Chicken not eating/ lethargic/ undigested food

[ChickenLover12345]

1) What type of bird, age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)

4 years old, I believe Australorp hen
She has begun to lose weight over the past 2 weeks

2) What is the behavior, exactly?

- She shows no interest in any food or water
(She will accept food when I offer it on my hand, and water when offered a water tray. But, she will not eat or drink much)
- When she eats, she frequently shakes her beak to remove excess spit
- Lethargic
- As of a few days ago, she has also begun to lose feathers and looks more ruffled than usual
(I am unable to tell whether this is a symptom of her illness or she is just molting)
- Her crop feels squishy and I cannot feel any hard masses
(I will have to check tonight and tomorrow morning as to whether her crop is emptying properly)

Overall, she seems far more tired and is sleeping more frequently in the garden. She is still actively foraging each day, still grooms herself and takes frequent dust baths.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She has been like this for just under 2 weeks.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
None.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No visible signs of trauma.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I do not know what could have caused this.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Small amounts of grass, egg, crushed apple, rice and water- when offered by hand or a tray.
Besides eating small amounts of what we have offered, and anything small she has found in the garden, I don't believe she has eaten or drank anything else.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Initially, her poop had a lot of undigested food in it- mainly corn and grass.
More recently, her poops are much smaller in size and every other poop is incredibly watery. She has also been pooping a lot less in general.
(I have attached a photo of what her poop looked like this morning)

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
We have given her antibiotics over the course of 5 days and finished administering 2 days ago.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
There are no vets in the area, so I hope we will be able to treat her at home if possible

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
I have attached photos of her, her bedding, her feed and her poop this morning.

 

[Debbie292d]

Beautiful hen!!

Welcome to BYC!

What is her feed? Does she get grit? If grain is coming out whole, her gizzard isn't grinding it like it would or this whole grain shouldn't be fed to her then. We ferment it first here.

Is it hot there? Sometimes watery poop is because they drink a lot more when they're hot.

You might try just getting some chick crumbles and wetting some in a dish. We do that for the chicks, but I give it as a treat to the adults and they go mad over it. That's also hydrating.

Scrambled eggs are another huge hit with the chickens here and very nutritious. You could also try a half can of tuna in water. I've not given mine that, but I heard they like it, and it's also healthy. Try to get her to eat some of these things so she doesn't lose any more weight.

I'd get her on an every-other-day regimen of vitamin water and probiotic water for a week or two. Between the two of those, that should help with digestive issues, crop issues, as well as other issues. She should have the probiotics especially now since you just finished giving her antibiotics.

I hope she begins improving.

 

[ChicNmom]

Have you checked her crop first thing in the morning to see if it is going down over night?

The undigested grain makes me wonder if her gizzard is impacted. The grit will help but you could always try a molasses flush to move things along faster.
It is 1 tsp molasses in 1/4 cup of water. She may drink it on her own or you can syringe it into her beak.

She won't eat much if her food can't move through her digestive system.


How does her abdomen feel? Any swelling?

 

[ChickenLover12345]

Beautiful hen!!

Welcome to BYC!

What is her feed? Does she get grit? If grain is coming out whole, her gizzard isn't grinding it like it would or this whole grain shouldn't be fed to her then. We ferment it first here.

Is it hot there? Sometimes watery poop is because they drink a lot more when they're hot.

You might try just getting some chick crumbles and wetting some in a dish. We do that for the chicks, but I give it as a treat to the adults and they go mad over it. That's also hydrating.

Scrambled eggs are another huge hit with the chickens here and very nutritious. You could also try a half can of tuna in water. I've not given mine that, but I heard they like it, and it's also healthy. Try to get her to eat some of these things so she doesn't lose any more weight.

I'd get her on an every-other-day regimen of vitamin water and probiotic water for a week or two. Between the two of those, that should help with digestive issues, crop issues, as well as other issues. She should have the probiotics especially now since you just finished giving her antibiotics.

I hope she begins improving.

Thank you for the warm welcome and advice

Her current feed is a mix of mash and some scratch. She does have access to grit, but she isn't too fond of it, so she often puts off eating it in favor of things she finds in the garden when she ranges.

3 and a half weeks ago, we did have a bit of a heatwave for a few days where she was drinking a lot of water. However, recently, the weather has been mild with occasional rain, so I don't think her behavior is a result of weather, unfortunately.

Thank you for the advice on probiotics. I have ordered some and in the meanwhile have been feeding her some Greek yogurt, which should hopefully help her.

Over the past 2 days or so, she's managed to eat a small amount of soft foods like grapes and scrambled egg- but I will attempt to give her some tuna. I have also been able to coax her into drinking a bit more water than before.

Unfortunately, her poop is still really wet as a result of the softer foods recently, so she's been getting a pasty butt- which I've been able to clean up. On the other hand, her poop doesn't have any more undigested food in it, though its tough to tell considering she isn't willing to eat her mash or scratch like usual.

I've been monitoring her frequently though, so I hope she picks up a little, thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[ChickenLover12345]

Have you checked her crop first thing in the morning to see if it is going down over night?

The undigested grain makes me wonder if her gizzard is impacted. The grit will help but you could always try a molasses flush to move things along faster.
It is 1 tsp molasses in 1/4 cup of water. She may drink it on her own or you can syringe it into her beak.

View attachment 3920633

She won't eat much if her food can't move through her digestive system.


How does her abdomen feel? Any swelling?

I checked her crop this morning, and it is emptying, though it seems to be very slow. Her abdomen definitely seems to be getting bigger recently, so I have a bad feeling she is developing sour crop. I will check tomorrow morning to see if the size has reduced and her crop has completely emptied.

Thank you for the suggestion on molasses, I have ordered a jar of it, so hopefully I will be able to use it soon to help her flush her system.

Just in case her gizzard has an issue, due to lack of grit, I have been trying to mainly give her softer foods like grapes and scrambled egg, until she hopefully redevelops an appetite for her normal feed.

Thank you for your help, really appreciate it.