Depressed/Lethargic chicken

[RowerRN]

Hello,
I just got 5 new chickens and added them to my flock 5 days ago.
The one, a buff orpington (a yearling, I think) is extremely depressed and lethargic. At first, all of the newbies were tentative and have been wary of my older girls, but this morning, she refused to leave the coop and had wedged herself in the corner behind the feed box.
She's been acting like this for 2 or 3 days.
I don't think she ate or drank anything yesterday and also refused to leave the coop. I took her out by hand and she laid in the trees near the other girls but wouldn't forage.
Her tailfeathers appear to have bright green stool on them.
Yesterday I gave her 5 cc's of colloidal silver by mouth. I also washed her eyes with it for good measure.
This morning I isolated her in the dog box and have been giving her multi-grain bread mash with heated milk, onions, and garlic with probiotics & enzymes.
I put raw apple cider vinegar in her water.
The hens' bedding is straw in the coop/run, with free range on grass/weeds/dirt in the back 1/4 of yard. I cleaned the coop yesterday.

I suspect worms and dehydration because of the green stool. Do you agree? Are there any other natural remedies for this?

Thanks
Melissa

 

[Yay Chicks!]

First, Welcome to BYC

I'm sorry to hear your chicken isn't feeling well. How old is she?

Here is the link to the infamous poop chart. It's gross, but it great for diagnosis! http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

A possible natural remedy for worms, I have read, is pumpkin seeds. Just get a pumpkin, split it open and let them go for it.

Have you checked her over thoroughly for mites or lice? Is she of laying age? Could she be eggbound?

 

[RowerRN]

Thanks for your quick response! The poop chart is helpful, I saved it for future use. Her stools haven't been bloody; looks like they may even be normal.

I suppose she could be eggbound; Today I'm going over to the lady's house I bought her from, so I will find out if she had started laying or not, and exactly how old she is.

Is there an easy way to check for this?

One other detail RE buff orpingtons - her wattle seems to be a pale pink. Is this normal?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

On the pale pink wattle - it depends... Was it a brighter pink before?

On being eggbound - you could pick her up and gently feel on her lower abdomen area for an obvious egg shaped lump. Do a search on here using "eggbound" and you will come up with good information.

I would check her thoroughly for bugs as well...near her vent, under her wings etc.

Take a warm, wet washcloth and get the poop off her feathers so as not to attract egg laying flies (I have to clean off one of mine today as well).

 

[RowerRN]

Thanks for your help! I'll check her abdomen and her feathers.

As for the wattle color, I don't know, since I've only had her a few days.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

So, if she is not of laying age yet, the pale pink might just be normal for her age. My Buff Orp is a year and a half and her comb become a hot pink color when she got ready to lay. However, if she is of laying age, and it was darker at one time, then it could be an indication that something is wrong.

 

[RowerRN]

Well, I checked her for an egg, and all I could feel was a bone (pelvic bone?). Also, I checked her feathers (under wing, on head, on torso) for any parasites. I can't figure out what's wrong, but then - I've only had chickens for a few months, and this is the first sick one I've had.

She will drink from the syringe - I gave her about 3 cc's of olive oil, just in case it is an egg I can't feel, and some water with a little silver and cider. Then I made her some strawberry yogurt granola mash, she ate a few bites like it was yummy, then she lost interest very quickly.

Now she's in the back of the cage and won't do anything.

I think I'll give her a sitz bath in case it is an egg - it won't hurt her, anyway.

Btw, the other girls are fitting into the flock better now - there was mingling between old and new today. : )

 

[chkn]

Now when you checked inside the vent you went straight in basically, right? Not downward? Were you able to get your finger all the way in and then sort of edge around with it? Sometimes they'll get an egg with no shell stuck in there in which case it could be mistaken for something else.

How does her abdomen feel, is it swelled? Is her vent pulsing? You might want to use a dropper on top of her beak and feed her some extra treats. She may be a low bird on the pecking order and just be terrified.

You might be surprised how a good worming and delousing will redden the comb (it's almost immediate on my girls). Do it whether you see any of these things or not.