Chicken lethargic and refusing food/water for a week

[CHlCKEN]

I posted about this chicken about 5 days ago and she's still hanging on in there !

She's a "Blue Angel" variety and part of a free ranging flock of 14 chickens/bantams.

We noticed she was lethargic about a week ago, droopy tail, head slightly to the side, standing still with eyes closed for long periods, wobbling walk and putting wings out to balance,, gaping mouth. Don't think it is contagious as rest of flock are fine. So over the last 5 days we have:

• checked her for being egg bound and gave magnesium baths and felt her for swelling etc - she is pooping quite a lot so I don't think that's it
• wormed her - some worms came out - maybe gapeworms - and since then no gaping mouth
• it felt like some grain and lumps in her crop so have given her yoghurt/vegetable oil/soft porridge and massaged the crop about 3 times a day
• treated her for red mite (we saw she had a few but not infested)
• given her vitamins
• kept her in our warm kitchen each night

Over 5 days her poop went from black with grains in, to green with worms and grain in, to bright green (bile ?), and now today back to green/brown then white/yellow but no bits of grain in it now. I can't feel any lumps or grain in the crop now. She has a bit more energy and her tail is back up and she's more upright, not wobbling walk or gaping mouth. But she walks slowly around the yard and has been grooming herself a bit but spends a lot of time still with her eyes closed and tries to fly up to roost early.

My main concern is that I haven't seen her eat or drink anything herself for 7 days now and even refuses it if we offer it to her beak. Maybe her crop hurts ? I am syringing about 30 ml of yoghurt with a bit of oil and vitamins into her over the course of each day but she seems to be surviving on that as she's not taking anything herself, not even water.

I'd really welcome suggestions as I can't just feed her and her be so weak indefinitely. Does she need a complete break from food and just have water for a day or two ? Do I need to syringe porridge into her to give her energy to find her own food ?

Thanks in advance for your answers !

Mites? Worms? Sour cop? Wow! (In a bad way of course) please go de-worm the rest of your flock, or at least as many as you can catch and find. I would say sour crop isn’t unusual to come with worms in my opinion. Treat her with yogurt. I currently have a hen recovering from being egg bound with a cracked egg and the vets gave me a syringe that is a little bit larger than her antibiotics syringe. Remember that the crop is to the RIGHT of the airway which is right above the tongue, it’s vital important you aren’t syringing into her airways. Make sure you can see the bulge in her crop. Good luck with her, I’ve never had a sour crop survivor but of course that was before my experience, plus one had a hawk attack before anything could be done.

 

[coach723]

I doubt the worming meds caused the neck issues. I would try treating with vitamin E to see if you get improvement. Since she has not been eating well, deficiency is certainly possible.
There may be more going on with her than is obvious. If she had an underlying disease, like Marek's, that would weaken her immune system and make her more vulnerable to all sorts of things. I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with her. Sometimes it can be very hard to narrow things down as symptoms can be so similar. Often the answer isn't known until necropsy after they pass, unfortunately. All you can do is try, and give her as much supportive care as possible.

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

Thanks for your reply. We are in the Cotswolds (a beautiful rural part of the UK west of Oxford - if you search online there are lots of photos !). We have a 60 acre smallholding.

This morning her neck was really twisted to the right and she seems to have balance issues - several times fell to the right and had to put her right wing out to support her ???

Could this be wry neck/Vit E deficiency ? Could it be reaction to so much worm tablets ?

She also doesn't seem to have pooped much overnight could be the gut settling after the worming ?

So this morning she seems in better condition and a lot stronger but with twisted neck and tail is down again. I felt her crop and it seems to be quite flat but seemed to have some granules in it ? It could be she pecked a few bits herself in her box early morning or it's something else in her crop but I can't think what as I only gave her probiotic yoghurt and and some scrambled egg yesterday ? Thanks for the advice on feeding, I've been putting in pea sized bits of scrambled egg so will try that with the mash too.

I offered her water and when I pushed her beak in she took it. She also took more yoghurt today and a tiny bit of egg.

I am having to force feed as she really won't take anything herself so far but how can I tell when her crop is full as I don't want to overdo it ?

Many thanks

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

Thanks for your reply. We are in the Cotswolds (a beautiful rural part of the UK west of Oxford - if you search online there are lots of photos !). We have a 60 acre smallholding.

This morning her neck was really twisted to the right and she seems to have balance issues - several times fell to the right and had to put her right wing out to support her ???

Could this be wry neck/Vit E deficiency ? Could it be reaction to so much worm tablets ?

She also doesn't seem to have pooped much overnight could be the gut settling after the worming ?

So this morning she seems in better condition and a lot stronger but with twisted neck and tail is down again. I felt her crop and it seems to be quite flat but seemed to have some granules in it ? It could be she pecked a few bits herself in her box early morning or it's something else in her crop but I can't think what as I only gave her probiotic yoghurt and and some scrambled egg yesterday ? Thanks for the advice on feeding, I've been putting in pea sized bits of scrambled egg so will try that with the mash too.

