Chicken head and tail drooping

[LightAurora589]

Since this morning, our chicken has had head and tail drooping (although the tail drooping is not shown in the pictures). She has been very lethargic and drowsy. She has always had breathing problems since we got her about 9 months ago. Her poop is watery and green/white. She would not drink by herself so we gave her electrolite water through a syringe. She wouldn't eat normal feed so we gave her mushy feed and she ate some of it. Her eyes and nose have not shown runniness besides her nose being a bit sticky with small black marks on it. She still walks around slowly, and when she is not in her cage her eyes remain open. We have been holding her, and her eyes sometimes close there as well. One of our chickens that were in her flock died of Merricks about half a year ago, so we are worried this girl may be succumbing to it as well. She is not experiencing weight loss however which our other girl who passed away did. We have isolated her inside the garage, and have a lamp on her in the cage. Right now we are holding her while wrapped up in towels.but are not sure what to do next. I don't believe I will be able to take to her to a vet. Note for the blue on her in pictures: We sprayed her with Gerrmocidal medicne to coat her featherless skin to shield from the sun and help her regrow her feathers,

 

[Eggcessive]

What type of breathing problems has she had? Any gasping, crackles or wheezing, sneeze or cough? Have you ever seen bubbles in either eye? How does her crop feel —empty, full, hard, doughy, or puffy/soft? Does it empty by the next morning? Does she lay eggs ? Green poop is a sign that she is not eating. Reproductive disorders or a crop problem could be a problem. She may be having early symptoms of Mareks, but hard to know for sure.

 

[Eggcessive]

Why keep her awake? She needs to sleep at night and have rest periods during the day. I would try to get her eating and drinking, check on her crop, but she might benefit from an antibiotic to treat for a respiratory disease, such as Tylosin.

 

[Eggcessive]

I can't get Tylosin without going to the vet. Are there any alternatives for respiratory disease that you reccomend? Thank you.

You can get Tylosin here without a prescription:
https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder
Dosage is 1 tsp of the powder to a gallon of water for 3-5 days.
Tylan 50 injectable can sometimes be found in some feedstores with syringes and needles, and can be given orally 0.25 ml for each pound of weight given orally 3 times a day.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Amprolium is a Coccidiostat, not a dewormer.

Salpingitis (Lash Egg) is inflammation of the oviduct. Antibiotics may help, but they aren't a cure. If the Amoxicillin came in, give it a try and see if it helps. Tylan/Tylosin is a good antibiotic, but it's mainly used for respiratory illness like MG.

If you have given the extra calcium for several days, then I would stop that and just feed her her normal feed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Watch the crop again tomorrow to make sure that it has emptied. You can give her some coconut oil chilled and cut into small chunks to offer to her to peck up to a tsp daily. Mareks which can affect most of your chickens, can cause problems with immunity to common diseases. It sounds like she may have a respiratory disease. Those in chickens are usually lifelong, and can affect their overall health and egg laying. If the crop feels hard or doughy, you can massage it several time sa day.

 

[LightAurora589]

If you feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs, is there any bloat or feeling of fluid?

Get some overnight poop photos when you can.

The crop not emptying, I would address that https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
Do keep in mind that a lot of times crop symptoms are due to an underlying condition like reproductive disorders, infection worms or coccidiosis.

I would let her sleep a full night's sleep and not be waking her up every so often.
I'm sorry you lost the other hen, but she didn't die because she fell asleep.

At some point I think I did feel some bloat near the vent, she still seems to poop though but not as much. I will make sure to leave her alone tonight and stop insently checking on her since I know its bad. I will send overnight poop photos when I can.


Update:
She is eating now and pooping, although she seems reluctent to drink and does so less, she is still low energy but at this point it might be from a lag of sleep, we gave her some olive oil mixed with water since I heard from an article it could temporarly give relief to her breathing problems and help with crop issues. Her crop doesn't seem to hold food like it usually does in the sense that she is eating less and pooping so it never stays full for long, tonight she seemed to be more full of energy but still walks quite slowly, her eyes are less well droppy and tired than they were before and she seems to keep her tail up. Her poop seems to be less green and more solid but because of her seemgingly less consumtion of fluids it is harder, like I said before though she still drinks it. She has not layed an egg and she usually does which got me worried she could be eggbound but she still poops and hasn't lost strength when it comes to standing, she also can get pretty mean with her wings if you handle her in a way she doesn't like, I am worried about what a previous poster here said about merricks but I am not losing hope, there is a good chance the reason why she became this way was due to it being to cold outside, hopefully the lack of eggs could be do to the fact that I am pretty sure the girl is a little older.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you cut the egg open?

What do you feed including treats?
Does she have grit available?

Where are you located in the world?
I would get some Calcium into her, you can find Caltrate or Generic Calcium Carbonate at stores like WalMart or CVS. Give 1 tablet daily.
Hard to tell if that's a lash egg (Salpingitis) or just a bunch of membranes wrapped together. Either way, hard to expel and the Calcium can help with contractions.

If she were mine, I would also start her on an antibiotic like Amoxicillin. With the blood and the shape of the "egg", I would worry about infection. Antibiotics may help if this is not too advanced, but reproductive disorders eventually take their tole on hens. If you are in the US, you can order it online. Dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 10-14 days. https://fishmoxfishflex.com/collections/amoxicillin-fish-antibiotics

Keep her drinking and if her crop is not emptying, then address that too.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylan is used all of the time on chickens and is one of the few FARAD approved medicines they can take. There is no egg withdrawal time either. Tylan works well for symptoms of MG (mycoplasma.) Amoxicillin is better for a reproductive infection.

 

[Eggcessive]

Usually I would use one or the other. Is she still having signs that could be mycoplasma such as eye bubbles, any swelling around an eye, or nasal drainage? There is a commercial mixture of those 2 medicines called amoxy-tyl that some use, so it is probably okay to use both at the same time.