Hen is incredibly sick (gape worm)??

[Jochicknsaver]

Hey guys here are a few pics i took 1 of what I think is the freshest poop, 1 is her head injury which is over 3 weeks after the attack, there is also 1 of where feathers were pulled out but most has grown in, please excuse the mess also, she stays in a big bin i cover the bottom with hay and I bought her a heating pad she messed up the original but that is the blue thing in it, i keep it on low and she sleeps on it all night, this girl is a fighter! Shes never had the chance to be spoiled and loved unconditionally, i will spoil and love her simply for the fighter in her and because she makes me happy, i have made it clear when she pulls through she stays with me, I got a little flack cause they say shes there best layer!! But they gave in, so shes going to live out her life with me, im optimistic and really hopeful for her and thanks everybody for the help and support

Lol i just realized that my count is off by how long shes been with me, its been just 5 days actually, i just spoke with my mother in law so before taking her home she was in the separated pen away from the others almost 2 weeks, with the attack and separation was a total of 13 days, ive had her since last Saturday night 5 days so she has been sick 3 weeks at least so not quite as long as i thought but still really concerning

 

[Wyorp Rock]

3 year old rhodie was attacked viciously by her flock mates, they pecked a hole in her head ripped her feathers out,

she's eating and drinking extremely well and I've had her now about a week n 3 days, though I've been pushing nutrients in her she's still emaciated? And I noticed 2 days ago water leaking from her beak after she drinks and leans down to eat?? I checked her crop (emptying normal) she's pooping and preening but she's become increasingly lethargic? She has not layed a egg with me

caught her a few times stretching her neck and gaping her mouth? her comb went from a lighter red to now almost pink\white??

I've also been giving her probiotics along with a lil Kefir, tons of veggies and fruit, crazy amounts of treats, and of course chicken feed.

The beak leaking And head shaking?

whatever she drinks may all be leaking out and giving her no chance of hydration,

I would re-check the crop first thing in the morning to make sure it's empty/flat. Look inside her beak for any yellow/white cheesy material or canker.

Cut out the fruits/veggies, etc. and provide her with poultry feed, you can give it wet if you wish. A treat of egg would be good.
Did you provide her with grit since she's confined?

Leaking from the beak and an occasional stretching of the neck (sounds like adjusting the crop) most likely is a crop issue or a blockage - sometimes the gizzard or intestines can become impacted. With Gapeworm, she would be gaping all the time, not eating/drinking (she would be in distress).
If possible, getting a fecal float is a good idea to rule out an overload of worms in the intestines - if severe enough, they can cause some blocking, weight loss, etc.

Have you looked really well to make sure she has not other injuries that could be hidden under the feathers.
If she's a best layer and has not laid an egg since you brought her home, feel the abdomen for bloat/swelling or fluid . You mention she's lost weight and emaciated - did you get a weight on her so you can tell how much weight she's lost in the past week?

 

[Jochicknsaver]

I would re-check the crop first thing in the morning to make sure it's empty/flat. Look inside her beak for any yellow/white cheesy material or canker.

Cut out the fruits/veggies, etc. and provide her with poultry feed, you can give it wet if you wish. A treat of egg would be good.
Did you provide her with grit since she's confined?

Leaking from the beak and an occasional stretching of the neck (sounds like adjusting the crop) most likely is a crop issue or a blockage - sometimes the gizzard or intestines can become impacted. With Gapeworm, she would be gaping all the time, not eating/drinking (she would be in distress).
If possible, getting a fecal float is a good idea to rule out an overload of worms in the intestines - if severe enough, they can cause some blocking, weight loss, etc.

Have you looked really well to make sure she has not other injuries that could be hidden under the feathers.
If she's a best layer and has not laid an egg since you brought her home, feel the abdomen for bloat/swelling or fluid . You mention she's lost weight and emaciated - did you get a weight on her so you can tell how much weight she's lost in the past week?

