Hen lays down, walks slowly, weak, drinks, doesn't eat, dirty tail

[DamKate]

I am a new chicken owner, we were "city slickers" that bought a tree/vegetable/egg farm turn-key and have been in the house for a week. We noticed one of our Rhodies laying around the run, not leaving it to explore and forage, and normally the chickens are still pretty skittish of us, but she let me walk right up to her to check her out. She doesn't have any mucous/foam around the mouth or eyes, though she does have very poopy, matted tail feathers-no blood, but watery dark green with urates. She was drinking water, but had no interest in feed. I did switch their feed last week from the Purina Layena to an organic corn/soy free Magill Farms feed (that they went wild over). It was wet and cold last night, after being unseasonably warm the prior 3 days. (PACNW) I isolated her and put her in the workshop (no fumes) on a bed of hay and under a heating lamp with water and fresh/raw cream soaked feed. She promptly fell asleep (she is still breathing, I can see her "rise and fall") Wondering if anyone has any ideas on what the issue might be, and any other advice to give. Thank you!

 

[DamKate]

So I read the rules, but I gues I should enter it as everyone else does

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Not sure, adult pullet.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Weak, slow moving, not scared but usually is as we are new owners, poop matted tail feathers, drinking but not eating, laying around the run, not foraging, not socializing with the other hens.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Noticed her laying in the bushes yesterday afternoon, but she was up and about later. Today she layed in the same spot almost all day inside the run (noticed by both me and my husband on separate occasions.)
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
not seen.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
not sure
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
switched from purina layena to Magill farms soy/corn free layer mash
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
loose, no blood, dark green with white streaks on tail feathers.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
isolated heat, dry bed, cream soaked feed (hasn't touched) fell asleep as soon as she was isolated in the new bed.
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?
I would like to treat her myself, cannot afford a vet.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
no pic yet, perhaps tomorrow.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
straw bed, isolated in shop the coop is attached to, red heat lamp above, feed and water close to bed, door closed to elements.

 

[sherylreno]

Green poo is bile from not being able to eat or having worms in their little bodies and the worms are taking all her nutrition out of her. You can start her back on buttermilk soaked oatmeal so she can get some energy back but you do need to solve her problem right away if it's not too late. I've dealt with worms and with you being in the PACNW then you know there are worms there. I would de-worm first. I would go to Wal Mart right now and get the horse de-wormer and put some in a syringe and measure out 1/2 cc and coat it in some corn meal and get it down her throat, you may need to put it in there yourself to make sure she gets it all. Keep feeding her the buttermilk/oat mixture daily and make sure to feed her lots of protein. You can purchase freeze-dried meal worms at the pet stores or perhaps even purchase the live ones and get them in her. Scramble up egg yolks to and feed them to her. She will need to be feed every hour if you can to keep her alive while you figure out what is going on here.

You should de-worm the whole flock as well. You would need to discard the eggs the flock lays for at least 10 days.

 

[seminolewind]

I would be thinking coccidiosis. Treat with Corrid or sulfadimethoxine, usually found in a feed store or tractor supply.

 

[dawg53]

Clean the poop out of her feathers so you can see what's going on with her rear end and visually inspect her for lice/mites, especially on her rear end. Worm her with valbazen, 1/2cc orally, repeat again in 10 days. If she has lice/mites, I recommend sevin dust...repeat dusting her again 10 days later.

 

[DamKate]

Update this morning. She isn't eating or drinking, loose stool is full blown diarrhea, no blood still, but a yellowy green and brown, no urates present now. She is breathing heavily, her comb is a pink rather than red, and she opens her eyes when I walk in, but no other movement and she is laying with her beak nearly touching the floor. I will head to the feed store this AM. Cleaned out the shared coop and sterilized as best I could. Any other advice greatly appreciated.

 

[DamKate]

Quote:
Should I clean it out with a warm bath and just dip her in?

 

[DamKate]

So now I have noticed that she has a brown liquid discharging from her beak, is this sour crop? I will need detailed instructions on how to treat, as this is completely foreign to me. She also has her tail down. I am willing to do what I can to help her though!

 

[chicken grandma]

Quote:
Sounds like Sour Crop. You will need to ask a vet for NYSTATIN to treat that! Do not give all the wormers and mite medicine to a sick bird. First find out what illness she has and treat her with the right medicine. To take a sick bird and start treating them with wormers and pest dust is cruel.

I would call your animal vet or call the humane society vet in your area and ask how they treat Sour Crop. Usually it is Nystatin and maybe another antibiotic depending on the bacteria in the crop A vet can look at the stuff oozing out of her beak and tell you what bacteria are in that - then treat her with the RIGHT medicine for the condition she is DIAGNOSED to actually have.

DON'T GUESS.

 

[chicken grandma]

Or you can take a poop sample to a vet.
A vet or his technician can look at samples and TELL YOU WHAT IT IS.
Call the Humane Society or Animal Control in your area to get help if you need to.
There might be a chicken rescue organization also who can help you get a fecal (poop) test done. They are usually $15-20.
Then you won't be buying wormers for a variety of worms that she might not even have. This could be a bacterial infection and NOT a parasite.