Chicken very ill

[morganfamily6]

My chicken who i've had for about 4 years is not doing the activities the others are she's just drooping around and not with the rest. She's a rescue chicken and usually enjoys being with the others. She's been like this for the past 3 days and i don't know what wrong with her. She's acting very tired and is very thirsty. She hasn't been this bad in a while so please can someone give me advice ASAP.

 

[Eggcessive]

They tend to hang by themselves and act lethargic is they are sick. Getting her to drink some fluids with electrolytes or SaveAChick would be good for her. Offer some chopped egg along with her usual wet. Does she lay eggs? Pick her up, feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, or puffy. Feel of her breastbone (keel) to check if she has lost weight. Fell of her lower belly for swelling, sponginess, or tightness. Check around her vent and elsewhere for lice or mites, which are very tiny moving bugs. At this age she could be an internal layer, which is sometimes followed by egg yolk peritonitis. Crop problems (impacted crop, sour crop) are common in many chickens. Worms or coccidiosis can be common, and you can either get a vet to check some droppings, or go ahead and treat at least for the worms. Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer are very good wormers. Coccidiosis is usually seen in young chickens, but also may be found in a sickly or immune-compromised chicken of any age. Corid is used to treat coccidiosis. Here is some reading about a couple of those conditions:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/11/control-treatment-of-worms-in-chickens.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/laying-issues-internal-layers-and-peritonitis/

 

[morganfamily6]

She has stopped laying and her crop feels very watery and full. Shes seemed to've lost a lot of weight and her lower belly is very tight and swollen, i don't think she has lice or mites but will double check.
thank you for the advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

That sounds either like egg yolk peritonitis or sour crop. You might want to check her breath if it is sour or rotten-smelling. Chickens will many common illnesses can have a slow puffy crop, but if she has sour crop mainly, it may need treatment. Massage her crop several times a day. Place her in a crate with water, and a little plain yogurt mixed with some egg. Give no solid food or whole grains until after checking her crop tomorrow AM. TwoCrows has an excellent article on "preventing impacted or sour crop problems."

 

[morganfamily6]

her breath doesn't seem to have a sour or rotten smell, so what do suggest i do if she has egg yolk peritonitis?

 

[lilofthestars]

My chicken who i've had for about 4 years is not doing the activities the others are she's just drooping around and not with the rest. She's a rescue chicken and usually enjoys being with the others. She's been like this for the past 3 days and i don't know what wrong with her. She's acting very tired and is very thirsty. She hasn't been this bad in a while so please can someone give me advice ASAP.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would massage her crop several times a day so her crop hopefully will start working better. It is hard to know for sure that it is egg yolk peritonitis without a vet, but it doesn't have a cure. The main thing is to give her nutritious food with a few treats of chopped egg, chopped tuna along with her usual chicken feed. Try wetting a small bowl of chick feed with a lot of water--they usually like that. You can add a spoonful of yogurt for probiotics. Keep her comfortable. She may live for awhile. I have a couple who have lived for a couple of years with internal laying. If she appears to be suffering, then you will probably want to put her down. I wish there was something more you could do, but even antibiotics usually won't help.

 

[lilofthestars]

Hello I am sorry about your girl. I had a bantam that was pretty sick so I did bring her to the vet and the vet said she had egg yolk per. It's where the egg breaks inside her and causes infection they gave me some antibiotics and I put her in a cage in the house for a couple days. Then she got sick again so I studied online and found out that pure oregano oil and their water really does help. I also put one aspirin and a gallon of water which helped her with the pain did not hurt my other chickens. I usually put about three drops in their water of the oregano oil in about a gallon. The vet said she was going to pass away sooner or later but that was on March 18th and I keep putting the oregano oil in and she still doing fine.

 

[morganfamily6]

I would massage her crop several times a day so her crop hopefully will start working better. It is hard to know for sure that it is egg yolk peritonitis without a vet, but it doesn't have a cure. The main thing is to give her nutritious food with a few treats of chopped egg, chopped tuna along with her usual chicken feed. Try wetting a small bowl of chick feed with a lot of water--they usually like that. You can add a spoonful of yogurt for probiotics. Keep her comfortable. She may live for awhile. I have a couple who have lived for a couple of years with internal laying. If she appears to be suffering, then you will probably want to put her down. I wish there was something more you could do, but even antibiotics usually won't help.

ok i will massage he crop and see how it goes

 

[morganfamily6]

Hello I am sorry about your girl. I had a bantam that was pretty sick so I did bring her to the vet and the vet said she had egg yolk per. It's where the egg breaks inside her and causes infection they gave me some antibiotics and I put her in a cage in the house for a couple days. Then she got sick again so I studied online and found out that pure oregano oil and their water really does help. I also put one aspirin and a gallon of water which helped her with the pain did not hurt my other chickens. I usually put about three drops in their water of the oregano oil in about a gallon. The vet said she was going to pass away sooner or later but that was on March 18th and I keep putting the oregano oil in and she still doing fine.

thank you very much i will find some oregano oil and use that