Wyorp rock, i went and got her a bag of crushed oyster shell from the local feed and seed, the day after she came to my house and a small bag of crumbled chicken feed and been providing a small dish of the oyster shell on the side of her feed twice a day or really any time her bowl of feed is empty, after watching her the first full day with me i thought it mightve been her crop so I felt it and it felt almost like a water balloon with little bits and peices of food?? I smelled her beak and it didn't smell sour? That night she had a lil spinach and a cpl grapes i cut into small pieces, then morning i checked her crop again and i could feel it wasnt full i could barely find it? So then I moved onto egg binding, I felt her pelvis and all I could feel was her keel?? No tenderness or swelling that i could feel? Then I thought egg periodontist?? I had Bactrim from when my rooster was injured so I figured if its any reproductive infection it would take care of it? I did this for 3 nights in a row, but still she showed no signs of a turn around? After speaking with my mother in law today she said she layed 1 egg the day after she was attacked and in seclusion but no more after and the 5 days ive had her not 1, so close to 3 weeks and none? Im just trying to cancel out all possibilities then I noticed she shakes her head alot? And ive seen her gaping but its here and there, the failure to gain or keep weight and look of anemia is what made me consider gapeworm? I thought the beak leaking could be due to the worms? But I have not read anything saying it is, im going to purchase a scale to weigh fruit and use it to determine her accurate weight and I believe i can bring feces to my avian vet to do the float test tomorrow afternoon, im afraid to take her on the hour and 15 ride up to there office for fear she will rapidly decline from the stress, i will remove all the fruits and vegetables and treats from her food and maybe wet her feed a lil and make her a scrambled egg on the side like you advised for her supper , I really appreciate everyones replies and information, ive made myself upset and sick with worry all week, I just want her to get well and be a happy lil hen

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wyorp rock, i went and got her a bag of crushed oyster shell from the local feed and seed, the day after she came to my house and a small bag of crumbled chicken feed and been providing a small dish of the oyster shell on the side of her feed twice a day or really any time her bowl of feed is empty, after watching her the first full day with me i thought it mightve been her crop so I felt it and it felt almost like a water balloon with little bits and peices of food??

then morning i checked her crop again and i could feel it wasnt full i could barely find it? So then I moved onto egg binding, I felt her pelvis and all I could feel was her keel?? No tenderness or swelling that i could feel? Then I thought egg periodontist?? I had Bactrim from when my rooster was injured so I figured if its any reproductive infection it would take care of it? I did this for 3 nights in a row, but still she showed no signs of a turn around?

I noticed she shakes her head alot? And ive seen her gaping but its here and there

I thought the beak leaking could be due to the worms?

Oyster shell is used for calcium, it's "soluble". Grit (crushed granite) is insoluble and used in the gizzard to process food(s).

So the crop is completely empty in the morning before she eats/drinks - but the beak is leaking fluids? Is she leaking or spitting up only after she drinks/eats, when she is handled, etc. Is it all the time or is there a pattern?

If some of her troubles are reproductive related. Antibiotics may help with secondary infection, but there's no cure. A lot depends on what's going on.

Shaking the head - have you checked her ears, any infection or mites?
She has new feather growth coming in where she was pecked, that can sometimes be itchy. Hard to tell about the ear (red circle) if that's lighting, possibly the color of her feathers, etc., but I would look in that to see if there's any crusty buildup in there.
The wound looks like it's healing well, are you putting anything on it to help keep it softened up a bit?

 

[Jochicknsaver]

