Hard bottom, not egg bound

[Reading time with Chicken]

I have an almost 3 years old Blue Sapphire chicken that has a hard bottom, not running, is always tired and not eating much. Other than her comb started to shrivel a little, she looks healthy. Her recent poop is small, green and white, which is not the most healthy poop, but she still poops (not constipated). Her appetite went down dramatically, but she eats her favorite treats in addition to feeds. She's also moving less, hiding more, sleeping a lot, breathing heavier than normal sometimes with a clicking sound, and just not feeling good at all for over a week now.

I've given her Epsom salt baths many times, which she seems to enjoy, but her condition does not change. I've read different articles online and tried giving her dewormer and giving her some electrolytes with vitamins in addition to a bath, but none of those seems to be working, and I'm lost at what I can do for her. I read that good-laying chickens can get cancer easily, she used to be one of the best layers, is that what she has?

We have other chickens (Easter Eggers and Buff Orpingtons) and they're all same age and doing great, so I doubt it's some spreadable disease. With that said, we lost the other Blue Sapphire we had in November in a similar condition. We got all the chickens from the same store, the first one that died was the weakest one when we got her so we thought she had something that was wrong with her.

Any advice on what she might have or what we can do? We don't have a vet who takes chickens in town, so we have very limited options.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Eggcessive]

If she has salpingitis or another reproductive disorder, she may not get better. Try to keep her eating and drinking. Make sure that her crop is emptying by morning. Keep her comfortable and allow her to go out with her flock to enjoy life. Unfortunately, some hens can succumb to these things early in life.

 

[Reading time with Chicken]

Just wanted to let you know that although she fought until the very end, she passed away yesterday.

We ended up finding a mobile livestock vet and got her an x-ray, he said she had at least 3, maybe up to 5 eggs in her, but some mass was preventing those to come out.

I didn't think it was an egg bound since nothing I did (giving her more calcium and Epsom salt etc) helped, and I read that egg bound chicken dies in about 48 hours, she was fighting this symptoms for over a month. He tried the egg removal with muscle relaxers but it didn't work because of that mass, he want able to even touch those eggs.

We ended up bringing her back home, let her sun bathe and kept her fed and hydrated, with occasional walk in my arm at the end since she couldn't move, then passed away.

Thank you so much for your advice, I think she was able to enjoy her life as long as she did because of your help, and we enjoyed every extra moment we got with her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Your hen sounds like she either has cancer or solid masses of lash egg material inside her oviduct or abdomen. Does it feel solid and firm or tight like a water balloon? She probably does not feel like eating any more or being very active. You could try using an antibiotic such as amoxicillin or enrofloxacin in case it might help. Vet care is good if the vet knows chickens.

Whenever I have a hen who dies, I like to do a necropsy on them, and have a look at the organs to see if I can figure out what was going on. Up till that point, I try to make them comfortable, offer their usual feed, maybe add water to a small amount, offer scrambled egg, or tuna and try to keep them eating. At some point, they may have problems getting their crop to empty, and impacted or sour crop can be common. Close to the end, the others may peck at or attack them because they are sick. Then I separate them and decide at some point if I should put them down. Sorry that you are dealing with a sick hen.

 

[azygous]

You likely won't find an antibiotic with a chicken on the label. It doesn't mean chickens can't have it. It's the same antibiotic regardless what farm animal or aquarium critter is pictured.

The dose is what's crucial. An average chicken should get 250mg per day for ten days if it's amoxicillin. (fish mox, aqua mox, etc)

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good price on the Aqua Mox:
https://www.allivet.com/product/aqu...m2WmpI1ZZ4LFw2Zs5braqrNlyOf2ZlUMaAh8BEALw_wcB

 

[azygous]

Unfortunately, we can't just pull a diagnosis out of the air after reading your narrative, but you already are aware of one or two of them. You can add up symptoms as well as we so-called experts. Reproductive cancers and liver disease are two of the most common illnesses we encounter in mature laying hens. So how do we narrow it down further?

