Since July, we have had three hens die with very similar but not 100% the same symptoms. Now I have another hen showing the exact same signs as the second one who died. I’m so upset and at a loss and hoping someone can help figure this out! I've included all the details I can think of below. Does anyone have any ideas on what specifically to do for this hen??? And/or what to do differently for the flock, since they keep getting sick??
Symptoms: This hen is lethargic and puffed up, crop is full and firm-ish but I can squish/massage it, she has only pooped once today and it was yellowish white, watery, and a bit of dark brown. She seems thin.
How long: I only noticed today. She’s been out and about with all the other hens, eating a lot, free ranging within the yard. But this morning she didn’t come out of the coop, so we grabbed her and saw her crop is full. She is now in a dog kennel with just water for tonight.
Any other birds with same symptoms: Not currently as far as I know, but like I said this is the fourth sick hen in four months!
Extra details:
Symptoms: This hen is lethargic and puffed up, crop is full and firm-ish but I can squish/massage it, she has only pooped once today and it was yellowish white, watery, and a bit of dark brown. She seems thin.
How long: I only noticed today. She’s been out and about with all the other hens, eating a lot, free ranging within the yard. But this morning she didn’t come out of the coop, so we grabbed her and saw her crop is full. She is now in a dog kennel with just water for tonight.
Any other birds with same symptoms: Not currently as far as I know, but like I said this is the fourth sick hen in four months!
- Hen #1: I found her hunched under a tree one day, lethargic and eyes closed. I moved her inside, wondered if she was egg-bound or something so gave her several warm baths over a day or two. She wasn’t eating or drinking, I gave her small amounts of water with vitamin/electrolyte mix by syringe. But unfortunately she ended up dying.
- Hen #2: I posted about her previously. Exact same symptoms as my current sick hen. One day when I was closing up the coop for the night, I noticed one of the girls was huddled under the coop, so I put her in, but the next morning she wouldn’t leave the coop so I brought her to the house. Her crop was full and firm but malleable. I left her overnight with just water, and her crop was still full in the morning. She had watery yellowish-white diarrhea. I eventually gave her some scrambled egg and water, some oil, etc. She also ended up dying.
- Hen #3: Another somewhat lethargic hen, but alert. She was puffed up, pale comb, messy rear end. Tricky to catch but we isolated her. Gave her a bath to clean her up, and to soak her. Her belly was swollen. Same yellowish-white diarrhea as #3. I had a vet come out to look at her and the rest of the flock, and she couldn’t identify specifically what was wrong, she thought it could be salpingitis and gave Metacam and antibiotics. She also noted the hen was very thin and anemic. The hen died that same afternoon, so the vet came back and did a quick necropsy and saw that it wasn’t salpingitis. She had signs of non-specific infection, and her bursa was swollen and a bunch of pus drained out when the vet cut into her.
Extra details:
- We currently have eleven chickens and ten ducks. They live in the same space, though the ducks haven’t been going in the coop, they prefer outside.
- The bedding is hay.
- The yard has unfortunately been pretty wet the last several weeks and it seems that a couple of the birds have gotten bumblefoot – so I’m also wondering about maybe some sort of environmental bacteria/virus that is causing problems…
- Lice/mites have been a challenge as well, we deep cleaned and sprayed the coop, but are having trouble eradicating them.
