Emergency - emaciated hen

[Riverbend Farms]

Hello,
I have a 6 year old barred rock hen who is currently 4 lbs. Her keel is down to the bone at this point and she feels quite skinny. Her abdomen/belly is not abnormal (so no ascites). She has always been on the lighter side. Her comb is not as big as it usually would be this time of year. She eats and drinks but moves slower and her eyes appear to be slightly squinted. I am worried about her and do not want her to die. I am not able to take her to a vet. I have a 6 year old BO hen who is just doing great and I have 10 other birds who are doing good as well, so I don't believe it's parasites or anything viral. This hen means a lot to me because she was one of the first three I ever got when I was 9 years old. She's currently sitting in my room in a crate right now so I can observe her poop. She currently has water with vitamins in it and a cup of feed sitting next to her, her crop is semi-full. She is mostly alert but she has stop making as much noise as she used to. She does go out and forage with the flock just is a bit slower. What can I do for her I really love her?

 

[debid]

When was the last time you wormed your flock? Parasites are cumulative so an older hen will often have many more than a young hen and a heavy parasite load will absolutely cause weight loss.

 

[Riverbend Farms]

When was the last time you wormed your flock? Parasites are cumulative so an older hen will often have many more than a young hen and a heavy parasite load will absolutely cause weight loss.

She has never been wormed before but she always has been fine no issues before this, she's the healthiest bird I've ever had (especially after silkies) how should I go about worming her?

 

[Susan Skylark]

Just a note that emaciation/cachexia is not an emergency, short of acute dehydration/shock, wasting of muscle/loss of body condition is a long term/chronic issue taking weeks/months and often associated with cancer/organ failure though we might not notice it right away in birds/sheep/camelids due to fluffiness. Saw such there isn’t likely a good or quick cure, prognosis is guarded.

 

[WhatsUpDuck]

Have you tried to feed her any wet mash or scrambled eggs?

 

[Riverbend Farms]

Have you tried to feed her any wet mash or scrambled eggs?

yes I fed her scrambled eggs today which she wasn't super into, but I did give her raw eggs which she was more excited for as well as treats like mealworms

 

[debid]

She has never been wormed before but she always has been fine no issues before this, she's the healthiest bird I've ever had (especially after silkies) how should I go about worming her?

Some people don't worm their birds and they live a reasonable chicken life with the reduction in laying from the drain on their systems going unnoticed. But worms are a fact of life for chickens that have access to the outdoors.

If you don't see the worms in her droppings, you can run a fecal sample to a vet for a float test and they will look at what type of eggs are present under a microscope. Or, you can just treat for the most common ones using something like Fenbendazole or Albendazole knowing that you very likely have this issue in the whole flock and only the weakest is showing obvious signs.

It's true that she could have something else entirely going on and it won't help her. But, this is the most common cause of wasting, by far. So, if it were me and a vet visit isn't happening, I'd put her back with her friends and worm the whole flock. There are detailed instructions on this site if you do a search.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

6 year old barred rock hen who is currently 4 lbs. Her keel is down to the bone at this point and she feels quite skinny. Her abdomen/belly is not abnormal (so no ascites). She has always been on the lighter side. Her comb is not as big as it usually would be this time of year. She eats and drinks but moves slower and her eyes appear to be slightly squinted.

She does go out and forage with the flock just is a bit slower.

Can you post photos of her and her poop?

If she's able to eat/drink on her own and can still interact/forage with her flock without being picked on, I'd put her with her flock and monitor her from there. She'll be more comfortable with the flock then isolated in a crate all day.

I agree, deworming is a good idea if you haven't done that. I'll leave instructions for deworming below.

She's 6 years old, you don't mention if she's laying eggs or not. I would assume not. As hens get older, often they can start to have reproductive issues like EYP, Internal Laying, Salpingitis, Cancer, etc. and/or other conditions like organ dysfunction.

I'd encourage her to eat her normal feed, see that she's drinking well. Check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight, look her over for lice/mites and deworm.



To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm you can use Safeguard (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen (Albendazole). Both are given orally by weight; they do not mix well with water.

Safeguard 10% Liquid Goat Dewormer or Equine Paste (10%) dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen (Albendazole) dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Here's how to give oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Riverbend Farms]

Some people don't worm their birds and they live a reasonable chicken life with the reduction in laying from the drain on their systems going unnoticed. But worms are a fact of life for chickens that have access to the outdoors.

If you don't see the worms in her droppings, you can run a fecal sample to a vet for a float test and they will look at what type of eggs are present under a microscope. Or, you can just treat for the most common ones using something like Fenbendazole or Albendazole knowing that you very likely have this issue in the whole flock and only the weakest is showing obvious signs.

It's true that she could have something else entirely going on and it won't help her. But, this is the most common cause of wasting, by far. So, if it were me and a vet visit isn't happening, I'd put her back with her friends and worm the whole flock. There are detailed instructions on this site if you do a search.

Thank you, I will definitely worm her

 

[Riverbend Farms]

Can you post photos of her and her poop?

If she's able to eat/drink on her own and can still interact/forage with her flock without being picked on, I'd put her with her flock and monitor her from there. She'll be more comfortable with the flock then isolated in a crate all day.

I agree, deworming is a good idea if you haven't done that. I'll leave instructions for deworming below.

She's 6 years old, you don't mention if she's laying eggs or not. I would assume not. As hens get older, often they can start to have reproductive issues like EYP, Internal Laying, Salpingitis, Cancer, etc. and/or other conditions like organ dysfunction.

I'd encourage her to eat her normal feed, see that she's drinking well. Check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight, look her over for lice/mites and deworm.



To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm you can use Safeguard (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen (Albendazole). Both are given orally by weight; they do not mix well with water.

Safeguard 10% Liquid Goat Dewormer or Equine Paste (10%) dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen (Albendazole) dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Here's how to give oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

She is one of the higher ranking birds of the flock (and still is) so im not concerned about her getting picked on or anything. I have safeguard so I will worm her with that. She is being a bit picky and not really interested in things like scrambled eggs and oatmeal which I tried giving her. So I have been also feeding her raw eggs and mealworms. I am severely concerned about her weight since she is completely emaciated. Is there anything I could give her to help her gain weight? like calorie gels or something?