Buff Orpington not herself...

[LuceCannon87]

Hey everyone, I noticed for the past couple days my Buff has been not acting herself. Not making her usual sounds when we approach the coop, acting lethargic, and her poop seems to be light green and runny and she seems to have maybe lost a little weight. Her balance seems to be ok, no feather loss, and she is still eating some and drinking (only time I've witnessed is when I give it to her by hand). After going over her symptoms I've come across two things: 1. She has mites around her vent. I've treated her, the coop/run, and the two others with 7 dust today to try to take care of them. 2. Her crop seems to be hard and kinda large (about the size of a plum). Not sure if is impacted or not but I fed her some bread coated with olive oil and massaged her crop a little just as a precaution. None of my other birds (two roo's that were raised along with her) are acting any different. Is there anything else i should be looking out for or advice? These are my first chickens and she is my only hen :/ so she is kinda special around here.. Any suggestions?

 

[BantamLover21]

First of all,

Lots of things can make chickens lethargic, including mites/lice, worms, infection, or other type of disease. Its good that you've treated her for mites, as they can only add to her weakness. If possible, the next thing I would do is worm her. Some good chicken wormers (not all necessarily sold for poultry, but commonly used all the same) include Valbazen, SafeGuard, and the Worminator. You could also use Wazine, but that only kills roundworms and should be followed by another wormer. Most wormers can usually be found at a livestock supply store, and, if you choose to use it, you can order the Worminator from here: http://www.twincitypoultrysupplies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=584

Also, I would isolate your sick hen in a warm, clean place away from other birds. Not only will this keep her more stress free (and therefore strengthen her immune system), but it will help keep the other chickens safe from any disease she may have. Put some poultry vitamins/electrolytes in her water, along with some probiotics. Or you can give her plain yogurt instead of probiotics. Encourage her to eat by feeding whatever she likes, bread, moistened feed, scrambled eggs, etc. It is important that she begin getting nourishment, or she will get even weaker. Greenish droppings are a classic sign of a bird that is not eating enough. If she does not begin eating enough on her own, you may have to begin tube feeding or otherwise force feeding her. Here are two links on the topic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...h-my-bird-pics-for-visuals-very-detailed-post
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/722041/how-to-t-feed-a-sick-chicken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid

It is certainly possible that she has impacted crop. Try getting her to drink some olive oil, or continue giving bread soaked in oil. Massage her crop gently, and don't let her eat any more grainy or fiberous foods, like grain or grass. In many cases, these measures will cause the impacted crop to go away; if not, another way to solve this problem is to perform surgery on the crop. Hopefully, though, you don't have to do that.

Along with those things, look carefully over her body for injury, and check her nostrils for discharge. See if her eyes are cloudy/misshapen at all, and listen for any strange sounds when she breathes. Also, how old is she? If less than 5-6 months, Coccidiosis could be the problem. The treatment for that would be 9.6% Corid (amprol) liquid or 20% Corid powder. If she seems to have an infected wound or respiratory disease, antibiotics would be the treatment.

Hope I've helped!

 

[LuceCannon87]

She is nearly 7 months old. Eyes are clear, no discharges, and no noticeable injuries.. I will definitely try the wormer for all of them (cant hurt right?) and keep trying to get her to eat more... Should her crop be smaller in the morning after roosting overnight? I only noticed the crop today so I have a reference to go off of now...

 

[Eggcessive]

Checking her crop first thing in the morning when it should be empty would be the best time. Full and hard is impacted crop; full and squishy is sour crop. She could still have coccidiosis, but since you have found these other symptoms, just keep it in mind. I probably wouldn't isolate her yet. Here is a link on crop issues: http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html

 

[LuceCannon87]

You are awesome!! Thank you for the knowledgeable advice and the warm welcome

.. I guess now I wait till morning to see what changes.

 

[casportpony]

If her crop isn't empty in the morning make note of what it feels like... hard full of seed, hard full of grass, squishy full of liquid or squishy full of gas, each could mean a different cause and different treatment.

-Kathy