HELP! Sick hen diarrhea and crop hadn’t emptied.

[1lilappy]

Out of curiosity, what breed is this hen? Is this a hatchery breed like you'd get from Tractor Supply? Because two years old is around the time when hatchery stock can start having reproductive or other issues due to genetics.

Where are you located? Is it excessively hot or cold? Dehydration, stress, heat, the cat maybe, these can put a chicken off eating or scare them away from their food. If they don't eat for a day or two, they get stressed and then you get watery droppings or bright green ones.

For a hen not eating properly or acting droopy, I usually start by offering Nutri Drench (poultry vitamins) and see if it perks her up. If she won't take it or doesn't drink, force feed down the beak (carefully). This video shows how to properly give oral medicines without aspirating the chicken.

mused to know what breed she is but I forgot. She’s cream colored but has been molting darker every time. I remember the breed started with an A.

Chicks all came from a hatchery but not from tractor supply. Local feed mill orders a bunch of chicks in the spring from a commercial hatchery. That’s how I came to getting these hens.

cat only goes in the coop for a few hours while they are on the roost. She’s scared of the hens, they are mean to her. Past 3 nights cat has spent 2 hours each night out in the coop.

I’m in Michigan. Been a weird few months. Snowed a foot November 12 and was cold . But then by thanksgiving it was all gone. Temps have been in the 40-50s in the last few weeks.

hmmm well had a lot of bad luck this year with the hens. 2 were killed by coyotes and another died of some unknown illness and now this.

 

[Ebony Rose]

... I had just decided to euthanize an eight-year old hen with salpingitis on Christmas when she saved me the anguish by dying during the night.

I am so very sorry for your loss azygous. She'll be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge when it's your time.

 

[azygous]

I am so very sorry for your loss azygous. She'll be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge when it's your time.

BYC chicken folk understand chicken grieving. Thank you.

 

[1lilappy]

This is the internet. BYC is a terrific resource to help you determine what could be wrong with a sick chicken and to direct you to possible treatments to try. What BYC isn't is a vet clinic.

When I give advice, I suggest things that I would try under the same circumstances, or I tell about my own experiences with similar issues and if what I did worked or not. We can't diagnose, and we can't guarantee what we suggest will work.

In the end, its your call. You need to take into consideration how old your hen is, how sick she is, how long she's been sick, if she's a super favorite pet and you want to try everything you can that might work. Some folks don't have pets in their flocks and don't have time to treat every chicken that gets sick. They will likely elect to euthanize early on. The rest of us look at progress or lack thereof when deciding to continue treatment or to euthanize.

By all means try the oil and massage if you believe an impacted crop could be the main issue, although it can be a secondary issue in cases of a chronic infection so clearing it up won't really make the chicken well. However, none of us can know how long a chicken can live a reasonably good life with a chronic infection, and we choose not to treat but to step in and euthanize when it becomes obvious a chicken is in a good deal of discomfort and not likely to have any more good days. I had just decided to euthanize an eight-year old hen with salpingitis on Christmas when she saved me the anguish by dying during the night.

I completely understand with all the above.
I’m sorry for your loss. 8 years...wow.

 

[azygous]

Eight years is nothing in my flock. I also had a sudden health issue with my eleven and a half year old Light Brahma hen on Christmas day. I found her lying on her side, contorted, neck all twisted up and unable to right herself and stand. It was torticolis (wry neck).

I got her up off the ground and gave her a vitamin E capsule with a sliver of selenium. She was trotting back to her old biddy group, ranging in ages nine to ten years, within fifteen minutes of getting the E. She's been fine since and got her last E capsule today. I have no trouble believing she will see her twelfth birthday in June.

 

[1lilappy]

Out of curiosity, what breed is this hen?

Amberlink.

 

[1lilappy]

Eight years is nothing in my flock. I also had a sudden health issue with my eleven and a half year old Light Brahma hen on Christmas day. I found her lying on her side, contorted, neck all twisted up and unable to right herself and stand. It was torticolis (wry neck).

I got her up off the ground and gave her a vitamin E capsule with a sliver of selenium. She was trotting back to her old biddy group, ranging in ages nine to ten years, within fifteen minutes of getting the E. She's been fine since and got her last E capsule today. I have no trouble believing she will see her twelfth birthday in June.

Wow . What breeds are your birds?
Where do you find birds that live that long?

 

[azygous]

My Light Brahma is one of my original three baby chicks. I began my flock with a "used" EE and a Buff Orpington I adopted after their owner died. The I got three five-week old Brahma chicks after I fell head over heals in love with my chickens and knew I need more.

I've had Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Cochins, Speckled Sussex, EEs, Brahmas, Cream Legbars, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummers, and the latest are Golden and Black sex-links. Also a couple of barnyard mixes. It doesn't seem to matter the breed. All were hatchery chickens.

I've had just as many die young from illness and accidents as I've had individuals live into elder years. Some have never had a sick day in their lives while others have had more than one skirt with death from serious infections.

I do, however, seem to possess more than my share of geriatric chickens. It may be attributable to feeding fermented feed.

 

[1lilappy]

I decided not to give up on my hen.

did some thinking and decided to treat her as if she was egg bound and gave her an epsom salt bath with a gentle massage towards the end of the bath. She perked up a bit following the massage. And drank a bit of bath water, (don’t know how much epson salt I added or how many gallons were in the tub) but could Have had some slight laxative responses, time will tell.
I made a faux nest with an amazon box and shavings and two eggs to lure her in.
She jumped in the box. I’m not too hopeful but cautiously optimistic.

she had one solid tiny turd last night. Crop still full.

As long as she’s still fighting to live I’ll keep trying to help.

The last bird I healed from another mystery ailment ended up getting killed by coyote months later, in the middle of the day while I was home in the barn. That was a hard day.

 

[azygous]

As long as you've decided to treat for a bound egg, try giving her a calcium tablet daily. If there's anything stuck, this will strengthen contractions and help to expel it.