I offered her water and when I pushed her beak in she took it. She also took more yoghurt today and a tiny bit of egg.

I am having to force feed as she really won't take anything herself so far but how can I tell when her crop is full as I don't want to overdo it ?

Many thanks

f

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

So I felt she was getting a bit better today, and put her out in the run.

You can see she had a bit more color on the face, chest less swollen, more upright posture and her tail is pointing up. She was walking around but wobbly and using her wings for balance. She tried to preen herself and groom with feet and she took a bit of water and pecked the ground (but not much food). A few of the hens and the rooster pecked her and she ran away so we took her out of the run.

By the evening her neck had completely twisted and she looked like this.

We offered her water and for the first time she took it herself and took about 35ml or more so she was very thirsty. Maybe hasn't been able to drink today with the twisted neck ? or maybe she's got her thirst back now worming is finished as I haven't seen her drink on her own for over a week ? I didn't have sunflower seed for Vit E but gave 15ml sunflower oil instead and had to force feed that. May help things through gut too. I also force fed 5ml yoghurt and a few crumbs of egg.

Do you think the sunflower oil will help with the neck and how long does it take to get over wry neck usually ? It's a pity as she was just getting over the worm issue and now it seems that vitamin deficiency has caused this....

I will check with the supplier but I think these chickens have been vaccinated against Marek's.

Many thanks

 

[coach723]

If you can use a human vitamin E capsule, I would do that. 400 iu daily. When they are deficient then you have to give them a fairly high dose to get it reversed. Some B's would not hurt either, a human B complex tablet (regular, not time release) ground up and mixed in some feed. If it's wry neck from a deficiency it can sometimes resolve fairly quickly with supplementing, but in some birds it can take longer. If she was vaccinated that would make it lean more towards perhaps a deficiency from not eating well.
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

If you can use a human vitamin E capsule, I would do that. 400 iu daily. When they are deficient then you have to give them a fairly high dose to get it reversed. Some B's would not hurt either, a human B complex tablet (regular, not time release) ground up and mixed in some feed. If it's wry neck from a deficiency it can sometimes resolve fairly quickly with supplementing, but in some birds it can take longer. If she was vaccinated that would make it lean more towards perhaps a deficiency from not eating well.
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

I've given her the contents of a Vit E capsule 400IU. Her neck is still quite twisted this morning. Unfortunately I felt her crop and it hasn't emptied much over night. About a golf ball sized bag of just fluid (yoghurt/sunflower oil/water) in there but at least no grain/lumps.. She is now drinking water well on her own (have to offer as her neck is twisted but not force feeding) and seems thirsty - but I'm worried the crop is full.

I massaged it at the bottom and the crop sort of halved in size so maybe some sort of blockage still. After the massage she pooped quite a lot (which is good as hardly any poop yesterday but then she was really dehydrated). I didn't give her anymore food today until crop empties but she drank more water with vits in.

I really appreciate your support as we're going through this. I must say I'm feeling helpless and it's miserable to watch her keep suffering (her name is Cleopatra !). I'll see over the day how it goes and let you know At least going through this we are learning a lot about chicken management thanks to your help ! It's much appreciated thank you !

 

[coach723]

Keep up with the fluids, that's very important. You can massage the crop several times a day and see if it helps. You can also give her some coconut oil, that will help lubricate things. You can freeze or refrigerate it til firm and break it into pieces to give her, they usually like it. With increased fluids, that may help get things moving. A big poop is a good thing! Continue with the E daily, it can take a while sometimes.

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

Not sure what to say this morning - her crop has emptied a bit better overnight and she is pooping quite a lot but her neck is still twisted the same - I gave her about 3 x 400 IU Vit E yesterday.

She stands up for periods of time ( so can't be that weak or unco-ordinated) or sits down but can't get around.

She's taking water but I'm having to syringe everything else into her and I'm worried about giving solids in case the crop gets stuck again.

I've checked with the breeders and she is vaccinated against various strains of Mareks, Newcastle's disease etc.

I'll keep on trying whilst she's taking water but am wondering if it might be better to put her out of her misery ? And how would I do that ? :-(

Thank you.

 

[coach723]

When it's time to end suffering is a personal decision that it is difficult to advise from a distance. If you feel that she is suffering needlessly, with little hope of recovery, that is usually my guide of when it's right. There are several ways of doing it that are humane. Many will use a vet and have them do it. If that is not an option then cervical dislocation is considered the quickest most humane by most people. There are several ways of accomplishing that, I would do that which you are most comfortable with, if it becomes necessary. This article is how I do it, for many of the same reasons as the writer. I used a few different methods, some did not go well at all, before settling on this one. It is quick, and pretty well goof proof.
I'm very sorry you are facing this decision.
https://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2017/06/the-easiest-way-to-cull-chicken.html