Chicken hunched, lethargic and yellow runny poo.

[Bronheulogchickens]

Hi, my chicken has been very lethargic, hunched like this, barely moving and having yellow runny poos since yesterday. She’s drinking and eating a tiny bit. I’ve checked her valve and I don’t think she has any stuck eggs, her crop has been the same size since yesterday and a bit squashy. She has been separated from the flock. Any ideas what this could be and how to help?
Thank you

 

[alinas2010]

Hello, I’m so sorry to hear about your hen. She sounds like she is suffering from a crop issue, as I assume you mean her crop is large and hasn’t emptied overnight? Hard so say if something else is going on. I’m going to link a few crop articles for you to read through by @azygous and @TwoCrows, both are very informative. See if you can sort out what is going on with her crop. Usually something blocks up their crop and food can’t pass so it sits in the crop and then bacterial overgrowth of certain kinds causes an imbalance. That’s when things go “sour”. The hen will feel very unwell with a backed up, sour crop.

A good place to start is to get some coconut oil and freeze it. Chop it into tiny chunks and let her nibble at it. Then once she has ingested some, massage her crop and try to break up any impactions if there are any. If there are not you will need to follow instructions in the articles for sour crop.

Does she lay eggs? She looks a bit roughed up, is she molting or just has some feathers that have been plucked out and are growing back?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

Also, welcome to the site. Sorry it is under the circumstances of a sick hen. I know how stressful that can be.

 

[Bronheulogchickens]

Hello, I’m so sorry to hear about your hen. She sounds like she is suffering from a crop issue, as I assume you mean her crop is large and hasn’t emptied overnight? Hard so say if something else is going on. I’m going to link a few crop articles for you to read through by @azygous and @TwoCrows, both are very informative. See if you can sort out what is going on with her crop. Usually something blocks up their crop and food can’t pass so it sits in the crop and then bacterial overgrowth of certain kinds causes an imbalance. That’s when things go “sour”. The hen will feel very unwell with a backed up, sour crop.

A good place to start is to get some coconut oil and freeze it. Chop it into tiny chunks and let her nibble at it. Then once she has ingested some, massage her crop and try to break up any impactions if there are any. If there are not you will need to follow instructions in the articles for sour crop.

Does she lay eggs? She looks a bit roughed up, is she molting or just has some feathers that have been plucked out and are growing back?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

Also, welcome to the site. Sorry it is under the circumstances of a sick hen. I know how stressful that can be.

Thank you so much for such a helpful reply. She is now lying on her side in a very deep sleep so I think she is on her way out sadly. I’m keeping her warm but I don’t know if there’s much else I can do at this stage?
We rehomed her from an egg farm about a month ago along with 3 others so they were missing a lot of feathers and were quite scrawny on arrival.

 

[alinas2010]

Thank you so much for such a helpful reply. She is now lying on her side in a very deep sleep so I think she is on her way out sadly. I’m keeping her warm but I don’t know if there’s much else I can do at this stage?
We rehomed her from an egg farm about a month ago along with 3 others so they were missing a lot of feathers and were quite scrawny on arrival.

I’m so sorry to hear that. Bless you for giving her a nice hentirement for her last bit of life. I know she got a good last month of life with you.

Being a retired egg laying hen in poorly shape, she may have had underlying internal issues that lead up to her crop becoming impacted, such as reproductive cancers or an infection. I had a hen go out in a similar way, it was tough. My heart goes out to you.