fever, rapid breathing, hasn't eaten for a day, loose poo

[COOPhilly]

My 14 month old ancona was hiding in a corner of the yard yesterday afternoon when I got home from work. She is the top hen, so this was quite unusual. She avoided being picked up.

She roosted with the rest of the girls last night and this morning I got her before she got off the roosting bar. She was quite hot and her comb, usually on the pale red side, was dark red. She was also visibly breathing faster than normal. She was still rather feisty, trying to get away from me.

I didn't see her eat anything. At lunch time I isolated her in a dog crate so I could monitor her. Her crop was empty and she was not quite as warm as she was in the morning but her breathing was still rapid.

I offered her yogurt, greens, scratch and applesauce, and fresh water. She has not eaten anything nor had any water. She is resting comfortably though still breathing rapidly (mouth closed).

I saw her do a liquidy, white poo.

She's free-ranged in our yard with the other birds. Everyone else is fine.

Thoughts?

 

[purpletree23]

I don't know what is going on but I would suggest getting some water into her using and an eye dropper. She will be OK for a short time without food but can not do without water. Have any Gatorade? Use a dropper and drop the liquid on the top/side of her beak SLOWLY so she can swallow and will not get it into her lungs.

She may have eaten something the does not agree with her, she may have gotten overheated a 100 different things could be wrong. Others with more knowledge will post their thoughts soon.

Hope she gets better.

 

[COOPhilly]

OK - Eyedropper + Water + Slightly uncooperative chicken = a little bit of water into the chicken + a lot of water onto the chicken

Well, she got a little. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[Casey3043]

I found a sick hen with these same symptoms this afternoon. Not eating, hiding in the coop on the floor (I had seen her out earlier, so this came on suddenly). Not egg bound, and no visible wounds. All others are healthy. Got her in a dog crate with water and some cut up fruit (her favorite). Got a small amount of ACV water down her with a syringe. Her eyes are closed. She is able to stand when I bother her, but sinks back down in a moment. Haven't seen her poo. She is 2 years old. Any suggestions?

How is yours doing, Philly?

CASEY

 

[Casey3043]

Mine just died, about 30 min. after I found her. Have no idea why.

CASEY

 

[COOPhilly]

I'm so sorry to hear about your girl.

We took Nixi to the vet today. She got a culture taken of her poo (to look for bacteria - not sure results yet), some subcutaneous saline solution and a shot of antibiotics. Oh, and her temp taken. She was at 108 degrees which is 3 degrees higher than normal.

Will continue her antibiotics and try to get my neighbor (who is also a vet) to help me with more subcut saline injections.

When we got her home she ate one piece of watered-down bread.

Hopefully she's on the road to recovery. I know it seems a lot for a hen but we do love her.

 

[Casey3043]

So glad to hear she is better. I hope all goes well from here on. I have no idea what happened to mine. I had been out of town for five days, but had a very reliable and conscientious chicken sitter caring for my birds. And as I said, the other 13 are fine. My 7 youngsters in another pen are fine. Feeling her body, she feels quite thin, crop empty. If I had been home, I might have noticed something was wrong in time to help her. When I got home at noon, the others ran to the fence as they always do. She didn't, but was in a dust bath, so it wasn't unusual for her not to come up to see me if she was dust bathing. But, maybe even at that time, she couldn't stand and I just didn't see it. She did get inside the coop from there, however.

I'm wondering about a spider bite, snake, poisonous plant??? It's a mystery.

CASEY

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

I'm sorry to hear about your girl too!! We have a RIR that suddenly has all the symptoms both you and COOPhilly have. She is in a dog crate in our basement. Do either of you think it is heat related?

 

[KellyHM]

Normal chicken temps can be up to 107, so 108 really isn't all that high. Glad she seems to be doing a little better...good luck.

 

[COOPhilly]

I'll let you know what bacteria the sample from the vet comes back with.

She said the normal temp is ~105. Her temp tonight is 107.7 and she's still awfully hot but she did eat a bit of banana and applesauce and yogurt and some watery bread, so I'm feeling encouraged.

Not sure it's the heat - at least here it's not been over 85 all summer. We've had a lot of rain, though so maybe there's spores in the air or something fungal. No clue. Just glad no one else has it.