chicken acting lethargic and pooping egg yolk

[froggyphore]

one of my hens (cinnamon queen, 2 1/2 years) has been acting lethargic for the past two days. going to bed early and staying in the coop a bit longer, taking long breaks where she stands in the sun, and ruffing her feathers. she didn’t have any other symptoms so i assumed it was the weather changing because she hates winter. today i decided to bring her in next to the woodstove to warm up a little, and she pooped a thin cloudy liquid with small bits of opaque pale yellow, which i assume is egg yolk. i noticed after she was breathing a little heavy. what could this be? is it egg yolk peritonitis? i had a chicken vet in my area but i don't know if they’re still existent because they had some issues with covid so home remedy suggestions would be appreciated just in case. thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[MarkJr]

Pictures of the poo will help greatly.
I’m not a chicken doctorer, but I think @Wyorp Rock @azygous might know where to start.

 

[froggyphore]

Pictures of the poo will help greatly.
I’m not a chicken doctorer, but I think @Wyorp Rock @azygous might know where to start.

the brown stuff at the bottom is wet chicken food

 

[azygous]

The tell tale bits of yellow is a strong clue pointing to a reproductive issue. It could be a current issue or a chronic infection.

Recent egg laying history would be helpful. When was the last time she laid an egg and does she have a recent record of poor egg quality, shell-less eggs or thin shells? Any double egg laying, two eggs in the same cycle?

Any discharge from her vent? A photo of the hen, closeup of her face and eyes so we can judge how she feels, and another of how she stands, her posture, would be very helpful.

Is there any swelling between her legs or just behind her legs under the vent?

 

[azygous]

She could also be internally laying. I had a one-year old die very suddenly from this issue this summer. Nothing can be done for it unless you have an avian vet and lotsa big bucks.

 

[froggyphore]

The tell tale bits of yellow is a strong clue pointing to a reproductive issue. It could be a current issue or a chronic infection.

Recent egg laying history would be helpful. When was the last time she laid an egg and does she have a recent record of poor egg quality, shell-less eggs or thin shells? Any double egg laying, two eggs in the same cycle?

Any discharge from her vent? A photo of the hen, closeup of her face and eyes so we can judge how she feels, and another of how she stands, her posture, would be very helpful.

Is there any swelling between her legs or just behind her legs under the vent?

unfortunately i don’t know a lot about her recent laying history as shes stopped laying in the coop and goes deep into the bushes :/ she doesn’t lay very often, maybe once or twice a week. i’ve never seen any bad eggs from her. her eggs usually have a good strong shell.

her vent looks completely fine and clean, and theres no swelling or redness anywhere on her. she stands normally, but when she stands lethargic her tail feathers go down. i can’t get photos right now but i’ll get some asap tomorrow. thank you for your help

 

[froggyphore]

The tell tale bits of yellow is a strong clue pointing to a reproductive issue. It could be a current issue or a chronic infection.

Recent egg laying history would be helpful. When was the last time she laid an egg and does she have a recent record of poor egg quality, shell-less eggs or thin shells? Any double egg laying, two eggs in the same cycle?

Any discharge from her vent? A photo of the hen, closeup of her face and eyes so we can judge how she feels, and another of how she stands, her posture, would be very helpful.

Is there any swelling between her legs or just behind her legs under the vent?

are these pics okay? i know the purple bits on the comb can be a sign of circulation issues but they all get purple tips sometimes while acting perfectly fine so i don’t think its related. i remembered while taking these that my other cinnamon hen had a similar problem for a day or two last year, her vent was a bit red but she recovered quickly. could this be a genetic issue?

after letting her out a few of the others (they were all raised together) huddled around her. they were standing stalk still like this. shes in the back but you can see her tail feathers. sorry for the bad quality, i didn't want to startle them.

 

[azygous]

The photos tell us that she feels okay, as her eyes are bright and alert and her tail is in a normal position.

If her eyes droop and her tail goes down, then she doesn't feel well.

 

[froggyphore]

update for anyone whos interested: i’ve been monitoring her everyday and shes acting much more normal. i haven’t caught her going to the bathroom so idk how much thats improved but shes walking around, eating, she was even the first out of the coop this morning. periodically shes been resting with her neck tucked and her eyes closed but i think thats mainly due to the cold because they've all started doing that in the morning.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you wormed the chickens recently? The runny dropping above looks like there could be some bits of blood or intestinal shed in it, but hard to tell from the pic. Also the yellow may be the uric acid or urates that have a yellow tint, and that can be from liver problems. When chickens have a reproductive disorder they sometimes get yellow urates, and somtimes ascites or water belly. Ascites causes the lower belly between the legs to feel and appear enlarged.