Hen is sick with closed eyes, Help requested

roosterguy6

In the Brooder
Oct 26, 2017
11
9
36
I'm desperate for advice. (sorry if my English is bad sometimes i'm not a native speaker)

One of my favorite hens has been sick for the last 7 days. 1 week ago when i went to check on my chickens, I noticed that this hen (i call her eagle) looked a bit drowsy. The following day she still looked ill so i set her apart from the group with extra food and electrolyte water but since then nothing has changed. She still acts drowsy and her character is different.

Things i have noticed:
-She still walks around occasionally but stays in the same place most of the time
-She eats and drinks enough
-She still enjoys company. One time the rooster got in the small glasshouse where i keep her and they walked around together.
-She does not have any external parasites
-Her droppings are normal, a bit greenish but solid and normal size
-No coughing, she doesn't smell weird.
-No discharge or excess saliva or anything
-Her body weight is not going down
-She does not have any weird lumps and her crop feels normal
-Her comb looks healthy and hasn't discolored.


But:
-She has her eyes closed most of the time and only half opens them
-Her head slowly lowers when she stands still
-Her behavior is different. She looks confused some times.
-She is laying down most of the time.

She has always been the most dominant hen with a lot of will to live and strength. She is now 6 years old but i have other chickens walking around that are 8 years old. My chickens have a lot of room since i have a big backyard. They have access to enough grid and sand/dust for dust bathing.
I haven't dewormed my chickens since they don't have any signs of parasites in there droppings. I almost never have a sick chicken. She is the only one of the group that is sick.

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Any suggestions of what might be the cause of this sudden difference in behavior?
 
I'm desperate for advice. (sorry if my English is bad sometimes i'm not a native speaker)

One of my favorite hens has been sick for the last 7 days. 1 week ago when i went to check on my chickens, I noticed that this hen (i call her eagle) looked a bit drowsy. The following day she still looked ill so i set her apart from the group with extra food and electrolyte water but since then nothing has changed. She still acts drowsy and her character is different.

Things i have noticed:
-She still walks around occasionally but stays in the same place most of the time
-She eats and drinks enough
-She still enjoys company. One time the rooster got in the small glasshouse where i keep her and they walked around together.
-She does not have any external parasites
-Her droppings are normal, a bit greenish but solid and normal size
-No coughing, she doesn't smell weird.
-No discharge or excess saliva or anything
-Her body weight is not going down
-She does not have any weird lumps and her crop feels normal
-Her comb looks healthy and hasn't discolored.


But:
-She has her eyes closed most of the time and only half opens them
-Her head slowly lowers when she stands still
-Her behavior is different. She looks confused some times.
-She is laying down most of the time.

She has always been the most dominant hen with a lot of will to live and strength. She is now 6 years old but i have other chickens walking around that are 8 years old. My chickens have a lot of room since i have a big backyard. They have access to enough grid and sand/dust for dust bathing.
I haven't dewormed my chickens since they don't have any signs of parasites in there droppings. I almost never have a sick chicken. She is the only one of the group that is sick.

View attachment 1908514 View attachment 1908517 View attachment 1908520

Any suggestions of what might be the cause of this sudden difference in behavior?
Has she been dewormed lately? Her Combs and wattles appear pale. Has she quit laying? The only things that come to mind is worms or cocci. Being her poop isn't diarrhea and hence the green I would suspect worms. She would be losing weight but everything doesn't always present exactly the same in each bird. Wazine is usually the go to wormer depending on your location. I am unsure if there is egg withdrawal with this so I would read all labels entirely. Cocci in my birds present as slow crop/impact, diarrhea, not eating, drinking alot, sleeping and doing the head drop thing as your girl is doing.
 
Has she been dewormed lately? Her Combs and wattles appear pale. Has she quit laying? The only things that come to mind is worms or cocci. Being her poop isn't diarrhea and hence the green I would suspect worms. She would be losing weight but everything doesn't always present exactly the same in each bird. Wazine is usually the go to wormer depending on your location. I am unsure if there is egg withdrawal with this so I would read all labels entirely. Cocci in my birds present as slow crop/impact, diarrhea, not eating, drinking alot, sleeping and doing the head drop thing as your girl is doing.

