Help, sick bantam very lethargic, diarrhea

[FLbluebantam]

Hey all, my bantam Cochin is sick and I need some help, this is my first chicken.


Yesterday morning she woke up fine and had a good appetite. As the day went on her appetite slowed but I wasn’t worried because she’s in the middle of molting and hasn’t been eating as much as usual. I also noticed her droppings were almost all water that dries white, she had diarrhea like that for the rest of the day. She also hasn’t been laying but I heard this is normal during molting. After it got dark she may have been a little lethargic but nothing out of the ordinary, she usually slows down after dark anyway.


This morning I noticed something was definitely off. She’s usually excited to get out of her coop but not today. She just kind of stood there so after a few I shuffled her out to take a look. She waddled a little and seemed to have trouble maintaining balance then just stayed in the same spot. After about 15 mins I figured she may be egg bound so I drew her a warm bath. Normally she’d fight me on this but just let me lower her into the bath. She just sat there, eyes opening and closing almost sleeping. She drank a good bit of water in the bath and after about 15 mins she clucked like she wanted to get out. I wrapped her in a towel which she squirmed out of. She pecked at some yogurt once or twice but otherwise is uninterested in food. Next I put on a glove and put my finger her vent to check for an egg, I went in about 1.5” but didn’t feel anything and she started squirming to get away pretty hard. When I removed my finger some white and yellow diarrhea came out and I noticed some white crust around her vent. Afterwards she just sat in the same spot, almost sleeping and not moving at all. It definitely seems like her balance is off but her tail isn’t pointing the ground.


She’s also a house chicken who doesn’t go outside much so I’m not sure how possible a bacterial infection is? Any help is greatly appreciated.


Edit: she’s about 9-10 months old, and has always been very energetic without issues. She’s blue/grey so it’s hard to tell if her comb is pale. I also checked her crop - it seemed soft and I didn’t notice and smell.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yesterday morning she woke up fine and had a good appetite. As the day went on her appetite slowed but I wasn’t worried because she’s in the middle of molting and hasn’t been eating as much as usual. I also noticed her droppings were almost all water that dries white, she had diarrhea like that for the rest of the day. She also hasn’t been laying but I heard this is normal during molting. After it got dark she may have been a little lethargic but nothing out of the ordinary, she usually slows down after dark anyway.

This morning I noticed something was definitely off. She’s usually excited to get out of her coop but not today. She just kind of stood there so after a few I shuffled her out to take a look. She waddled a little and seemed to have trouble maintaining balance then just stayed in the same spot.

After about 15 mins I figured she may be egg bound so I drew her a warm bath. Normally she’d fight me on this but just let me lower her into the bath. She just sat there, eyes opening and closing almost sleeping. She drank a good bit of water in the bath and after about 15 mins she clucked like she wanted to get out.

When I removed my finger some white and yellow diarrhea came out and I noticed some white crust around her vent. Afterwards she just sat in the same spot, almost sleeping and not moving at all. It definitely seems like her balance is off but her tail isn’t pointing the ground.

She’s also a house chicken who doesn’t go outside much so I’m not sure how possible a bacterial infection is?

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry your hen is not doing well.
How old is she?
What type of food(s) do you feed?
Can you post some photos of her and the poop?

Since she is molting, likely she's not in lay, but it's good that you felt for an egg.
Did you notice if she has any bloat in the abdomen between the legs under the vent?

I would start out by encouraging her to drink - hydration is important. If you have poultry vitamins, give her a direct dose.
After she is drinking, then see if she will eat for you. Sometimes during molt chickens do not feel well, so they go off their food a little. Try making her a wet mash out of her food, offer a little egg or fish to entice her.

Check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks - it should be empty, if it's not, then let us know.

 

[FLbluebantam]

Update: her breathing became very slow and labored this afternoon with her eyes not opening. Out of desperation we took her to a local vet, who absolutely gouged my checkbook, and after 20 minutes on heat and oxygen told us she didn’t make it. Said her lungs were full of fluid. They took an X-ray after she passed and showed us what they thought was a metallic object she ate which could have caused heavy metal poisoning. Also said she was very underweight because her keel bone was very noticeable. We never noticed because she always fluffy and seemed so happy and high energy, that is until it was too late. Seems most people don’t worry about chickens until they show symptoms but make sure they’re eating and check they’re weight. We lost a close little friend today but hopefully she’s happy where she is and no longer suffering.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update: her breathing became very slow and labored this afternoon with her eyes not opening. Out of desperation we took her to a local vet, who absolutely gouged my checkbook, and after 20 minutes on heat and oxygen told us she didn’t make it. Said her lungs were full of fluid. They took an X-ray after she passed and showed us what they thought was a metallic object she ate which could have caused heavy metal poisoning. Also said she was very underweight because her keel bone was very noticeable. We never noticed because she always fluffy and seemed so happy and high energy, that is until it was too late. Seems most people don’t worry about chickens until they show symptoms but make sure they’re eating and check they’re weight. We lost a close little friend today but hopefully she’s happy where she is and no longer suffering.

I'm sorry for your loss

Very sad indeed. It's good that you were able to find out the cause. Metal toxicity is sometimes called Hardware disease. Chickens are very good at hiding symptoms as well. https://the-chicken-chick.com/hardware-disease-in-backyard-chickens/

 

[glassdragonfly]

So sorry!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Very sorry for your loss!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your sudden loss.

 

[FLbluebantam]

Thanks to everyone for the support. Miss Motherclucker was as close to us as any dog or cat and we’ve been very sad. Also thank you to Wyorp for posting the link about hardware disease, funny because it was a lot different than what the vet described. She said the metal started breaking down in her stomach and caused heavy metal toxicity and organ failure, which didn’t really add up to me. But what the link said about lacerations and infection made a lot more sense. Her appetite definitely slowed and then suddenly she was gone. She showed us the x-ray but we could not make out what the object was, but the color was very consistent with a metallic object.

I’m not sure how versed in chickens this exotic avian vet was either. We said we’d be doing some reading on here and feeding her grit, which she said could actually cause impacted crop and not to do that, followed with how reading anything online is a bad idea and to just bring her in. Which is very convenient for her due to a required $350 deposit before doing anything... She did say birds don’t tell you their until it’s almost too late which was def the case this time.