Chicken found on ground, not eating, not drinking, lethargic

[scheverie]

Help! I found my 8 month old Sussex chicken on the ground in the run on Thursday night when I went to close up the coop. She was fine earlier in the day, everything seemed normal. It was cold and rainy out so I like to put them in for the night. When I found her she was just lying in the rain, all cold and still. We brought her in and warmed her up, dried her with a blow dryer on low and kept her in the house in a crate with a heat pack for the night. She seemed better in the morning but refused to eat or drink anything. We felt that her crop was full so we started giving her mineral oil, water, and a bit of yogurt via syringe twice a day. She pooped several times, which looked normal. She laid an egg. But she still refuses to eat or drink anything. She shakes her head from time to time, not all the time, and just seems to want to sleep. We feel like her crop is empty now, but she still won't eat. We've had her inside for a few days, then yesterday we put her outside in an enclosed area with no grass and some scrambled egg to see if she would eat while outside but she still wasn't interested. We fed her yogurt again via syringe and then later yesterday afternoon we put her back in the run with the other chickens (we have 6 all together, everyone else seems fine). Last night she was up on the roost, and this morning she came out and took a few pecks at the oatmeal and yogurt I gave them, then walked under the coop to stand there by herself. She seems to be extending her neck when she swallows - does this mean she has a blockage? (Also when we were feeding her via syringe she would sound a bit gurgly sometimes, but not others, and we gave her just a little bit so it wouldn't go down into her lungs). If she does have a blockage how would we clear it? I'm afraid she will not drink or eat by herself but I have to go to work today and won't be home until 4pm, is there something I can do when I get home to help her? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Hopefully, she is just tired. Is her tail up or held down? The neck extending may be adjusting her crop. How do her poops look? Check her crop often, and I would offer mushy foods, but no whole grains. She may have a blockage in her gizzard or lower down that is causing her crop not to empty, but her crop could also not be working. Have you wormed her recently? If not, Valbazen is good to use at 1/2 ml given orally, and repeat in 10 days. SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer or horse paste can also be used. Make sure that she has plenty of water available to drink.

 

[scheverie]

Thank you! Her tail is up, we haven’t wormed them yet but we will do so this week. We usually just add it to their water but we don’t know if she’s drinking while we’re not home.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

Thank you! Her tail is up, we haven’t wormed them yet but we will do so this week. We usually just add it to their water but we don’t know if she’s drinking while we’re not home.

Welcome to BYC!
I hope your chook gets better