Hen is Pooping Water and sick

[TipsyDog]

My Rhode Island Red, Rosie, is not doing well. This is the third day. She is not eating but drinking alot of water. She is pooping alot of watery liquid and what sometimes seems to be like an egg white consistency. There are also white streaks or small green/yellow poo in it too.

Rosie is a year and a half old and is an OK layer. She is sleeping alot and staying to herself. Temperatures are in the teens here now, but the coop is heated to 35 degrees although all the girls prefer to stay out in the run most of the day. They have ample layer feed, fresh water always available and get warm treats throughout the day, including oatmeal, baked sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, BOSS and chopped kale this time of year.

Her vent looks OK, but could she be egg bound? She has a history of laying very ridged eggs with extremely thin shells. Sometimes eggs without shells and I've had to pull the egg sac out that was still hanging out of her vent a couple of times in the past.

This is her 3rd day without eating. I don't want her to suffer and am wondering if I should dispatch her. For now, I will bring her inside in the dog crate to keep an eye on her, and hope that someone here knows why a hen would poop vast amounts of water.

Thanks!

 

[teach1rusl]

I posted about something VERY similar yesterday. Read my description and see if it sounds like your girl. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=429087

I kept her in for 24 hours - she did perk up and would walk around my bathroom when I let her out of the dog crate to stretch her legs. She is still doing the very watery droppings, and she's drinking quite a bit, eating a little, especially if it's something she likes. Containing her like that allowed me to see exactly what she was/wasn't doing.
I put her back out in the coop this afternoon after the sun had warmed things up in there. I STILL don't know what's wrong, but I will not cull unless I see that she's losing a lot of weight...and her weight is good now. And she nestled down in the coop bedding and was doing a chicken "purr" when I sat out there with them for a bit. Unless quality of life begins going downhill, I won't cull.
Guess I'll keep my eyes open on your posting to see if you get any specific advice. Good luck! Hope your girl bounces back!

 

[ChooksChick]

She probably has a blocked crop. This is pretty classic. Hold her with her head away from you and massage her crop to get her to possibly bring up whatever is blocking her. She'll starve pretty quickly if you can't get some calories into her, so let her have water, but put honey and olive oil and some of the vitamins & electrolytes mix in there for her.

You can search for blocked crop on here and find instructions on how to do surgery if you can stomach that, but she needs a vet if you can't. It's a tough thing, but can be sometimes fixed without surgery through massaging the crop. I suggest searches to see what's worked for others.

Good luck!

 

[TipsyDog]

Quote:
Her crop is completely empty. I felt it before and she hasn't eaten anything. Can this still be a sour or blocked crop?

 

[ChooksChick]

Yes, it can be, but that makes it less likely. The watery poop and lack of eating is very worrisome. Have you wormed lately? Are there parasites?

 

[TipsyDog]

I'm 95% sure there aren't any parasites. I'm worried there's a problem with her "egg producing parts". She's always had weak egg shells and sometimes lays shell-less eggs. I just don't know what to do for her at this point. The rest of my flock is in excellent health. Poor Rosie!

 

[OregonChickenGal]

Quote:
Try some scrambled eggs and plain yogurt. She really needs to start eating something. Keep her separated from the others, put her in a small crate, hopefully she'll get better soon.

 

[TipsyDog]

Thank you to everyone who tried to help with Rosie. I decided to cull her this afternoon. It had been 4 days since she last ate. While she was still drinking some water, she continued to become weaker and today she sat in the corner puffed and huddled. This is the first bird of mine I've culled and doing right by Rosie to end her suffering made it much easier.

Thanks again!

 

[meadrian]

Sorry I'm coming in to this discussion so late. I have 2 with the same symptoms. They each lost 1 1/2 lb. Ends up they both have bacterial infections. They've been on antibiotics for 6 days and are improving. I'm only adding to the thread in case anyone else's hens have similar symptoms, it might be worth considering it could be a bacterial infection.

 

[chickincrazy]

I feel your pain, TipsyDog. Yesterday I had to cull my FAVORITE bird. I believe she had ovarian cancer because her rear end was so swollen.... She swelled up a little before, but it went away. But not this time. I'm sorry about your chicken.