Hen - lethargic, tail down, drinking a lot, refusing food

[Cinnaminute]

Hi, my girl Cleo was fine this morning. I've got a rooster I've been working into the flock and often the girls who don't like him that much (including Cleo) tend to hang out on the roof of their coop. I don't pay it much mind, as during the day I'll see them walking around with him in the run, eating and drinking. When I went to check on everyone around 4pm I saw that Cleo had her tail down. I put the rooster up and put her down on the ground. She ignored the feeder but started guzzling water. I was worried maybe she spent hours without eating or drinking.

My other theory is a lack of calcium. I had issues with these girls over the summer time (which I why I have the calcium tablets to begin with). My other 5 EEs have already finished their molt or are finishing. She's the same age as them but hasn't molted yet. So she's been laying this whole time. Well, a couple of the EEs who have finished have been laying again. I feared they might've kept her from the oyster shell, as she's lowest in the pecking order. However, every time I had a calcium problem, they'd readily eat oyster shell which she won't. So I'm scared something else is going on. However, I did find a soft shell egg in the coop today which I believe was hers. Not to mention I have a concern that there's tapeworms. A couple dogs that belong to my mom and are basically indoors all the time seem to have come down with them in the past month. I have a suspicion my chicken dogs have them too, and thus likely my chickens. Their feed consumption has spiked the past month too. So this could be adding to her troubles.

So I could really use some advice on what all to check just in case I've missed something. I can only really think of possible causes being: parasites, low calcium, egg binding, beginning of molt, all of the above? Been a rough week with caring for my injured mom and her pets as well as my own and I'm heavily sleep deprived (which doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon). Thank you very much.

1) 1yr 7mo EE
2) She's standing around lethargic, tail down, guzzling water when its offered, refusing food. When I brought her into the house, she perked up holding her tail normal and walked around the living room exploring, but she is weak on her feet. She's in a small carrier right now trying to sleep. I don't keep artificial lighting on so I'm sure she's annoyed that I'm pestering her well into her bed time. But she is either laying or standing with tail down and even refuses scrambled egg so safe to say she still feels like crud, poor dear.
3) Symptoms started this afternoon sometime between 12pm and 4pm. Oh, but sometime around noon I did see her spend some time on the nest. Which is my concern for possible egg binding. Unless she was just trying to get away from everyone, as my chickens have recently been starting to sleep in the nests at night...
4) The other 19 chickens I have are doing fine.
5) No visible signs of wounds or trauma.
6) We had a rainy spell Monday-Wednesday and during, some previously molting hens started laying again. She's lowest on the pecking order and may have been deprived of oyster shell. I found remnants of a soft shelled egg in the coop that I'm pretty sure is hers. I also have a suspicion that there's tapeworms in the flock. Between the dogs showing signs and the fact that chicken feed is being consumed at a much quicker rate the past month.
7) She eats Purina Flock Raiser and whatever they find foraging. I know she ate this morning and I didn't let them out to forage today. But at some point lost her appetite.
8) Poop pictures posted below:
9) In case of egg binding I gave her an epsom salt bath and put oil on her vent. She tolerated the bath for about 5 minutes before trying to climb out, but her balance is a tad off since she's a bit weak. I also gave her a calcium tablet in case she's low on calcium. Every 30 minutes I offer her watered down food, some water with nutridrench, and some plain water. She happily drinks but won't touch food, grit, or oyster shell. She's definitely eager to fill her crop with as much liquid as possible. Tomorrow I'll be getting some Equimax to treat for possible tapeworms.
10 ) I would like to treat this myself, if possible, as there are no poultry vets near me.
11) Pictures below:
12) The flock occupies a 10x20' run with two small coops. It got terribly muddy Monday-Wednesday since there's a bad flooding/run off going on with that side of the yard. Plan on getting some river sand down when I get a chance.

First poop after I brought her in. Pretty sure a cecal, which makes sense. Especially if she hadn't eaten most the day.
What concerns me is the off-whitish pink blob present. Tiny bit of blood?
Please excuse the pile of grit. I offered it to her just in case but she didn't touch it.


Most recent poop. She had one other which resembled this as well.
There's that same slight pinkish blob.


This is Cleo. She's trying to sleep since it's after midnight but I wanted to get a picture of her for this post.
Please pardon her tail, I towel dried and blow dried her but I made her tail a mess.
Her comb is slightly flopped over, which is abnormal for her. But it's the same usual red it always is.
She mostly stays at the back of the carrier.
Sometimes she'll stand up for a bit and then she'll lay down. She's a bit clumsy when I move the potty pad.
But I'm also sure she's been tired between not feeling good and me bothering her every 30 minutes from 5pm-11:30pm

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

That looks like cocci poop. I really don't know much about this but I did have a chick suffer from coci and she died. Hopefully its not but that's what I'm thinking it is.
@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous

 

[Cinnaminute]

Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it!

