Hen just sits on ground mostly- what’s wrong with her?

rod5591

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She’s a 2.5 year old Bar Rock. About a week ago I noticed she wasn’t foraging with the other hens. She just sat in her run. I separated her from the others when one hen pecked her. She eats and drinks still, her vent is wet with diarrhea. the last poop I saw was green. She is able to walk slowly but soon she is sitting again. What’s wring with her? See photo.
 

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She’s a 2.5 year old Bar Rock. About a week ago I noticed she wasn’t foraging with the other hens. She just sat in her run. I separated her from the others when one hen pecked her. She eats and drinks still, her vent is wet with diarrhea. the last poop I saw was green. She is able to walk slowly but soon she is sitting again. What’s wring with her? See photo.
@rod5591 So sorry to hear about your hen, I am afraid I don't have any answers for you. But, I did want to welcome to BYC. Hopefully someone more educated about these things will come along soon and give you some help @casportpony any ideas?
 
Is this the same hen you posted about on Friday? That hen likely has a reproductive infection.

There is no way to offer a diagnosis about the Barred Rock without more information. Wet butt feathers and runny poop can signal a blockage. However, we can't know if the blockage is from a stuck egg or an impacted gizzard.

Is her crop full and squishy? When was her last poop? Has she pooped today? Is there a steady drip of fluids from her vent or is it just when she poops?

Do all your chickens have access to grit?
 
Is this the same hen you posted about on Friday? That hen likely has a reproductive infection.

There is no way to offer a diagnosis about the Barred Rock without more information. Wet butt feathers and runny poop can signal a blockage. However, we can't know if the blockage is from a stuck egg or an impacted gizzard.

Is her crop full and squishy? When was her last poop? Has she pooped today? Is there a steady drip of fluids from her vent or is it just when she poops?

Do all your chickens have access to grit?

Yes- same hen as I posted on Friday, which was an addendum to an old thread of mine. But I thought I did not receive any answers so I posted a new thread. You think she has a reproductive infection?

Last night she was in my brooder -- a 250 gallon tub by herself, and she did not poop during the night. I don't know if she pooped today, because she has been in the garden.

Crop-not sure. Grit- we have dirt. Also there is sand in their sandbox.

I will go out now and see if I can catch her of examine her more closely.
 
It's always best to keep to the same thread on one chicken. That way all the info is in one place. It saves precious time, ours and time your chicken needs to get help. If no one has answered your thread, try pinging some of us here that you might have noticed are popping up on threads helping people. That gets our attention quicker than anything.

If that fails, add another comment to your thread to bump it up to the top of the list. If your chicken is sick and needs urgent help, you are entitled to be a pest.

@Ursuline Chick mentioned the wide stance that might indicate liver failure or ascites. You would notice that chicken standing with her legs far apart, inches farther than normal with swollen abdomen in front of her legs. That would tell us she might have tumors that are shutting down her organs.

If you hen has a swollen bulge behind her legs just under her vent lends more weight to a reproductive infection. The "orange ball" pictured in the poop photo you posted is likely lash material or chicken pus. It usually indicates a reproductive infection. These can kill quickly or slowly. Sometimes a hen will live with it and behave nearly normally for months. But in the end, there isn't much that can be done about it.

Your hen's behavior tells me she's feeling very sick. If you have any antibiotics on hand, you can try giving it to her. But do check her crop as it can indicate that you need to treat for a blockage. The pus can block her, causing the crop not to empty. If that is the case, we can treat that and make her more comfortable in the short term.
 
It's always best to keep to the same thread on one chicken. That way all the info is in one place. It saves precious time, ours and time your chicken needs to get help. If no one has answered your thread, try pinging some of us here that you might have noticed are popping up on threads helping people. That gets our attention quicker than anything.

If that fails, add another comment to your thread to bump it up to the top of the list. If your chicken is sick and needs urgent help, you are entitled to be a pest.

@Ursuline Chick mentioned the wide stance that might indicate liver failure or ascites. You would notice that chicken standing with her legs far apart, inches farther than normal with swollen abdomen in front of her legs. That would tell us she might have tumors that are shutting down her organs.

If you hen has a swollen bulge behind her legs just under her vent lends more weight to a reproductive infection. The "orange ball" pictured in the poop photo you posted is likely lash material or chicken pus. It usually indicates a reproductive infection. These can kill quickly or slowly. Sometimes a hen will live with it and behave nearly normally for months. But in the end, there isn't much that can be done about it.

Your hen's behavior tells me she's feeling very sick. If you have any antibiotics on hand, you can try giving it to her. But do check her crop as it can indicate that you need to treat for a blockage. The pus can block her, causing the crop not to empty. If that is the case, we can treat that and make her more comfortable in the short term.

I do have amoxicillin-500 mg capsules. I think the dose for a chicken is 100mg- but how would I get the chicken to take the medicine? Mix the amoxicillin with milk and administer with an eyedropper?
 
The dose for a regular size adult chicken is 250mg per day for ten days on amoxicillin. Divide the 500mg pill in half and just pop it into her beak, and she will swallow it right down. If she spits it out, you need to place it farther back on the tongue. Do not mix it with anything. You want her to have the full dose.
 

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