Help! Easter Egger not eating Or drinking at all

[Apimacchi]

Good morning,
My little Easter Egger has been acting weird for the past 10 days. I noticed she had started losing weight and wasn’t as interested in her food as she usually was. There was some unusual pecking behavior , but she had been laying consistently and drinking tons of water. I have 5 young girls who have all just started to lay and I thought that maybe it was a nutrient deficiency. So I added extra protein to their already 18% layer feed. I put ivermectin on each one and noticed she started to eat again the next day. This was about 10 days ago. She ate for a day and then the next day was back to drinking loads of water and not eating enough. Her crop was never full like the others. I proceeded to deworm her with safeguard .23ml per pound of body weight for 5 days. Yesterday was the redose for the ivermectin. I noticed her crop was not full at all and was a bit gritty. This morning she was the last out of the coop and has one eye closed. She’s not even enthusiastic about her water and is standing with her head tucked in under her wing. She’s just skin and bones. Not sure where to go from here. None of the others are exhibiting these symptoms. I have an enclosed run about 14’x15’. I feed them Hugelland 18% layer feed, with a sprinkling of cricket legs, herbs , alfalfa. They get treats from the kitchen. Currently there is Acv, garlic and rooster booster in their water.

 

[azygous]

Age of this hen is important for us to know. Reproductive cancers are not uncommon in older layers as are reproductive infections. It's impossible to know what's going on in that area.

If her crop is hard and lumpy and she's drinking lots of water, it could point to an impaction in the digestive tract from crop to gizzard.

My strategy with a sick chicken is to evaluate all the possibilities and then treat for the most likely and the most simple. In this case it would be the crop and gizzard. Give her some coconut oil slightly chilled, a teaspoon, and ball it up and slip it into her beak. Then massage the grainy lumps in her crop and see if you can get the crop to clear.

Check her again in an hour and see how the crop feels and if she's perking up. I would also put a teaspoon of molasses into a fourth of a cup of warm water and give that to her to drink. Try to get her to drink it all even if you need to syringe it into her beak drop by drop. This can help soften an obstruction in her digestive tract and help her poop it out.

 

[Apimacchi]

Age of this hen is important for us to know. Reproductive cancers are not uncommon in older layers as are reproductive infections. It's impossible to know what's going on in that area.

If her crop is hard and lumpy and she's drinking lots of water, it could point to an impaction in the digestive tract from crop to gizzard.

My strategy with a sick chicken is to evaluate all the possibilities and then treat for the most likely and the most simple. In this case it would be the crop and gizzard. Give her some coconut oil slightly chilled, a teaspoon, and ball it up and slip it into her beak. Then massage the grainy lumps in her crop and see if you can get the crop to clear.

Check her again in an hour and see how the crop feels and if she's perking up. I would also put a teaspoon of molasses into a fourth of a cup of warm water and give that to her to drink. Try to get her to drink it all even if you need to syringe it into her beak drop by drop. This can help soften an obstruction in her digestive tract and help her poop it out.

She’s about 8 or 9 months old. She just started laying at the beginning of this month. Her crop is empty. She hasn’t eaten today.i have nutridrench. Can I give her that to see if she perks up? Could this be coccidia? I noticed one of my other hens has loose watery poops. It goes from regular large poops to watery clear poops. They have all had 2 doses of ivermectin. The only one I have dosed with safeguard is the one that’s not eating today

 

[Love my chickens 25]

Age of this hen is important for us to know. Reproductive cancers are not uncommon in older layers as are reproductive infections. It's impossible to know what's going on in that area.

If her crop is hard and lumpy and she's drinking lots of water, it could point to an impaction in the digestive tract from crop to gizzard.

My strategy with a sick chicken is to evaluate all the possibilities and then treat for the most likely and the most simple. In this case it would be the crop and gizzard. Give her some coconut oil slightly chilled, a teaspoon, and ball it up and slip it into her beak. Then massage the grainy lumps in her crop and see if you can get the crop to clear.

