diarrhea and lethargy

[jengrinager]

I have a 5 year old hen who is still laying regularly. She has not laid an egg for the past 4 days and yesterday I noticed she had separated herself from the flock and when she got up I could see that her whole backside was pasted with diarrhea. She does walk around a bit, but is all fluffed out and keeping her head close to her body. I have not seen her eat or drink this morning. Last week we did a big overhaul of the coop adding dirt to all the areas they had dug big holes to level it out. I had to keep them out of certain areas while I worked and while I was in the henhouse with the nesting boxes she laid an egg out by the bush and was rather upset that she couldn't get to her nesting box. I plan on giving her an epsom salts bath today, but is there anything else I should consider?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You should consider having a fecal sample read, preferably by someone that understands poultry. Any vet should be able to do it but most won't without seeing "the patient" and they may not understand the bacteria they are possibly finding.
It could be worms, it could be clostridial bacteria - or something else.
If you can't find a good avian vet with poultry experience, use your state poultry diagnostic lab. You should probably overnight a fresh stool sample.
What state are you in?

 

[jengrinager]

I'm in California. She is up walking around after her bath and drinking water. She hasn't pooped since her bath, so I'm hoping we see a more normal poop after this. I have separated her from the other chickens for now. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

UC Davis is a great vet school and they may send you a FedEx label to ship the sample.

California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory
University of California,
School of Veterinary Med
620 West Health Science Drive
Davis, California 95616
Phone: 530-752-8709