Hen is lethargic, tail down, not eating or drinking

[HarpersHarbor21]

Hey everyone,
One of our girls appears to be really sick and we’re worried about her. I’ll give the specifics down below. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Winnie is a four year old Belgian D’uccle / Silkie mix. I’m unsure of her exact weight, but she definitely feels lighter than our other bantam.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She’s been lethargic and listless, usually preferring to stand off in a corner by herself with her neck pulled in, eyes closed, and tail down. I’ve noticed she will occasionally pant, and my boyfriend mentioned she seemed off balance earlier out in the chicken run. She doesn’t want to eat or drink anything either. Winnie also hasn’t laid an egg since we brought her back home with us (which has been about four weeks as she was previously in “chicken foster care”).

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
About 24-48 hours, from what we’ve noticed. However, we’re not sure how long she’s been experiencing the symptoms.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No. Our other three birds are not showing any symptoms.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Potentially, we have our theories. I would like to mention she has been under a lot of stress lately with being brought home and introduced to a new group of rowdy pullets. Winnie was being treated for worms recently, too. And we sometimes let her roam around the bedroom since she’s well behaved...so we’re worried she may have ingested something on the ground she shouldn’t have. Egg binding also came to mind, but since she wasn’t laying upon being brought home, it didn’t seem likely.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She hasn’t been eating or drinking on her own. But I’ve been giving her water mixed with electrolytes via syringe every hour to help keep her hydrated. I also added apple cider vinegar to her main water dish. The entire flock is fed Layena Crumble Layer Feed by Purina (which I was mixing with DE to help with when they first had worms).


8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
I haven’t seen her go in awhile, and that’s one of the huge worries. The last time I saw her droppings thought they looked a watery.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I’ve given her water with electrolytes and I’m preparing to treat her for egg binding, just to be safe.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
If it’s a treatable condition at home, then any assistance with treating her would be much appreciated. However, if it seems like it could be a serious issue, we plan on taking her to the nearest avian vet (if they’re willing to see her). So, advice or help in stabilizing our girl until we can get her to a vet would be great,

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
I can try to get a photo of her in her in the stance I described. I’ll update the post accordingly.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
At the moment, we are still constructing our big chicken run and we want to make sure the area is predator proof before we put them in the coop. So at night the girls sleep inside in a large dog crate with a rope wrapped roost bar and alfalfa / mulch bedding (of which is cleaned out daily and replaced). Before we were using puppy pads.

 

[demonic]

You should isolate her to monitor her, and especially her poop since you said you don’t know the last time she went. it’s good you are giving her electrolytes with apple cider vinegar, maybe add some garlic in her water. In whatever cage or coop you have her isolated in, sprinkle some Diatomaceous Earth around her area and maybe a little bit on her feathers in case it’s lice. I don’t suspect it is though But it’s better to be safe than sorry because this is what my hen that has lice did, Your boyfriend said she seemed off balance. Give her a vitamin E capsule, it works like a charm. If a hen is becoming weak and has trouble standing and is just falling to the ground, vitamin E always helps. You can also give her extra items like oregano which is a natural antibiotic for flocks and it boosts chickens immune systems. If you do find lice or bugs on her give her iron rich foods like bananas, spinach, pumpkin seeds, etc as some bugs are blood sucking. And again, monitor well and make sure she eats and drinks.

 

[HarpersHarbor21]

You should isolate her to monitor her, and especially her poop since you said you don’t know the last time she went. it’s good you are giving her electrolytes with apple cider vinegar, maybe add some garlic in her water. In whatever cage or coop you have her isolated in, sprinkle some Diatomaceous Earth around her area and maybe a little bit on her feathers in case it’s lice. I don’t suspect it is though But it’s better to be safe than sorry because this is what my hen that has lice did, Your boyfriend said she seemed off balance. Give her a vitamin E capsule, it works like a charm. If a hen is becoming weak and has trouble standing and is just falling to the ground, vitamin E always helps. You can also give her extra items like oregano which is a natural antibiotic for flocks and it boosts chickens immune systems. If you do find lice or bugs on her give her iron rich foods like bananas, spinach, pumpkin seeds, etc as some bugs are blood sucking. And again, monitor well and make sure she eats and drinks.