We can start to treat for the most common disorder, and if that fails, we figure that's probably not it. But let's start with even more common disorders than cancer or liver disease that are treatable.

The "hard bottom" can be either from excess fat or from an infection. You can start her on an antibiotic and see what that does. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/ You can inspect her for a crop issue, and see where that takes you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

You can try worming her and see if that can improve her condition. Another common cause of lethargy and poor appetite is bullying. You can watch her at the feeder with the others and see if they are especially aggressive to her and force her to give up trying to compete for food. That is actually treatable, first by giving her sugar water and special foods for a few days to see if that perks her up. Then do a rehab program to fix her bullying victim self image. Not kidding. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/


So, take your pick. Lots of things to try. One may work, others will certainly rule things out and narrow the field. Any questions?

 

[Reading time with Chicken]

Your hen sounds like she either has cancer or solid masses of lash egg material inside her oviduct or abdomen. Does it feel solid and firm or tight like a water balloon? She probably does not feel like eating any more or being very active. You could try using an antibiotic such as amoxicillin or enrofloxacin in case it might help. Vet care is good if the vet knows chickens.

Whenever I have a hen who dies, I like to do a necropsy on them, and have a look at the organs to see if I can figure out what was going on. Up till that point, I try to make them comfortable, offer their usual feed, maybe add water to a small amount, offer scrambled egg, or tuna and try to keep them eating. At some point, they may have problems getting their crop to empty, and impacted or sour crop can be common. Close to the end, the others may peck at or attack them because they are sick. Then I separate them and decide at some point if I should put them down. Sorry that you are dealing with a sick hen.

Thank you, @Eggcessive! I went with giving her some tuna, and she went crazy for it Her appetite seems like it's back to normal for now.

We talked about necropsy when the first chicken died, but it was the first one that we lost, and we couldn't do it. I wish I had... I bought a couple of books to examine chicken health, any material you've found helpful in particular?

Also, do you have any specific place you buy those antibiotics online?

 

[Reading time with Chicken]

You likely won't find an antibiotic with a chicken on the label. It doesn't mean chickens can't have it. It's the same antibiotic regardless what farm animal or aquarium critter is pictured.

The dose is what's crucial. An average chicken should get 250mg per day for ten days if it's amoxicillin. (fish mox, aqua mox, etc)

Thank you, I just purchased it, and will try it out.

 

[Reading time with Chicken]

Unfortunately, we can't just pull a diagnosis out of the air after reading your narrative, but you already are aware of one or two of them. You can add up symptoms as well as we so-called experts. Reproductive cancers and liver disease are two of the most common illnesses we encounter in mature laying hens. So how do we narrow it down further?

We can start to treat for the most common disorder, and if that fails, we figure that's probably not it. But let's start with even more common disorders than cancer or liver disease that are treatable.

The "hard bottom" can be either from excess fat or from an infection. You can start her on an antibiotic and see what that does. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/ You can inspect her for a crop issue, and see where that takes you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

You can try worming her and see if that can improve her condition. Another common cause of lethargy and poor appetite is bullying. You can watch her at the feeder with the others and see if they are especially aggressive to her and force her to give up trying to compete for food. That is actually treatable, first by giving her sugar water and special foods for a few days to see if that perks her up. Then do a rehab program to fix her bullying victim self image. Not kidding. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/


So, take your pick. Lots of things to try. One may work, others will certainly rule things out and narrow the field. Any questions?

Thank you, @azygous! Do you have any advice on how much I should give that Aqua Mox? It says the link provided is for fish but couldn't find one for chicken anywhere online, and I don't want to over dose her. I assume I should isolate this chicken and only give her the antibiotic?

She was feeling better for a couple of days, back running and all but her bottom is still hard. Her crop seems fine and she's still one of the top on the pecking order.