Chicken very sick, lethargic... not eating or drinking... just lays there.

[Oddzball]

So I have a Americano chicken. (Or what they store said was Americano anyway) roughly 6 months old.

At first she just seemed to be very mellow, and I could walk right up and pet her/pick her up. She had always been friendly but not that friendly. But I spent time every day with them holding and feeding them treats so I assumed she just was finally warming up to me.

Well, the last two days it went beyond just being mellow to all out lethargic. She doesnt appear to be eating or moving at all. I went out in the morning and checked up on her and it appears she didnt go inside the coop and roost that night, and simply lay on the ground outside all night. I took her inside and put her in a box with food and water. I also went to the feed store and bought some Duramycin(Antiboitic) and mixed that in with the water.

She is basically just laying there on her belly with her mouth slightly open and eyes closed. At this point I am just trying to keep her warm and comfortable, but It looks very much like she will not make it. I do not have money to take her to a vet, so I am not sure what else to do for her that may save her.

 

[MarcoPollo]

Is her crop full? Does she have access to grit? Has she been laying eggs? Was she able to stand?
Sounds like she's seriously ill, but give her the benefit of the doubt. Keep her away from the others and leave her rest tonight where it's warm. If she's still with you by morning, try to place some yogurt on the end of her beak. Or some bread soaked in a little olive oil. Or any other special soft treat you give her. If she eats, there is still hope. As long as she's hanging on, keep her restricted to rest away from others. If she will take water or food that you place on her beak, continue with it. That's what I would do for now.

 

[Oddzball]

I am new to chickens (Well sorta, I had chickens when I was like 10 for 4H but I htink my dad did most of the work) so I have no idea how to check the crop. When you say access to grit... I give the crush oysters, and they have a lot of sand and rocks/pebbles in the run they can eat, but I am not sure if this is what you mean.


Either way it was a lost cause. My poor Whistler passed away last night. all the other chickens seem fine, I just couldnt figure out what was wrong with her.

I did check to see if she was egg bound, and she wasnt, and no sign of mites or parasites....

It just like one morning she decided to just stop moving/eating and drinking and just wasted away.

Kinda sad, she was my favorite too, beautiful colors and feathers. Use to sit on my shoulder and eat from my hand.

 

[casportpony]

Sorry for your loss... You can send her for necropsy is you want to know why she died. CA does for free if you're a CA resident, and Maryland has a very reasonable fee for out of state poultry.

 

[casportpony]

Next time you get a sick one, try this:

Bring inside right away.

• Weigh and record weight. I use a cheap digital kitchen scale from Target.
• Do thorough exam.
• Dust for mites/lice with poultry dust even if I couldn't see any .
• De-worm with Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (fenbendazole 100mg/ml) at the rate of 50mg/kg ( .5cc/kg) by mouth.
• Place in box or plastic bin with access to food, water and heat.
• If not eating and crop is empty, tube feed Pedialyte. Once hydrated, tube feed baby bird food.
• Watch closely for 24 hours.
• Weigh daily.

 

[MarcoPollo]

I'm sorry you had to say goodbye to your favorite hen. That is so sad.
I'm new to chickens too and have read so many articles on this site that have helped. I think in the case of your hen, there wasn't anything obvious so I'm not even sure what more you could have done.
The crop is located where the neck meets the body and it is on the chicken's right side. It is blatantly obvious when it is full cause it's at least a handful-sized "lump". It should be full during the day and be flatter by morning. I was thinking that she may have had an impacted crop, but I think you would have noticed a big crop.
Sounds like you had all the appropriate feed selections out. I did mean small pebbles when I asked if she had grit. And you had the oyster shell out too, so that was good. Did you use hay in the coop? I stopped using hay in my coop, and some here have stopped using hay due to crop issues.
Again, I'm sorry she passed away. Sounds like she was a sweet little hen.