Thank you so much! I’ve moved her to a hospital crate to keep an eye on her and I’ll put some DE in there with her. I’ll make sure to add some garlic into her water, and just to be safe I’ll offer her some of those iron rich foods you mentioned! I’m super happy to know about the vitamin E capsule as well. We’ll pick some up asap and give one to her. Thank you so much again!

 

[demonic]

Thank you so much! I’ve moved her to a hospital crate to keep an eye on her and I’ll put some DE in there with her. I’ll make sure to add some garlic into her water, and just to be safe I’ll offer her some of those iron rich foods you mentioned! I’m super happy to know about the vitamin E capsule as well. We’ll pick some up asap and give one to her. Thank you so much again!

Of course! And if you see her poop and you think it looks weird you can launch your concerns here and perhaps start a Corid dosage. Corid is something used to treat Cocci you can do some digging and research for Cocci tonight, it is pretty common. Even if she doesn’t have Cocci it won’t hurt to give her the medicine, but you should probably only start Corid if you really don’t see improvement after 1-2 days because we don’t want too much fluids and medication in your hen and stress her out.(also, a dirty vent is a sign of bugs, So if your hen has that be wary. but you will put the DE in the coop anyway, and it will push some bugs out so if she does have bugs it will be more noticeable and you can later purchase appropriate poultry safe spray for her!) the attached photos was my very sick hen before and after one vitamin e tablet. (only give your hen one though even if you don’t see improvement because vitamin e isn’t one of those vitamins where the extra stuff gets pooped out so it will accumulate and reach toxic levels, so if she doesn’t see improvement probably try a corid dosage like I said but again only if her poop is super weird will she need corid)

 

[demonic]

Thank you so much! I’ve moved her to a hospital crate to keep an eye on her and I’ll put some DE in there with her. I’ll make sure to add some garlic into her water, and just to be safe I’ll offer her some of those iron rich foods you mentioned! I’m super happy to know about the vitamin E capsule as well. We’ll pick some up asap and give one to her. Thank you so much again!

and by the way hope your hen feels better soon!!!

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

She likely needs sub-q fluids tomorrow at the vet, followed by an x-ray. Don't delay this if you can help it. Continue the electrolyte mix tonight, as well as before you bring her. Just be careful syringing water. Only place a drop on the side of the beak and wait for her to swallow before doing the next drop. You can feed her pellets soaked in water and mashed into a very thin paste, if she will eat. Gently feel the crop tonight and see if it is balloon-like (either full with water feeling or food). Do not leave food in the cage overnight. Then in the morning, feel the crop again to see if it has emptied. Also check for poop in the cage (you can grab a sample and have it analyzed at the vet for parasites). If the crop has emptied and there is poop, that is a good sign that things are at least moving through to some level.

Is she moving her neck at all at times, almost like she's trying to clear her throat?
Chickens can and will eat anything. Even things you think may be too big for them to swallow. If it is a partial obstruction, there could be things like zinc or lead poisoning impacting her. Its really hard to tell, as it could be any number of things (or multiple things). Fluids will hopefully stabilize her, and an xray can rule out (or confirm) obstruction.

I use oregostim in my flocks to help the digestive system regarding parasite load.

It also helps to have a digital kitchen scale to weigh them in the future.

Wishing you the best and hopefully she recovers!

 

[-Flash-]

What happened in the end? I have a hen that is displaying some of these symptoms.

 

[Midnight Maran Momma]

Same here! Tail down, listless. Mine is a Black Copper Marans, only a year old, and of course, my favorite.

 

[Haiderali123]

Same here! Tail down, listless. Mine is a Black Copper Marans, only a year old, and of course, my favorite.

Hi, any update on yours? i have the exact same issue with my black copper maran

 

[Midnight Maran Momma]

Yes, thanks for asking! I forgot to post an update, but the good news is she's fine now. She was egg bound for almost two full days, but after an Epsom bath, blow dry, a comedic half hour attempt at giving her a Tums (in little pieces, which she repeatedly fought, then gave in Only to spit them all out into her pine shavings, onto the floor & my shirt), and loads of spoiling, she finally laid her egg. I kept her in hr temporary coop for one more day to make sure she wasn't having any other issues & her droppings were back to normal. She's back with her flock mates in their coop/run, being goofy and still spoiled.