Hen lethargic, not eating, closed eye, odd neck posture...

[RolyPolyOly]

Hi, I made an account here to see if anyone could help me with my chicken after being unable to find any conclusive answers. My parents got a few pekin bantams about three years ago for our back garden, but unfortunately are rather inexperienced and have become pretty negligent. I'm struggling to keep the flock healthy as I'm constantly being ignored and undermined in my efforts, so please understand if anything seems really bad; I am aware how badly we're failing our animals. I am happy to elaborate any point, and especially happy to learn. Sorry if this is too much to read.

The hen is a pekin bantam of about three to four years old. We got her with one other pekin bantam, who sadly died of a tumour after a year. For about a week now, she's been displaying abnormal behaviours. She's lethargic, not eating or drinking unless a person is with her, attempting to eat but failing, empty crop, her right eyelid is often closed (the eye itself looks/works fine), has her neck tilted to her right, is sitting in one corner of the pen with her good eye facing into that corner, and is now appearing to be slightly off balance. I have not been able to find any signs of parasites, there are no respiratory symptoms, she is not injured, her comb and wattle are bright red and fleshy; I have been unable to observe unusual faeces, though she has a slightly mucky vent. She may be stressed. The two other hens are not displaying these symptoms and are not pecking her.

I brought her in the house to stay warm and to better monitor and treat her the other night, but that got me in trouble and my dad placed her back outside before anything meaningful could be achieved (his excuse is covid ). Although she did lay an egg that night, which tells me it was on the right path.

As for possible causes, triggers or aggravations: recently, the chickens have been moved to a pen that has the compost bin in it. Dad feeds them far too much scrap (fruits, vegetables, bread) and does not remove uneaten matter. Food bowl is often left to clump and mould (I'm not able to clean it daily) and the water bowl often ends up with mud and faeces in it, also not getting cleaned often. Coop is irregularly and improperly cleaned, with us lacking the proper tools to do it; I remove the bedding (wood shavings) entirely, my dad places it next to the compost bin.

We have treated her with some poultry tonic, and have hand-fed her porridge (oatmeal) mixed with regular chicken crumb and grit. I would like to see her recover but I worry that it's too late, and that without changing my parents' minds nothing can really be resolved. Sorry if this was a lot to take in, I'm just at a loss here. Thank you for reading.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

For about a week now, she's been displaying abnormal behaviours. She's lethargic, not eating or drinking unless a person is with her, attempting to eat but failing, empty crop, her right eyelid is often closed (the eye itself looks/works fine), has her neck tilted to her right, is sitting in one corner of the pen with her good eye facing into that corner, and is now appearing to be slightly off balance.

Although she did lay an egg that night, which tells me it was on the right path.

the chickens have been moved to a pen that has the compost bin in it. Dad feeds them far too much scrap (fruits, vegetables, bread) and does not remove uneaten matter. Food bowl is often left to clump and mould (I'm not able to clean it daily) and the water bowl often ends up with mud and faeces in it, also not getting cleaned often. Coop is irregularly and improperly cleaned, with us lacking the proper tools to do it

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry you're dealing with this and that your hen is not well.
Where are you located in the world?

Are the chickens on your property or located somewhere else?

It's hard to know what's going on with the hen, at her age it could be a number of things - she laid an egg, did she seem better after that?
Moldy and/or rotten feed/veggies, etc. could be a contributing factor in her decline.

Is there a way that you could clean out the food and water stations daily? This may help.
What tools do you need?

 

[RolyPolyOly]

Hi, thank you for replying, I really appreciate it. I'm in the south west of England.

I fear it's too late at this point. I think I may have identified it as wry neck, thinking it was something else because of the closed eye. I am ashamed to have missed it before it got worse - seeing her this morning, her neck has twisted further back to the point where one eye is almost stuck looking up, she feels very light and bony, did not want to leave the coop, has very clear, runny yellow faeces and won't even attempt to eat or drink. I'm not sure she has the strength to make it through this now even if I do start giving her plenty of vitamin E.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi, thank you for replying, I really appreciate it. I'm in the south west of England.

I fear it's too late at this point. I think I may have identified it as wry neck, thinking it was something else because of the closed eye. I am ashamed to have missed it before it got worse - seeing her this morning, her neck has twisted further back to the point where one eye is almost stuck looking up, she feels very light and bony, did not want to leave the coop, has very clear, runny yellow faeces and won't even attempt to eat or drink. I'm not sure she has the strength to make it through this now even if I do start giving her plenty of vitamin E.

I'm sorry she's not doing well.

Try the vitamins and see if that helps. Wry Neck is a symptom caused by disease or a few conditions. Marek's is the first thing that comes to mind with your bird since the eye is closing. Is she able to walk or move her wings?

You can overdo vitamin E, so I would only give her 400IU a day. Getting some B vitamins, especially B1 into her would be good too. See if she will eat a bit of egg for you daily as well.