Diarrhea, labored breathing, still in molt

[Monika S]

Help. Another chicken is dying! Baby girl is 15 months old, not quite over her molt yet and hasn't laid any eggs in weeks due to the molt. I checked her for stuck egg, but nothing and symptoms are more that of illness. She's been having diarrhea for a couple of days now and still acted normal this morning but then this evening was lethargic and has a hard time breathing, won't eat or drink Her butt has signs of diarrhea but not caked. Her wings are droopy, so are her eyes nad her mouth is open and labored breathing. When I attempt to force water in her mouth, she will drink it but not readily. what do i do?

 

[Monika S]

Oh and there are no vets here that will look at chickens unless I drive 2 hours (ridiculous I know). And I know it sounds like she is another chicken that died recently, which is not the case, the other one died a few months ago, so unrelated to this. There are no parasites.. no mites nothing.. she's clean except for the diarrhea.

 

[Eggcessive]

Molting is very hard on chickens. If they have worms or aren't getting 16-20% protein in their diets it is extra hard. Is your hen breathing hard because she is dying, or do you think she may have a respiratory disease? Other symptoms are sneeze, eye bubbles, face or eye swelling, eye or nasal drainage. Double check for lice and mites under the vent. Since your hens are older, coccidiosis might not be a problem unless you have added new birds or may have tracked in a different strain of coccidia on your shoes or tires. Swap meets and farm stores are good places for that. I would try to get your hen to drink some poultry electrolyte/vitamins by dipping her beak into water. Later I would worm her with Valbazen (albendazole), and consider treating for cocci with Corid (amprollium.).

 

[Monika S]

she looks horrible. I don't think she's going to make it till tomorrow and the store where I could get anything like that is closed till 9 am tomorrow morning. I don't hear her sneeze (I brought her in the house). I would say her eyes are droopy more than swollen. She lets her wings hang too. Looking at everything I can find I almost think it's Newcastle Disease..the only thing that doesn't fit is that she's not sneezing and I also found that it's not supposed to exist in the US since the 70's, so I guess it's not that either.

 

[ten chicks]

she looks horrible. I don't think she's going to make it till tomorrow and the store where I could get anything like that is closed till 9 am tomorrow morning. I don't hear her sneeze (I brought her in the house). I would say her eyes are droopy more than swollen. She lets her wings hang too. Looking at everything I can find I almost think it's Newcastle Disease..the only thing that doesn't fit is that she's not sneezing and I also found that it's not supposed to exist in the US since the 70's, so I guess it's not that either.

You have to get fluids into her. Keep her warm,if you have a hot water bottle,fill wrap in a pillow case and place beside her. If you feel she is congested,you can steam her,turn shower on and place her in bathroom for about 10 minutes,monitor her while in there so she does not become overheated. Have you tried soaking her in warm water for being egg bound? Have you done a cloacal exam for egg bound?

 

[Monika S]

I did make sure she wasn't egg bound. She died last night. I knew she would. I could feel it. I hate not having a vet here that will look at chickens.. farmers tell me that chickens are cheap enough they just let them die.. really? I checked my other three and they are fine.. no diarrhea, no signs of illness. Even though two of them are still in full molt, they look healthy. So today I will drive to the market and get some oxine. I was watching youtube videos and reading for hours yesterday and the best preventative is disinfecting the coop on a weekly basis (I clean the coop but I've never disinfected it). I also know there is a mouse in the coup somewhere. Even though I have all the food in containers the mice can't get in, I can smell it and see droppings in the feed area. I don't want to put rat poison out cause I'm afraid the chickens will peck at the mouse if it dies where they have access and then get sick themselves.. so I will try to put mouse traps out (away of my girls of course). I'm gonna miss my Baby girl!!!