I have a 3 year old hen that a week ago became lethargic ,tail was down, not eating, barely drinking, legs and feet turned very yellow, had yellow fluffy droppings, and stopped laying. I brought her inside and started force feeding her. I examined her for parasites, and she had none. On day 3 in the house with no improvement, I put her on Oxytetracycline (a broad spectrum antibiotic). Day 5 her tail went back up, her legs went back to her normal color, but feet were still yellow and she was standing a bit more, but not moving much still, nor eating. She also stopped swallowing the food I was forcing her to eat. ( moistened crumble) This morning her comb started turning black, from the tips down. It's still red by her head and not dried out at all. Wattles are still red. She is allowing me to feed her 1 syringe of food before refusing to swallow again. Poo is no longer yellow and is pretty much water with a bit of dark green. All other chickens are fine...for now. Using biosecurity measures. It's not cold here, and black is solid, not spotted. Worried about Blackhead, as they dig up earthworms all the time...but yellow poo wasn't foamy. Help!!! This is my pet and one of my favorite chickens!
The dark is much darker than it appears. I also forgot to mention that today I started hearing her almost wheezing when she breaths. However, I'm so distraught and worried I'm going to miss something that it could be normal breathing! Ugggghhhh
Can you take a few fresh droppings in to a vet for a fecal float? Blackhead disease is mostly a disease of turkeys, although chickens can get it. Cecal worms if seen in their poop may help in diagnosing it. Other things like dehydration or not getting enough oxygen from a heart or breathing problem could cause a dark comb. Yellow droppings can be a sign of internal laying, egg yolk pertonitis, E.coli, and I have seen cecal poops that look yellow. If it is blackhead a vet could help with treatment. Has she lost weight through her keel or breast bone? At her age I would look at egg yolk peritonitis as a possible problem. Sometimes it is hard to figure out the cause on your own. I would try to get her to drink, and you might want to take a small bowl of her feed, and add a lot of water, plus a tsp of plain yogurt. Chopped egg, chopped liver, and canned tuna in water are good to tempt them to eat.
