Help! HEN LOSING WEIGHT-DARK GREEN FECES-MOANING AND GROANING!

[CallyB57]

My hen is so weak that she will hardly eat anything now. She is leaning over. I will not force-feed her, as I did that with another hen, Florentine, and she died anyway. She tosses her head and scrapes her beak from one side of the bowl to the other as if she has some imaginary crud stuck to her beak. She still drinks water, though not very much of it. I am keeping her as comfortable as possible with food and water only a peck away, but she won't even stand up now, and keeps her eyes shut all the time. When I put her in the garden, she just sits against the fence and doesn't move. Her poo is still very green, though more solid than it used to be.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Oh dear. That sounds bad. Keep us updated.

 

[CallyB57]

Today, she is about the same she was at my last post, but since she has been wormed and her symptoms seem to suggest internal laying (due to her feces look like eggyolk with green mixed in) I have mixed up a semi-solid concoction for her which contains her feed, soy flour, baby spinach, yogurt, antibiotic, 1 slice of apple, & 3 drops of polyvisol to each 1/2 cup of concoction. I am feeding her between 10 and 20 droppers of that in the morning and again at night. She has been drinking water and drinks a good bit of it when I offer it to her. Her clucks seem to be a little stronger and louder than they were, but she is no stronger when she tries to stand or move about. I don't know anything about internal laying, so I'm going to look it up - and since I work in the SErials department, there is a journal about poultry on the shelves and I will do a search for an article on internal laying. Please wish me luck and if you believe in praying for your birds, please say a prayer for her. Her name is Jetta.

 

[speckledhen]

If you look at threads I've started about Ivy and her long battle, you may get some insight. Sadly, there is no cure for her. I've been there many times, unfortunately.

 

[CallyB57]

Quote:
In researching internal laying, I have found something on feeding spirulina to birds. I have Spirulina at home and will mix a small amount of it in Jetta's food as it is higher than soy in protein and it also contains a good bit of boron. I will add the link below if any of you are interested.

http://spirulina4nutrition.com/spirulina-for-birds/

 

[speckledhen]

That is very interesting! I do give mine vitamin supplements and beneficial oils as well. I'll have to see if I can find some of that here.

The problem with internal laying is that it is not a nutritional deficiency, but a genetic and/or hormone based ailment, according to experts.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I will be praying for Jetta.

 

[CallyB57]

Speckled...do you know of any plants safe for chickens that might have a hormone in it that might get her back in balance? I know that Soybeans have some kind of hormone in it - maybe estrogen, don't know - that sounds stupid. Anyway, I don't think she is any better on her balance, but I have seen her stand up to eliminate and her feces is much firmer now that I am feeding her the semi-solid mixture with a dropper. She has passed a couple of normal looking poos, they are just thick and gooey due to (I think) the semi-solid concoction I have been feeding her. However, at least 80% of her poos are still dark green surrounded by a semi-solid dark yellow stuff that does really look like egg. She is not passing the liquid that she was passing before, and before yesterday, 100% of her poo was dark green with yellow in it...no browns at all. I wonder if free-range birds have this problem like those kept in a run. Mine are in a huge enclosed run about 95% of the time. I let them out every day about 1 hour before dark so they can get to what is left of the green grass outside the pen. Do you think I should give them more time outside the pen?

 

[CallyB57]

Also...that spirulina comes in powder and tablets...a bottle of tablets is $10.95 at the health food store nearby. There are about 100 tablets in the bottle. The tablets are very powdery and I think I'm going to add a couple of tablets to their feeders once or twice a week.

 

[rosco]

have you thought about Marek's being the culprit?

Marek's Disease

Synonyms: acute leukosis, neural leukosis, range paralysis, gray eye (when eye affected)

Species affected: Chickens between 12 to 25 weeks of age are most commonly clinically affected. Occasionally pheasants, quail, game fowl and turkeys can be infected.

Clinical signs: Marek's disease is a type of avian cancer. Tumors in nerves cause lameness and paralysis. Tumors can occur in the eyes and cause irregularly shaped pupils and blindness. Tumors of the liver, kidney, spleen, gonads, pancreas, proventriculus, lungs, muscles, and skin can cause incoordination, unthriftiness, paleness, weak labored breathing, and enlarged feather follicles. In terminal stages, the birds are emaciated with pale, scaly combs and greenish diarrhea (see Table 2 ).

Marek's disease is very similar to Lymphoid Leukosis, but Marek's usually occurs in chickens 12 to 25 weeks of age and Lymphoid Leukosis usually starts at 16 weeks of age.

Transmission: The Marek's virus is transmitted by air within the poultry house. It is in the feather dander, chicken house dust, feces and saliva. Infected birds carry the virus in their blood for life and are a source of infection for susceptible birds.

Treatment: none

Prevention: Chicks can be vaccinated at the hatchery. While the vaccination prevents tumor formation, it does not prevent infection by the virus.