Thanks for the suggestion. She has not been dewormed lately and she had indeed stopped laying, her combs and wattles have always been this color. Wazine is not available in my area (i live in the Netherlands), I will deworm her and maybe put her on cocci medication but when i search for these, only natural healing medicines show up. Will these work? i'm a bit skeptical about them.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. She has not been dewormed lately and she had indeed stopped laying, her combs and wattles have always been this color. Wazine is not available in my area (i live in the Netherlands), I will deworm her and maybe put her on cocci medication but when i search for these, only natural healing medicines show up. Will these work? i'm a bit skeptical about them.
I've never tried natural healing. It may seem controversial but I always use what's been known to work and work fast. I use corid for cocci outbreak again not sure if that's available in your area. Corid is labeled for cattle but can be dosed for poultry. I use the powder that mixes easily with their water.
 
I don't know, if there is a vet close he may be able to tell you or dispense for your hen something, but remember there is an egg withdrawl period . corid is good for coccidosis, it's hard when don't know about different countries, and the correct dosage, that is why I asked if there was a vet, Valbazen is good for most worms., with apparently an exception of the tape worms. tagged a couple that are better at dosages and alternate medications

@Eggcessive
@azygous
 
One of my favorite hens has been sick for the last 7 days. 1 week ago when i went to check on my chickens, I noticed that this hen (i call her eagle) looked a bit drowsy.

Her droppings are normal, a bit greenish but solid and normal size
She has her eyes closed most of the time and only half opens them
-Her head slowly lowers when she stands still
-She is laying down most of the time.
She is now 6 years old
I haven't dewormed my chickens since they don't have any signs of parasites in there droppings.
She has not been dewormed lately and she had indeed stopped laying, her combs and wattles have always been this color. Wazine is not available in my area (i live in the Netherlands), I will deworm her and maybe put her on cocci medication but when i search for these, only natural healing medicines show up. Will these work? i'm a bit skeptical about them.
I agree with @azygous she does seem to have puffy facial tissue which would indicate respiratory illness.

She is 6yrs old, hasn't laid eggs in a while - does she have any bloat/swelling in the abdomen?She may be having some reproductive issues as well.
Usually you will never see worms in the droppings unless there is a severe infestation of roundworms. Sometimes Tapeworm eggs can be observed with the naked eye. If you have vet care and can collect some poop samples to find out if she has worms that would be best.
Since you are in the Netherlands - I'm not sure what wormer is available to you, but likely Levamisole which is a good dewormer -you may still need a script for that. For treatment of Coccidiosis look for Amprolium/Amprol (Coccivet) or you may find Coccivet (Toltrazuril).
 
Flubendazole or Flubenvet which is used in the feed may be a wormer that is available. If their are any goat wormers, you may be able to find fenbendazole, sometimes labeled Panacur or SafeGuard. Whatever you can get, we can help with a dosage. Levamisole is usually available around the world, but we don’t use it much in the US anymore. Albendazole is excellent, and it may be called by another brand name, and it is also used for worms in humans.

Amprollium is the drug for treating coccidiosis—Corid is a US brand. Harkers Coxoid is another brand in Europe. Toltrazuril and sulfa antibiotics are also used for coccidiosis.

Your poor hen has a very dry, pale, and almost bluish comb. Sometimes we don’t know what is causing their sickness, but I would give her fluids and electrolytes, and then try to worm her. Offer her bits of cooked egg, tuna or salmon, and sometimes they like feed made wet with water. At her age her problem could be reproductive or something else.
 
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I agree with @azygous she does seem to have puffy facial tissue which would indicate respiratory illness.

She is 6yrs old, hasn't laid eggs in a while - does she have any bloat/swelling in the abdomen?She may be having some reproductive issues as well.
Usually you will never see worms in the droppings unless there is a severe infestation of roundworms. Sometimes Tapeworm eggs can be observed with the naked eye. If you have vet care and can collect some poop samples to find out if she has worms that would be best.
Since you are in the Netherlands - I'm not sure what wormer is available to you, but likely Levamisole which is a good dewormer -you may still need a script for that. For treatment of Coccidiosis look for Amprolium/Amprol (Coccivet) or you may find Coccivet (Toltrazuril).

She does not have any bloat or swelling. I will give her deworming and Cocci medicine today.
 
UPDATE

she miraculously still is alive, I have saken her to the vet she gave her some antibiotics and some cocci treatment, after that she started to get better, but now It appears she has been getting small scabs on her comb, her eyes are more swollen and there sometimes is some white slime in her eye, also the area around her comb and beam has gotten dark at some places. What is happening? Has she gotten dry pox while healing? And most importantly what should I do?
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