Chicken lethargic with diarrhea

[Dani Hart]

I have had chickens for 5 years and never had any serious problems, until today. When I let the chickens out of the coop, one didn’t come out. She was laying on the ground trying to get up but couldn’t. Her legs wouldn’t work and when she tried, she would stumble. I have her isolated inside. I gave her nutri drench and shortly after she was able to stand and walk, although not as quickly as a normal chicken. I gave her vitamin/electrolyte water, although she’s really not drinking or eating. She has diarrhea but it’s not bloody or abnormal looking. She is a little puffed up but really only when I try to touch her. Looking at symptoms of coccidiosis, they sound similar to what my girl has, except for the legs and not being able to walk (now she is fine walking but stays laying down). All of the other chickens are fine. What could this be? Is it simply a vitamin deficiency or something worse? And now should I treat it?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

How old is she?
When was her last egg?

What's your weather been like? If really hot, then she may have been suffering from heat exhaustion.

I'd continue to work on hydration. Electrolytes or the PND is fine to give. Do make some fresh cool water available as well. Once she's drinking, then see if she will eat a little wet soupy feed.

Check her crop to make sure it's emptying, look her over for lice/mites.

 

[Dani Hart]

Welcome To BYC

How old is she?
When was her last egg?

What's your weather been like? If really hot, then she may have been suffering from heat exhaustion.

I'd continue to work on hydration. Electrolytes or the PND is fine to give. Do make some fresh cool water available as well. Once she's drinking, then see if she will eat a little wet soupy feed.

Check her crop to make sure it's emptying, look her over for lice/mites.

She is between 3-4 years old. I couldn’t tell you when her last egg was, but it was recently. Maybe last year some time. It has been super hot and humid here so it could be dehydration. However, I let her outside tonight because I thought she was ok. The way she walks is very strange, one foot in front of the other. It almost seems like she’s limping a bit. She was attempting to eat some corn but kept missing it. Her crop is empty and I didn’t see mites but I did put some diatomaceous earth on her just in case and I also put some Vaseline on her legs in case it was leg mites.
Now I’m wondering, could this be Marek’s disease? The way she was trying to eat the corn but kept missing was really strange. And while she is walking, it’s minimal and then she sits down. She’s making normal chicken sounds, her comb is normal colored. She appears to be fine expect those 2 things and she only has diarrhea. Today, it was just liquid as she hasn’t eaten in a couple of days.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get a video of how she moves?
Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful as well.

Re-check her crop to see if it's emptying.

If she's not drinking/eating, then you'll want to hold water up to her beak to see if she can drink on her own, if not, then syringe or tube fluids into her.

 

[Dani Hart]

Can you get a video of how she moves?
Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful as well.

Re-check her crop to see if it's emptying.

If she's not drinking/eating, then you'll want to hold water up to her beak to see if she can drink on her own, if not, then syringe or tube fluids into her.

Here is a link to a video of her walking.

She mostly just stands still or sits. She has been making normal chicken noises and this morning, was even calling to the other from the garage. Her crop is empty. She is not eating. I even tried to give her yogurt. She did eat some watermelon yesterday though. I have been making her drink by holding the water to her beak- she takes a few sips. A few days ago, we did have to drop some in her mouth because she wasn’t doing it on her own. The only poop pictures I have are old poop after it’s dried a bit. I really just want to eliminate all contagious diseases because I don’t want my other girls to get something.

Can you get a video of how she moves?
Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful as well.

Re-check her crop to see if it's emptying.

If she's not drinking/eating, then you'll want to hold water up to her beak to see if she can drink on her own, if not, then syringe or tube fluids into her.

Can you get a video of how she moves?
Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful as well.

Re-check her crop to see if it's emptying.

If she's not drinking/eating, then you'll want to hold water up to her beak to see if she can drink on her own, if not, then syringe or tube fluids into her.

Can you get a video of how she moves?
Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful as well.

Re-check her crop to see if it's emptying.

If she's not drinking/eating, then you'll want to hold water up to her beak to see if she can drink on her own, if not, then syringe or tube flui

 

[Dani Hart]

Here is a link to a video of her walking.

She mostly just stands still or sits. She has been making normal chicken noises and this morning, was even calling to the other from the garage. Her crop is empty. She is not eating. I even tried to give her yogurt. She did eat some watermelon yesterday though. I have been making her drink by holding the water to her beak- she takes a few sips. A few days ago, we did have to drop some in her mouth because she wasn’t doing it on her own. The only poop pictures I have are old poop after it’s dried a bit. I really just want to eliminate all contagious diseases because I don’t want my other girls to get something.



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I’m also very embarrassed to say, I put grass clippings in their pen the other day. After researching, I now know that’s terrible for them. Could it be she ate too much grass?

 

[Red Horse]

Do you think she's actually missing the feed, or just trying to make it "look" like she's eating? When some of mine were sick with coccidiosis (not suggesting that's what this is) the ones that weren't feeling good were pecking around at the food but not really eating it. The way I finally found to figure out which ones weren't feeling good (because I couldn't just sit and watch for each of them to poop) was to put a few containers of treats in the run and watch who was actually consuming them vs pretending. It seems like a defense mechanism to keep the other chickens from realizing they're vulnerable or something, might not necessarily be neurological?

 

[Dani Hart]

Do you think she's actually missing the feed, or just trying to make it "look" like she's eating? When some of mine were sick with coccidiosis (not suggesting that's what this is) the ones that weren't feeling good were pecking around at the food but not really eating it. The way I finally found to figure out which ones weren't feeling good (because I couldn't just sit and watch for each of them to poop) was to put a few containers of treats in the run and watch who was actually consuming them vs pretending. It seems like a defense mechanism to keep the other chickens from realizing they're vulnerable or something, might not necessarily be neurological?

It could be that, but it seems like she was really trying to get the corn but just kept missing. That and the way she moves her neck, constantly puffs herself up, the diarrhea, being lethargic, makes me think somethings wrong. She is a chicken I could NEVER catch, but now I can easily pick her up without her trying to get away. After I took the video, I put her back inside the AC and noticed she is loosing weight. I felt her and she feels very skinny.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get some photos of her eyes?

I would offer her wet feed with bits of scrambled egg to see if she can eat better.
The poop with yellow urates could point to liver disease, but hard to know unless you lose her and have a necropsy.

I'd also start her on vitamin therapy to see if that helps. 400IU Vitamin E along with 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.



If she has a contagious disease and she's been with your other girls for any period of time, all have been exposed.

 

[Dani Hart]

Can you get some photos of her eyes?

I would offer her wet feed with bits of scrambled egg to see if she can eat better.
The poop with yellow urates could point to liver disease, but hard to know unless you lose her and have a necropsy.

I'd also start her on vitamin therapy to see if that helps. 400IU Vitamin E along with 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.



If she has a contagious disease and she's been with your other girls for any period of time, all have been exposed.

Thanks for the advice. For the wet feed, just simply add water to her normal feed? Her eyes are totally normal too but I can get a picture when I feed her.