Chicken acting very off

[rezzmedezz]

my hen, mabel, has been acting very off this last week. i’ve moved her indoors during the night but allow her to get some sun during the days. she is usually a very vocal chicken but recently she has been very quiet and not laying eggs. she’s a little older than 6, but overall is a healthy chicken. there is no drainage around her eyes/mouth, but she’s showing every sign of being sick. she has been hiding from the flock and in some bushes. she hasn’t been eating but has a full crop (probably from the previous night) but has been drinking lots of water. she always accepts water when i bring it to her. any ideas on what this could be? thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

This is a common type of problem in older hens who have reproductive disorders. The pressure of internal laying or ascites can slow the digestion, resulting in a slow to empty crop, and later an impacted or sour crop. Is she losing weight, and does she have any enlargement of her lower belly under her vent? Does she walk with difficulty or with legs wide apart, or penguin walking? Is her tail position lower? What are you feeding? Does she have access to granite poultry grit? What does her poop look like (and pictures are welcome?) I would try offering her some fluids and mushy wet chicken feed with a little egg.

 

[rezzmedezz]

thank you so much for your response! to answer your questions:
1. yes, she is losing weight.
2. no, her abdomen is normal. definitely not waterbelly.
3. no, not walking with difficulty, just very very slowly.
4. yes her posture is very abnormal, her tail is pointed slightly downward.
5. i’m feeding her normal layer feed and some bird seed. occasionally meal worms meant for chickens. we have grit, should i mix it with their food?
6. mostly watery and yellow greenish. will include pictures.

 

[rezzmedezz]

UPDATE!!!
found weird black spotting under her comb? please someone help me find out what this is.
is it fowlpox?

 

[Eggcessive]

That might be from pecking or a rooster hold ing onto her during mating. I don’t see anything that looks like fowl pox. I would just place the grit out for her to take as she needs it, but not mix it with her feed. Can you check her crop first thing in the morning to see if her crop has emptied. If not, you may want to read this article about crop problems:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
A crop or reproductive disorder can cause weight loss. Her green poops may be from her not eating a lot. Will she eat scrambled egg for you? From your previous threads it sounds as though you have seen a couple of others with reproductive problems, and very common in older hens.

 

[rezzmedezz]

we don’t have a rooster and she never gets bullied, she’s top of the pecking order. i will check it first thing. unfortunately because our hens are getting older there hasn’t been a lot of eggs recently. my parents eat four eggs in a day and we have six hens. the first time i posted here was about my hen, ms. puff, who unfortunately got wrongly euthanized by a vet. she had acsites.

 

[rezzmedezz]

checked her crop this morning (5:10 am) and it was mushy not fully emptied.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could she be sticking her head through chicken wire where it might be scraping her neck? You could apply some Betadine or Neosporin ointment to her neck. Ascites is eventually a fatal condition, usually caused by egg yolk peritonitis, salpingitis, cancer, or fatty liver disease. Sorry for your loss.

 

[rezzmedezz]

hello, i found something while giving her an inspection. my chicken, opal, had a similar lump on her earlobe.

except, there was no visible damage. mabel has a very (and visibly full of pus) hard lump on her earlobe. any idea?

 

[Eggcessive]

Is that blistering on the earlobe lump? That is a common area for an ear infection to be located. The crater like appearance also can sometimes be from type of skin cancer. Can you see anything inside of her ear canal if you use a Q Tip to swab it out?