I’ve been having a run of sick hens lately (ugh), but my recent girl seems to be the worst so far. During my past few weeks of isolating a couple of them, one evacuated a clump of roundworms ( 
), and so I suspected this was the issue for the three I am/was concerned about (laying soft-shelled eggs, not laying at all, crop not emptying overnight (suggesting a blockage)).
Anyway, the other two seem to be on the mend, though they haven’t started laying again (or are still laying soft shells which, unfortunately, break and the rest of the flock has learned that this means a tasty treat (so who knows what goes on while I’m away
).
Anyhoo, back to my current sick hen ...
She’s been acting lethargic the past few days, so I brought her in for the night last night and she was in all day. She pooped two normal-sized poops while I was at work. They were on the runny side and made up of the white material and the green (though the green was a little more yellow than dark). She pooped again later and the color was closer to the normal darker green.
The poop also smelled horrible, as in I had to open the window to get the smell out. Like a bad garlicky, fishy smell (though that may be due to the scrambled egg with garlic powder and oregano I fed her that morning (she only ate some of it).
Earlier tonight I gave her an epsom salt bath, but that didn’t get anything moving. After that, I put on a latex glove and got some petroleum jelly to see if I could find any eggs inside. Didn’t feel anything but my efforts got her to poop a tiny bit more - more dark brownish green and still smelling horrible. No sign of worms, though.
I’m currently treating her and the flock for worms (Safeguard mixed with water given within fifteen minutes of making the mix, which I stir before drawing up into the eyedropper to administer to each chicken). We also have a chronic mite problem, but I check them all the time and the little buggers are mostly around the vent, so I use a spray (the one with clove oil) to get rid of them. I tried everything and I just can’t get them to disappear. But they are more of a persistent nuisance than an infestation.
Before this latest health issue, I gave her an epsom salt bath about two to three weeks ago which had her pushing out a wrinkled egg and a soft-shelled egg that broke in the water. She perked up after that and was fine until Saturday/Sunday. So my fear is that an egg has ruptured inside of her.
She mostly stands, but she fluffs up and her tail is lowered most of the time (but she had the energy to flap out of the soaking bucket and climb up onto my leg to hang out). And she could be fluffing up because she is a ragged mess (she just turned two but never molted for some bizarre reason so she looks like a hen I rescued from a high production egg farm, poor thing!). She isn’t super active, but she still tilts her head to look at me - so lethargic but still alert.
She’s inside for now - a large storage bin with chicken wire across the top. I put food in there with grit, and water with probiotics (she does seem to be drinking well. Maybe a little more than usual, if not the same as usual. She also ate most of the grapes I offered her earlier today.
In case it is peritonitis, I tracked down some antibiotic amoxicillin caplets for fish (a thread on here recommended Fish Mox, but hopefully what I found will work). Hopefully she recovers before they get here or they get here on time
.
Her abdomen does feel a bit swollen (but when I was checking out the other hens my other RIR seemed to be just as swollen, maybe a little less, and she is doing just fine), and she cries in protest a little when I pick her up (as if she’s sore or in pain
).
Anyway, sorry for the novel! Just wanted to make sure I covered everything. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this, or might know what the problem is? I’ve searched around but couldn’t find a clear answer. Thanks so much!!
), and so I suspected this was the issue for the three I am/was concerned about (laying soft-shelled eggs, not laying at all, crop not emptying overnight (suggesting a blockage)).Anyway, the other two seem to be on the mend, though they haven’t started laying again (or are still laying soft shells which, unfortunately, break and the rest of the flock has learned that this means a tasty treat (so who knows what goes on while I’m away
).Anyhoo, back to my current sick hen ...
She’s been acting lethargic the past few days, so I brought her in for the night last night and she was in all day. She pooped two normal-sized poops while I was at work. They were on the runny side and made up of the white material and the green (though the green was a little more yellow than dark). She pooped again later and the color was closer to the normal darker green.
The poop also smelled horrible, as in I had to open the window to get the smell out. Like a bad garlicky, fishy smell (though that may be due to the scrambled egg with garlic powder and oregano I fed her that morning (she only ate some of it).
Earlier tonight I gave her an epsom salt bath, but that didn’t get anything moving. After that, I put on a latex glove and got some petroleum jelly to see if I could find any eggs inside. Didn’t feel anything but my efforts got her to poop a tiny bit more - more dark brownish green and still smelling horrible. No sign of worms, though.
I’m currently treating her and the flock for worms (Safeguard mixed with water given within fifteen minutes of making the mix, which I stir before drawing up into the eyedropper to administer to each chicken). We also have a chronic mite problem, but I check them all the time and the little buggers are mostly around the vent, so I use a spray (the one with clove oil) to get rid of them. I tried everything and I just can’t get them to disappear. But they are more of a persistent nuisance than an infestation.
Before this latest health issue, I gave her an epsom salt bath about two to three weeks ago which had her pushing out a wrinkled egg and a soft-shelled egg that broke in the water. She perked up after that and was fine until Saturday/Sunday. So my fear is that an egg has ruptured inside of her.
She mostly stands, but she fluffs up and her tail is lowered most of the time (but she had the energy to flap out of the soaking bucket and climb up onto my leg to hang out). And she could be fluffing up because she is a ragged mess (she just turned two but never molted for some bizarre reason so she looks like a hen I rescued from a high production egg farm, poor thing!). She isn’t super active, but she still tilts her head to look at me - so lethargic but still alert.
She’s inside for now - a large storage bin with chicken wire across the top. I put food in there with grit, and water with probiotics (she does seem to be drinking well. Maybe a little more than usual, if not the same as usual. She also ate most of the grapes I offered her earlier today.
In case it is peritonitis, I tracked down some antibiotic amoxicillin caplets for fish (a thread on here recommended Fish Mox, but hopefully what I found will work). Hopefully she recovers before they get here or they get here on time
.Her abdomen does feel a bit swollen (but when I was checking out the other hens my other RIR seemed to be just as swollen, maybe a little less, and she is doing just fine), and she cries in protest a little when I pick her up (as if she’s sore or in pain
).Anyway, sorry for the novel! Just wanted to make sure I covered everything. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this, or might know what the problem is? I’ve searched around but couldn’t find a clear answer. Thanks so much!!
She’s actually doing quite well (knocks on wood 
.
