Hen acting sick, poo is clear slime with long rubbery strand.

[WilliamC]

We have a hen, 2 years old. Occasionally she get sick, listless. After a few days she seems to come out of it. So this has happened before
She has had float test which came up negative for worms and Coccidia. 2 other hens out of 4 did test positive for both and she got treated with Valbazen and Corid along with the rest. Because of the hurricane i only got 4 days of Corid in them instead of 5. Final dose of Valbazen was on the 20th
Last night she was fine, her usual self. Today she didnt want to come out of the coop. I have tried getting her to eat treats and she wont eat. She is obviously not feeling well. She walks around, than finds a place and sets down.

This afternoon i saw something she dropped. It was rather clear, kind of slimy, a bit of foam but the disturbing thing was coming out of the slime is an opaque long rather rubbery thick strand. It was tough enough that it wrapped around a stick. About 3 inches long. Not segmented, does not look like a tape worm at all. No blood. She is not matted. She just finished with molting and is not laying yet. Her tummy is not swollen.
There was no yellow in it

She has gone listless before, we have felt up her vent and found no bound egg. Last time this happened she did poo and had some blood in it and a piece of red material. Looking at the pictures it looked more like some intestinal lining.
Any ideas would be helpful.
Vet is out until Monday.

Update..brought her in, put her in a cage. Poop is normal and stinky. So i think whatever came out of her may not have come from her intestinal track. She wont eat, but is thirsty.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @WilliamC Did you happen to get a photo of her poop and the rubbery thick "thing"?
Could it have been a deflated soft egg shell by chance? There is a good photo of one in this article: https://hencam.com/henblog/2015/08/a-laying-glitch/

Check her crop to make sure it's emptying overnight. Drinking a lot of water could be crop related, but she may also an underlying condition like an internal laying/reproductive disorder. Add some poultry vitamins to her water. You can also see if she will eat a little chopped egg for you.

 

[WilliamC]

I did not take a picture. It was in the dirt and i didnt think to take a picture.
It was opaque white, almost translucent. I am thinking it could have been an egg membrane just because how rubbery it was but it had nothing in it at all. It was a solid strand attached to clear looking slime. No yellow, nothing. It did not smell or look nasty. Other hens have laid shell-less eggs before. The membrane was more yellow, what she put out was white and rather translucent. Weird.
She did not eat all day yesterday but did drink. I have her in the house now. I made up some water with electrolytes and probiotics and she will drink it. We cooked up an egg and she has eaten some but not anywhere near her usual greedy appetite. When i pick her up-to me compared to the other hens-she feels very warm, like a fever.
She acts alert, just wants to sit down alot. I felt her again and did not feel any egg in her.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It's just a guess, but I'm inclined to think she is having reproductive issues. If it was an egg membrane she may be trying to work it out, this can cause them to be very ill. You may not be able to feel it like you would an egg that is "bound".

You can try soaking her in epsom salts and offer extra calcium to see if that may help move things along. Sometimes a yolk (yellow) may not be present, they can only have whites or just a discharge. I have a brown egg layer that occasionally has a membrane and it's not brown, no coloring has been put on it (technical terms here) it can look like a translucent rubbery piece of whitish paper.

It's so hard to know what to do when they get like this. Hopefully it's a glitch and she will bounce back with the electrolytes - keeping them hydrated is important, so do the best you can. I'm sorry, I wish I had better answers for you.

 

[WilliamC]

I put a glove on, use a water based lube and following the backbone i felt up in her vent. I went up as far as i could. I felt nothing. I gave her some calcium. I did not do the soak as i did not feel any egg bound up.
She wont eat. Tried everything.
I had her separated in the chicken tractor. She started pacing like she did when we had to lay. She hasnt laid since she went through her molt. So i put her in the coop, she is in the nesting box and when i reach in she grumbles but does not act like she is broody at all. She looks down, looks back behind her when i mess with her. I felt under and i did not feel any egg inside.
So i will wait and see. Thats alll i can do

 

[WilliamC]

An update.....
So i felt up her, felt nothing. Gave her two doses of calcium. A bit later she started pacing around and i did put her in the coop and she went into the nesting box. Than it was as if she went through a mock lay. After that she seemed better but weak. Next day she acted more like herself and since then is back to how she always is. I have been using the electrolytes and probiotics. I do this every other day because it seems to give one of our hens the runs.
She does this periodically. Wont eat for a few days, is listless, has a discharge and gets better. All during this what poos she let out was normal than as she emptied out was just white-which from reading is normal.
Next time i see this happening i will immediately repeat what i did and see if that takes care of it. Weird...
I have fresh oyster shell out, grit and since one hen has started to lay again switched them back to a lying feed. But for some reason her eggs have always been on the thin side as if she cant absorb calcium very well. I am thinking of using a water soluble calcium supplement in their water 3 days a week to help.