Hen gone off lay and has watery poo.Help

[Hjd1985]

Hi all

My 2 year old hybrid hen has not laid for around a week now. I have just wormed the flock with Flubenvet but one of the girls is not herself. She hides in the bushes and sits with her feathers puffed up and she has watery poo as well as a
Watery substance that comes out of her vent. She also doesn’t let us pick her up anymore.

We visited the vet and she couldn’t see anything obviously wrong with her. No egg stuck, temperature etc. So we have been giving her a recovery supplement for a few days but she has not improved.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Poo picture below:

 

[Cragg Klefor]

Sorry to hear about your poor chicken! You said there is a watery substance coming from her vent, can you describe it- clear/white, resembling egg white, constant or only when she poops?
It sounds like it could be a reproductive issue, but more information would be needed.
Is she eating and drinking ? What is her diet? Have you checked her crop to make sure it is emptying overnight ?
Also some photos of the chicken in question could be helpful too.

 

[Hjd1985]

Sorry to hear about your poor chicken! You said there is a watery substance coming from her vent, can you describe it- clear/white, resembling egg white, constant or only when she poops?
It sounds like it could be a reproductive issue, but more information would be needed.
Is she eating and drinking ? What is her diet? Have you checked her crop to make sure it is emptying overnight ?
Also some photos of the chicken in question could be helpful too.

It’s like egg white and as she sleeps in the nesting box the straw is wet with it in the morning. It doesn’t seem to be constantly running. The vet checked inside and said there was no scrambled egg like substance so doesn’t think an egg is stuck.

She is definitely eating something as her crop has food in by the end of the day. I haven’t checked for emptying at night but I will do that tomorrow. We feed her on layers pellets. I have seen her drink and we have added ACV to the water.

Pic below

 

[Wyorp Rock]

2 year old hybrid hen has not laid for around a week now. I have just wormed the flock with Flubenvet but one of the girls is not herself. She hides in the bushes and sits with her feathers puffed up and she has watery poo as well as a
Watery substance that comes out of her vent.

we have been giving her a recovery supplement for a few days but she has not improved.

It’s like egg white and as she sleeps in the nesting box the straw is wet with it in the morning. It doesn’t seem to be constantly running.

What is a recovery supplement?

I would agree with @Cragg Klefor it sounds like a reproductive problem, especially with the way she is sitting in the photo.
I would still check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to make sure it's empty.

If you can get photos of the vent and discharge, that may be helpful.
Feel her abdomen and compare her to the other chickens you have - cup her hand underneath the vent between the legs - does it feel swollen/bloated or fluid filled?

At 2 years old, is she by any chance beginning to molt?

 

[Hjd1985]

What is a recovery supplement?

I would agree with @Cragg Klefor it sounds like a reproductive problem, especially with the way she is sitting in the photo.
I would still check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to make sure it's empty.

If you can get photos of the vent and discharge, that may be helpful.
Feel her abdomen and compare her to the other chickens you have - cup her hand underneath the vent between the legs - does it feel swollen/bloated or fluid filled?

At 2 years old, is she by any chance beginning to molt?

It’s called recovery, it’s for small animals and is something the vet prescribed for her.

There were lots of feathers in the run when I got home and she hasn’t molted yet. What are the symptoms of molting?

I will try to get photos in the morning but she is getting harder to catch!

 

[Hjd1985]

Update: I wasnt able to catch her this morning to check her crop but I did give the girls some scrambled egg and she came running over to eat it. She’s still standing around a lot with her feathers puffed up but she does have energy to run when she wants to!

There are a few feathers of hers in the run today. Could she just be moulting? We haven’t gone through this process yet so I don’t know the symptoms.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

Hi @Hjd1985 ,
How is she doing since? I have only just seen your last entry so sorry noone replied to it! It sounds like she was starting to molt, but that stance still didn't look right plus the discharge. I hope it's been ok since?

 

[Hjd1985]

Hi @Hjd1985 ,
How is she doing since? I have only just seen your last entry so sorry noone replied to it! It sounds like she was starting to molt, but that stance still didn't look right plus the discharge. I hope it's been ok since?

Yes she just started to Molt! She’s much better now thank you. It’s started to get really cold now so I thought it might be too late for her to molt but she doesn’t seem to concerned by it and is happily eating again!

 

[Cragg Klefor]

Yes she just started to Molt! She’s much better now thank you. It’s started to get really cold now so I thought it might be too late for her to molt but she doesn’t seem to concerned by it and is happily eating again!

A molt can hit them hard. Hopefully she will get through it ok. With her stance and discharge I still think reproductive issue too so she may or may not return to laying but they can live for quite some time with a disorder. Best of luck!

 

[Hjd1985]

A molt can hit them hard. Hopefully she will get through it ok. With her stance and discharge I still think reproductive issue too so she may or may not return to laying but they can live for quite some time with a disorder. Best of luck!

Hopefully she’ll be ok. We still haven’t had any eggs from her - I guess there’s nothing we can do to help her if there is a reproductive issue?