Check her again in an hour and see how the crop feels and if she's perking up. I would also put a teaspoon of molasses into a fourth of a cup of warm water and give that to her to drink. Try to get her to drink it all even if you need to syringe it into her beak drop by drop. This can help soften an obstruction in her digestive tract and help her poop it out.

Could it be worms Azygous?

 

[azygous]

If her crop is empty, then it may be an infection. You can try an oral antibiotic. It's not possible for us to diagnose your hen, but there is a good chance she would respond to an antibiotic. If this were my hen, it's what I would try.

 

[Apimacchi]

If her crop is empty, then it may be an infection. You can try an oral antibiotic. It's not possible for us to diagnose your hen, but there is a good chance she would respond to an antibiotic. If this were my hen, it's what I would try.

What kind of antibiotic? What dose?

 

[micstrachan]

You mentioned she had been drinking lots of water. I would check for ascites. That means feel for accumulated fluid in her belly, below her vent and between her legs. Cup your hand there and compare to the other hens.

I, too, might try an antibiotic, but it would be good to know what you are treating. I believe @azygous likes 250mg of amoxicillin per day. I might look into what type of infection is most likely and go from there. I ‘ve has avian vet prescribe augmentin (I believe that’s amoxicillin plus something else) and have also done doxycycline and enrofloxacin. I try to save the enrofloxacin for reproductive tract infections, which is a possibility here.

Also, with ascites, if she has that, I have had luck with 4mL Lily of the Desert aloe detox for a few days, along with the antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. Finally, baby bird formula can be a real treat for a hen who is not feeling well. My severe molters will gobble it up, and I’ve syringe fed it to an otherwise not eating hen. Which reminds me, has she molted yet?

 

[Apimacchi]

She just obliged me with a tiny poop. In the past hour she seems to have eaten some. I can feel something in her crop but not much . She’s still slow and has one eye mostly closed. Just gave her some nutridrench

 

[Apimacchi]

You mentioned she had been drinking lots of water. I would check for ascites. That means feel for accumulated fluid in her belly, below her vent and between her legs. Cup your hand there and compare to the other hens.

I, too, might try an antibiotic, but it would be good to know what you are treating. I believe @azygous likes 250mg of amoxicillin per day. I might look into what type of infection is most likely and go from there. I ‘ve has avian vet prescribe augmentin (I believe that’s amoxicillin plus something else) and have also done doxycycline and enrofloxacin. I try to save the enrofloxacin for reproductive tract infections, which is a possibility here.

Also, with ascites, if she has that, I have had luck with 4mL Lily of the Desert aloe detox for a few days, along with the antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. Finally, baby bird formula can be a real treat for a hen who is not feeling well. My severe molters will gobble it up, and I’ve syringe fed it to an otherwise not eating hen. Which reminds me, has she molted yet?

None of them have molted completely. But they have all started laying in the last month or so. I’ve seen feathers laying around here and there. No bald spots . I do see the leghorn going after the soft feathers of the two Easter Eggers every now and then.

 

[Apimacchi]

You mentioned she had been drinking lots of water. I would check for ascites. That means feel for accumulated fluid in her belly, below her vent and between her legs. Cup your hand there and compare to the other hens.

I, too, might try an antibiotic, but it would be good to know what you are treating. I believe @azygous likes 250mg of amoxicillin per day. I might look into what type of infection is most likely and go from there. I ‘ve has avian vet prescribe augmentin (I believe that’s amoxicillin plus something else) and have also done doxycycline and enrofloxacin. I try to save the enrofloxacin for reproductive tract infections, which is a possibility here.

Also, with ascites, if she has that, I have had luck with 4mL Lily of the Desert aloe detox for a few days, along with the antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. Finally, baby bird formula can be a real treat for a hen who is not feeling well. My severe molters will gobble it up, and I’ve syringe fed it to an otherwise not eating hen. Which reminds me, has she molted yet?

I just checked for fluid in her belly and didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. I’m heading to TS to get an oral antibiotic. And some baby bird food. Let’s see if it gets her eating again. Ugh this is so hard. I feel like I’ve been on high alert since I got these girls in June. If it’s not one thing it’s another.