Help! Sick Chicken!!

[clancy]

I have an 11 month old Barred Rock hen who I found laying flat in her run 4 days ago, with our two Rhode Island Reds pecking at her. When I picked her up her eyes were open, but she was limp. I put her in an old guinea pig cage with some shavings, and told my kids to say goodbye to her before they left for school because I was certain she would die within minutes. The kids begged me to bring her in the house, which I did, and four days later she is surprisingly still alive, but looks not well at all. I don't think she is egg bound, I can't palpate anything, and I did put some mineral oil in her vent the first day if that was the cause. She has no obvious signs of trauma. When I picked her up to put her in the cage the first day some cloudy liquid came out of her mouth, but that hasn't happened since. She will occasionally drink some water (which I added a small amount of sugar to), and makes half-hearted pecks at lettuce, strawberries, etc. She will not touch the scratch that's in with her. I took her outside yesterday because it was warm and sunny, and though she just sat in the garden at first, after about 15 minutes she perked up a bit and started looking around, even took a couple of steps. I found a tiny earthworm and showed it to her - she tried to peck it, but didn't seem to have the strength to eat it. I have tried to get her to eat bread, melon, to no avail. When we got her as a chick from the feed store we did not think she would make it through the first 24 hours, because she kept falling over and having these little "mini seizures" that would last about 10 seconds, but she did live and has done fine since. She does have a "deformed" toe on each foot that is bent at an angle at the joint, almost as if she has arthritis, but her mobility has been fine. I'm just wondering if she has some sort of internal birth defect too that is now catching up to her. If anyone has any advice I would be grateful. I know this post is long, but we are desperate. Our chickens are pets who happen to lay eggs, so we are heartbroken at her condition. If anyone can help I would appreciate it!!

 

[SpeckledRoo]

Has she been laying? What has her poop looked like? How does her crop feel? These questions may give us an idea.

 

[clancy]

She has not laid an egg these past 4 days, but she was not a consistent layer before this. Her poop is brown kind of mucous-y looking. Her crop (if I'm feeling in the right place - below her throat, in front of her chest) feels soft and spongy - is that normal? I don't feel any eggs in her. Thanks!

 

[PeeperKeeper]

I have one Buff Orp named Poppy. She is the same size as the others, never noticed a problem with her until 2 mos ago. Seemed weak in the legs. And I noticed her backtoe wasn't pointed back. Kinda makes her flat footed. Her comb remained very small and I can't say she ever layed an egg.
Came home one day and she was lying in the ditch and every hen that walked passed her pecked her in the head!
She lived inside with us for 2 weeks. She was given Sulmet x 7 days, vitamins and a scrambled egg every morning. Ate scratch and refused the pellet feed. She got stronger, was fun to have in the house and was a perfectly behaved little girl. Smart too! I put her back outside and had to keep an eye on her to keep others from pecking at her. Then about last week I had to bring her in overnight as she got caught in the run for 4 days unable to get back in the coop. Legs still seem week and I just keep babying her. Yours sounds similar but a little worse off.
I really think Poppy is some how under developed and will always be that way. She was about 9 mos old when all this happened and had made it through the harshest part of the winter already.

 

[SpeckledRoo]

clancy, I was trying to rule out her having sour crop or some disorder having to do with the crop. It seems that she just hasn't eaten in a while. Her poop being brown tells me that she ate not too long ago, I was expecting possible green and runny. Brown is better. She could still be egg bound or any number of possible causes. If she is egg bound a warm water soak may help relax the muscles and releave her, but in her condition I'm not sure it would help. Do not feed her earthworms. She could have worms and earthworms can give her worms. True she gets them in the wild, but we should not feed the birds earthworms. Have you inspected her poop for signs of worms?

 

[clancy]

We lost her this evening, we are really bummed. She was a great girl. Thanks everyone.

 

[Renee]

So sorry about your loss.