Good morning wyorp rock i had checked her ears the day after i got her home, so sunday? i had read there could be a foreign object or bugs in her ears i used a tongue depressor to try and part the tiny lil ear hairs but didnt see anything with the naked eye, and I kept her last night in a spare bathroom so I could go in and out to check crop and to check her feathers for mites and lice with a flashlight, I didn't see any signs of creepy crawlies but i caught her itching that head wound a lot! and it didn't even cross my mind that i could prevent itching and further damage by keeping it softened (can I use like a triple antibiotic ointment?) Or coconut oil?? I gave her only what you had advized for dinner at around 8 p.m and when i went in at 11 to check her it was soft water balloony and I didn't feel bits of food like I had when I was feeding her spinach, corn, grapes etc etc, just lil crumbled feed and scrambled egg last night, i just left to attend class and per normal routine I go in to refresh water and feed i took her and checked her crop again and its was hard to find not totally flat though cause I could feel a small deflated lil pouch (its astonishing how that thing works!) I noticed that her beak had water leaking her 2nd day here and would only come out as she leaned down to eat? And I mean She was thirsty beyond what id say was normal this happened for 3 days, when the beak leaked it wasnt colored funny or mucusy and didn't really smell? It appeared to be just water from her drinking and wasnt even slightly digested? I change her bin every morning as soon as I get in and the 2nd day there was enough water that amounted to maybe less than a 1/4 of a cup under her hay for those 3 days, but it hasn't happened in the last 2 days? And it seems her thirst has normalized? But maybe its a bad thing shes not drinking as much? Speaking to my husband he commented that this gaping is done mostly in the a.m and at night?? Its infrequent during the day and mostly the days when ive had a late start getting her outside to her lil pen, it begins like shes stretching out, she shakes her feathers out and then stretches each leg and foot out then her neck then the gaping?but watched her doing it while laying down on her heating pad after I checked her crop last night quite a bit which really freaked me out! If its a crop issue would it empty normally? What would her poop look like?? The pen in which my inlaws have there flock has bits of hardware like red baling twine? Ive found shards of metal all dug up by them somehow? And Its not a vision of cleanliness whatsoever either i go and clean it out of concern in spring and fall every year since they were chicks, ( they turned 3 in may )its a bone of contention between us also 2 turkeys share there area, 1 of which was a chick with them and a huge huge tom! he can be mean as all get out to the hens! I once had to pretend I would hit him with a stick because he had a hens wing trying his best to break it!! Ive found them waterless and without food many times! And I think maybe they're putting off telling me what exactly happened and whom attacked her? Im the kinda person who runs outside if I hear my 3 screaming, its usually just a hawk in the distance but having almost lost my disabled rooster to predators a couple times i always look to see, there the opposite! youve mentioned the possibility of a impaction in the gizzard could she have eaten whatever may have been dug up? Or could she have a unseen injury that could cause this? I apologize for the erratic answers and questions ive looked after her since they were chicks and I go out in muck boots at least twice a year and clean roosts and poop and change there hay every time I go by there, so this disturbs me big time really appreciate the help thank you

 

[Jochicknsaver]

wyorp rock so I've got her outside in her pen and she's attempting to dust bathe, she's been sunning and preening too, it breaks my heart to see her suffer, I stayed with her this morning to watch as she ate and it's like she has to repeadetly pick up the same peice of food to actually get it into her mouth?? And after a hour n a half I went back out to sit with her and she was now in a laying position? And seems to try and push? I swore I heard a soft cry as she pushed/exhaled once or twice? Once I got closer to hear better she got up and went and drank some water?? I must've stressed her by getting closer? She's been shaking her head but I have not witnessed her gape, her color seems a little better, like it's redenned back up a smidge? I also threw on some gloves grabbed a set of plastic silverware and ventured through her bin litter from last night/early a.m to investigate poop and I didn't see any parasites but I know there probably inside her still if there are any I'll go get a bag of the insoluble granite (how is it sold??) And I've found a small scale online at the local Wal-Mart so I can pinpoint her actual weight I'm gonna go get it once my daughter gets home (been waiting on her butt since noon) man I really pray she pulls through this, she's a great girl and a fighter!

 

[Jochicknsaver]

Here she is just hanging in her lil pen, I tried uploading video but it kept saying error file too big? But it was maybe 45 seconds long, I just wanted you guys to get a better feel of her head shaking and lethargy, she's shaking her head or picking at the ground one moment then slowly falling asleep the next??

 

[aart]

I tried uploading video but it kept saying error file too big?

Videos need to be uploaded to youtube or similar platform then linked here.

 

[Jochicknsaver]

Videos need to be uploaded to youtube or similar platform then linked here.

Ah ha! Gotcha! I will get one posted thank you aart

 

[Jochicknsaver]

(I hope I did it right?)