Droopy Sick Buff (pics)

[Speckled Eggs]

My buff hen is acting sluggish. She is the second girl that has done this. We usually feed them a little bread and they go crazy over it. She will hardly even touch it. This has been going on for about a week now. Her stool is really green and pretty runny. She is acting lethargic. I think she eats because I can feel just a little in her crop but not much. She hasnt started puffing up all her feathers like my other girl did yet. She hardly even lifts her tail anymore either. I am going to put some pictures up. Maybe it will help.

 

[OnceInALifeTime]

maybe a blockage? i couldn't say though i only know that's how my goose acted when she swallowed a rock that was to big

 

[Speckled Eggs]

I'm not sure if that is what it is. I have had at least 2 other hens show the same symptoms in the past 3 or 4 months and they passed. She has lasted longer than the other two. I would take them to a vet, but even in rural Alabama I can't find one that works with chickens. Just normal pets, equine and cattle. Surprising to me considering where I am at.

 

[MamaJoJo]

http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

This chart has helped me. There is a pic of poop on here that resembles your hens poo. Could it be worms or lice/mites draining your girls?

 

[OnceInALifeTime]

If there have been others my guess would be mites

 

[Speckled Eggs]

Thanks for the website! Unfortunately she passed while I had to leave today. If it is mites, how can I prevent my other chickens from this? I really need to find out what is going on. We have new babies coming the first of may and I want to have te problem fixed before they get here and at least before I start introducing them! It shouldn't be worms because I wormed then about a month and a half ago.

 

[OnceInALifeTime]

I bathe them in vinigar and bath salts or use seven dust i put bay in the nest

 

[MamaJoJo]

I am so sorry to hear about your hen. What did you use to worm? Some wormers don't cover all the types of worms chickens can get. as I understand it some wormers only kill round worms and not tape worms. As for mites and lice there are many treatments people use. you could look up sevin dust, permethrin, or other chemical treatments which work quickly or research natural methods which take longer. I haven't had much experience with these issues so I don'tt have a personal preference or recommendation. The green runny poop is an indication that they are not getting enough nutrition out of their food. But there are many things that could cause this. do you have others that are showing the same symptoms?

 

[Speckled Eggs]

I had one hen and a young rooster die with the same symptoms. I wormed them with a drop of the safeguard horse wormer (was told it killed pretty much all the worms). We also put them on an antibiotic for a couple of days also. I don't have anymore that are showing any symptoms right now but I am keeping a close watch on them. I don't want to loose anymore so I am going preventative route now. They also get up under our front porch and dust themselves almost everyday. Could this be a problem when it comes to mites?

 

[dawg53]

Mites can cause anemia, then death. Visually inspect your hens for mites, especially around the vent area.
Since you've wormed them with fenbendazole, and now their feces is green and runny...there's a possibility of an ecoli infection. The only way to find out for sure is to have a feces sample submitted to a vet or a laboratory for analysis.
Check for mites first.