago (she's right behind where our computer is), she went and got a good drink and ate some of her chicken food. I did take pics of the poop too. According to the vet list, there is one in town that works with chickens so maybe I'll try to get a stool sample in to check for worms. Any other ideas are always welcome. The other 7 hens and 1 roo seem to be doing just fine.

I'd post the pics but I can't figure out how to do that!