Hen lethargic, loosing feathers, and not moving much

[chickenlover78]

Relatively new chicken keeper here,

We were out of town for a day and a half. We just got back yesterday. This morning we noticed that one of our 1 year old australorps was suddenly lethargic and not moving around very much. She was stiff, hunched over, kind of squatting, with her feathers fluffed up and her head tucked into her neck. And she's making very weak sounding noises. We didn't notice anything wrong with her before we left.

When I examined her I noticed that her vent area was kind of swollen and missing feathers. Her feathers overall look kind of raggedy. Though her comb is still red and not floppy. My brother said he saw mites or something moving around on her but I didn't see any.

Her crop is empty so I don't suspect sour crop. Her feet are fine. While her vent area is swollen and kind of squishy, it's not extremely swollen and it doesn't feel like there's any liquid in there. I separated her from the flock. At first I thought it might be parasites, so I gave her a dose of safeguard dewormer and I put electrolytes in her water. But now I'm more leaning towards her possibly being eggbound? I gave her an Epsom salt soak along with half a tums. After her bath it seemed like she was straining her vent area.

She's drinking very small amounts of water but not eating her normal feed. She did eat some scrambled egg after her bath though.

The rest of the flock is fine. Though I'm pretty sure our rooster has started to molt. Could she be molting? They free range and have a coop with pine shavings they sleep in at night. We have lost some chickens recently due to a predator attack.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I'm overwhelmed because it seems like theres so many things it could be. Are there any other medications I should be giving her? Or other treatments I should try? I have ivermectin but only the paste kind (the one for horses). And I have corid but I wasn't sure I should treat her with it. Any ideas would be extremely appreciated.

 

[azygous]

Egg binding is my guess. Tums is the right way to go, but half a tab won't get it. She needs at least one whole Tums or even two.

 

[Eggcessive]

It won’t hurt to give her a 300 mg calcium tablet or Tums into her beak to swallow, in case she is egg bound. She may have started molting and be feeling poorly, or she could have been bullied and kept from food and water while you were gone. Take her aside and feed a few times today, and watch the other’s behavior toward her. Is she able to pass any droppings? Pictures of her vent may help. Look under her belly for any fast moving bugs.
Lice or mites can be treated with permethrin garden dust (Prozap,etc) from feed stores.

 

[chickenlover78]

It won’t hurt to give her a 300 mg calcium tablet or Tums into her beak to swallow, in case she is egg bound. She may have started molting and be feeling poorly, or she could have been bullied and kept from food and water while you were gone. Take her aside and feed a few times today, and watch the other’s behavior toward her. Is she able to pass any droppings? Pictures of her vent may help. Look under her belly for any fast moving bugs.
Lice or mites can be treated with permethrin garden dust (Prozap,etc) from feed stores.

Thank you for the reply. I hope I'm not calling it too soon, but she seems to be feeling maybe a little better today? She's making more normal noises and moving more. Though she still doesn't seem to want to bend down to eat or drink.
I'll keep up on the tums then. Would you recommend permethrin dust over diatomaceous earth? I was going to get some DE but I heard it has some health risks for the chickens?
My brother thinks she might be stressed from molting, but I'm not sure because of how stiff she is. She passed a couple droppings overnight. They don't look abnormal to me. Though the white part on one of them is pretty watery. I'll see if I can get any good pics of her vent area.

 

[chickenlover78]

Egg binding is my guess. Tums is the right way to go, but half a tab won't get it. She needs at least one whole Tums or even two.

Ok, thank you for the reply. Should I give her the whole tum all at once? Or should I split it up throughout the day (one in morning one at night)? I just finished giving her half of one.

 

[azygous]

We usually give the calcium in one dose. But it won't hurt to break up the doses. DE is not an insecticide. Use permethrin.

Chickens do not usually have their forst adult molt until the fall of their second year. So, her distress is likely from the bugs on her and possible binding.

 

[chickenlover78]

We usually give the calcium in one dose. But it won't hurt to break up the doses. DE is not an insecticide. Use permethrin.

Chickens do not usually have their forst adult molt until the fall of their second year. So, her distress is likely from the bugs on her and possible binding.

Ok, thank you. I'll go buy some permethrin.
I saw some people say online that you should lube around and inside the cloaca when a chicken's eggbound. Would you recommend that I do that? I haven't done it yet because I was worried I'd hurt her.

 

[azygous]

I do not advise anyone to poke around inside a hen's cloaca. If an egg is stuck there, you can feel it from the outside of the vent. But most of the time, the egg will get stuck farther up the oviduct where it cannot be felt. There is always a risk of shoving bacteria from poop residue up the oviduct when you poke your finger around in there. That can unleash a chronic reproductive infection you will be battling for the remainder of the hen's life.

Lubricating the vent is usually necessary when an egg is stuck in the cloaca. In that event, taking a syringe filled with warm soapy water and gently squirting the solution just inside the fold of skin around the vent is what we do. Or you can soak her in warm Epsom salts to soften and moisten the tissue. Never, ever forcefully squirt anything into the cloaca as it can force bacteria into the oviduct.