Chicken losing weight and gasping

[TheHappyHen678]

Hi! I have already posted about this chicken, but I wanted to ask again. One of my chickens named Darcy, a 4 year old white brahma has been really lethargic lately. She sits around a lot and she often lags behind the rest of the flock. She also has lost a lot of weight, as she usually needed to be picked up with both hands, and now she's the weight of so.e of our smaller hens, even though she's still the plumpest hen in the flock. She also sneezes at night, and seems to be gasping for air as well. She does it nost often at night. She also isnt eating a lot and her crop always feels flat. Any ideas about what it is or treatment??? Oh yeah, one more thing! She's always been.... backweighted?? As in her back half nearly touches the ground. She's always been like this, but should I be concerned about this? This is her:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

When was her last egg?

What's going on with her feathers at her neck/front? Could just be she's ruffled?

Feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs does she feel bloated or is there a feeling of fluid (tight like a drum)?

She's having troubles breathing at night, so I assume she's roosting correct? But no distress with breathing during the day.

Do your basic checkups - crop emptying, look for lice/mites, make sure there's no canker or lesions inside the beak. Consider deworming if she's not been dewormed.

I would suspect that she may be suffering from a reproductive disorder and/or organ failure (fatty liver, etc.), but it can be so hard to know unless you lose her and have a further investigation.

Work on hydration, vitamins can be given a couple of times a week. See that she's eating.

 

[TheHappyHen678]

When was her last egg?

What's going on with her feathers at her neck/front? Could just be she's ruffled?

Feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs does she feel bloated or is there a feeling of fluid (tight like a drum)?

She's having troubles breathing at night, so I assume she's roosting correct? But no distress with breathing during the day.

Do your basic checkups - crop emptying, look for lice/mites, make sure there's no canker or lesions inside the beak. Consider deworming if she's not been dewormed.

I would suspect that she may be suffering from a reproductive disorder and/or organ failure (fatty liver, etc.), but it can be so hard to know unless you lose her and have a further investigation.

Work on hydration, vitamins can be given a couple of times a week. See that she's eating.

Her abdomen between he legs does feel tight like a drum. She has not been dewormed, and I don't know how to either. What should I do for her if I can do anything? Like should I separate her from the flock? What vitamins should I give her?? Sorry for all the questions... I'm very new to diagnosing and treating chickens.... also for deworming, how often should I deworm chickens?

 

[TheHappyHen678]

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[TheHappyHen678]

When was her last egg?

What's going on with her feathers at her neck/front? Could just be she's ruffled?

Feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs does she feel bloated or is there a feeling of fluid (tight like a drum)?

She's having troubles breathing at night, so I assume she's roosting correct? But no distress with breathing during the day.

Do your basic checkups - crop emptying, look for lice/mites, make sure there's no canker or lesions inside the beak. Consider deworming if she's not been dewormed.

I would suspect that she may be suffering from a reproductive disorder and/or organ failure (fatty liver, etc.), but it can be so hard to know unless you lose her and have a further investigation.

Work on hydration, vitamins can be given a couple of times a week. See that she's eating.

I checked just a minute ago and her abdomen between her legs does feel swollen/tight like a drum

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is she moving about some, interacting with her flock and eating/drinking on her own? If so, I'd leave her with her flock.

 

[TheHappyHen678]

Is she moving about some, interacting with her flock and eating/drinking on her own? If so, I'd leave her with her flock.

In the run, she definitely doesn't move around as much as the rest of the flock, but stays with the flock, and when free ranging, she does go and walk around, but tends to stay in one area, away from the rest of the hens. She does peck around while free ranging. she does drink on her own, but she doesn't eat the hen food/doesnt seem to like eating it, but loves our chick's food. Her crop also feels empty a lot of the time, at night and during the day so I don't think she's eating much.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can try taking her aside daily and offering her bits of scrambled egg.
If she loves the chick starter, then provide a feeder of that for her to eat, it won't hurt her to eat chick feed.

 

[Cj Tracker]

Hi! I have already posted about this chicken, but I wanted to ask again. One of my chickens named Darcy, a 4 year old white brahma has been really lethargic lately. She sits around a lot and she often lags behind the rest of the flock. She also has lost a lot of weight, as she usually needed to be picked up with both hands, and now she's the weight of so.e of our smaller hens, even though she's still the plumpest hen in the flock. She also sneezes at night, and seems to be gasping for air as well. She does it nost often at night. She also isnt eating a lot and her crop always feels flat. Any ideas about what it is or treatment??? Oh yeah, one more thing! She's always been.... backweighted?? As in her back half nearly touches the ground. She's always been like this, but should I be concerned about this? This is her:

I dewormed with safeguard when my hen had the exact symptoms. She did get better with that. The first few years I never had to deworm anyone now I do. Definitely in summer and again a few months later if I see symptoms.