DESPERATELY IN NEED OF HELP - Leghorn hen been laying in one spot for 48 hours, eyes shut tight

[Whitehawk]

I have an older white Leghorn hen who, over the years, has been a very consistent and very good layer. However, two days ago, I came home to find her standing in the middle of the coop, head down on her chest with her eyes shut, wings drooping. She's low on the pecking order, so she's kind of raggedy. At first I misdiagnosed and thought she had something that killed some of her hens before, and quarantined her, because I knew I didn't have what I needed to cure her. I didn't expect her to last the night.

However, not only has she done that, but two days later she is STILL alive. Now, obviously I should take some more consideration into my hens and should have started looking into it immediately, but unfortunately I'm very busy. But today I've been spending all day trying to help her out.

Currently, her symptoms are:

- doesn't move
- normally fussy and flighty but now doesn't react at all if I touch her or do anything at all. HIGHLY unusual for her.
- eyes shut tight. She'll blink them open to look around if I'm doing something she's not used to (moving her around, bathing her, etc.)
- doesn't eat or drink
- shallow but not inhibited breathing
- no lumps on her
- very olive-colored, runny poo

I've given her a nice warm bath to let her soak in case she was egg-bound. No such luck. I've also felt around her vent for some kind of egg, but again, I can find nothing.

Thoughts? Anyone? I'm fond of this hen and obviously I wish her the best.

 

[Suzie]

Have you recently treated your flock for any lice/mite problems? If so..what product did you use..

Have you recently de-wormed your flock...?

I would suggest you take her into your house and keep her in a warm environment...she needs to eat and drink...maybe look at casportpony's tube feeding guide...without drinking and food she will go downhill fast...

Good luck with her!

 

[Whitehawk]

Well, it's too late now. She died within the last hour. :'( If it helps anyone, in her last hour of life she started making these little gasping noises and her head kept lolling all over the place. I couldn't get her to respond to me anymore - which is something I had managed to do previously. For the last two hours, I had kept her wrapped up in a towel and I kept her in my lap while I researched what she might have.

After having died, all the water I had tried to get her to drink previously started coming up. There was quite a lot. It was yellow-greenish like the color of her poo, and smelled .. foul. (Sorry, pun-unintentional.)

I really don't know what happened to her. She was one of more than twenty hens (and one rooster) and the rest are all fine. We've lately had trouble with a weasel in the area, but he never got to her. She's always been very healthy and a very good, consistent layer.

...Any late diagnoses?

 

[Suzie]

So very sorry to hear of your sad news..she may have been suffering form impacted or sour crop...it may be worthwhile looking up the symptoms to see if they may have been the cause.

Again, so sorry