This morning she's been on the up. Crop was empty. She drank a bunch and ate a little of her feed wetted down and a teeny bit of scrambled egg. Her appetite isn't strong but she's not holding her tail down anymore and she's perked up a lot. Has been talking to me a bit, too. Comb is starting to stand back up. I trust her instincts to fill on water so using that to get nutrients down her.

I saw another post of a similar situation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sick-hen-not-eating-but-drinking-a-lot-lethargic.845890/ Hen drinking a lot and someone mentioning coccidiosis as a possibility. I've been learning the hard way how difficult this climate is here in Georgia due to how wet it always is and the lack of any decent cold to kill off stuff. Already had coccidiosis hit back in July after a rainy period. It's been raining once a week at least. Wouldn't be surprised if it's something I have to give prevention for twice a year. Since I'm going to be deworming the flock anyway, I plan on following up with some Corid.

 

[azygous]

First, you definitely should treat the entire flock for both tapeworm and coccidiosis. It's safe to do both at the same time. Don't waste any time. Get started on that.

This hen needs to have a bunch of treatments, including the two above, since she's obviously sick. Give her a drench dose of Corid immediately. If she's around five pounds, it would be .5ml undiluted Corid liquid syringed into her beak. Do this right now and again tomorrow and again Sunday. (1xdayx3days) In addition to the Corid solution the others are drinking for the next five days.

Stop the Nutri-drench during the Corid treatments.

Since this hen has just passed a soft egg, give her a calcium tablet immediately in case this egg is a precursor to another one stuck inside. These soft eggs often travel in pairs. Do this immediately so it can help her muster the contractions to push the egg out.

 

[Cinnaminute]

Thank you! About to go out and get some Equimax. I only have Safeguard on hand and I've read on various threads on here that it's not really effective against tapeworms in chickens. Gave her a calcium tablet right away yesterday when I found her. I'll be administering another today here soon.

Oh! I think I remember reading somewhere on here that you can deworm and give corid simultaneously. Thank you for mentioning that! I'll get right on to the corid treatment then. Much appreciated!

 

[Cinnaminute]

Update:

Behavior: Cleo has been acting more normal today and yesterday but is still definitely under the weather. She's no longer weak on her feet. She ate and drank normal, though maybe not quite as much as usual, and even had a bit of grit. Eager for the scrambled egg I offered. I've noticed her feathers are thin on her crop. I see some new ones coming in. The other EEs started losing crop then neck feathers when molting. Still unsure if she's starting to molt, but seems like it's possible. All the other EEs definitely acted off when molting, barely eating and often standing alone in corners of the run for hours looking quite miserable. When I packed the coop with fresh straw since it got really chilly last night, she went in and wrecked the place as she always does, scratching through it all and picking up whatever little bits she enjoys to eat. So that was relieving to see. Plus she's been talkative with me again, as is normal.

Symptoms: She takes rests from time to time and sometimes she stands with her tail down still but not always. She also has not laid any eggs. Her poop still looks off.

One of Cleo's poops; they all have been consistently just like this one.

Another from a few minutes ago. Lighting is kinda bad though.


Treatments thus far: I've been giving her the Corid (of course, no Nutridrench). Even used a corid/water mix to add to her feed and wet it down today. She enjoyed that. The feed store I went to didn't have the Equimax or anything with praziquantel, just some poultry dewormer that was fenbendazole and I already have Safeguard on hand. I couldn't go too far from home because my mother's leg is still bad, not to mention my hen Zelda ended up getting hurt. Found her leg green; she sometimes walks on it, sometimes limps and definitely favors it so I've been tending to her too.

Not the sick hen, my other hen Zelda who surprised me with this yesterday:


I let Cleo sleep with the flock since she was very perky last night and happily went to roost with everyone. Kept Zelda in to make sure no swelling in the leg occurred. Today I brought Cleo back in and will keep her with me tonight. Trying to juggle these two birds. I've got some Valbazen on the way that I ordered the other day since I need to deworm my flock and had realized about the Safeguard effects on molting a bit late.

Question: Since I have to wait for the Valbazen, would it be safe to give her some Safeguard just for now until the Valbazen arrives or the store near me gets Equimax in stock (whichever comes first)? She seems to just be starting a molt and I don't know if a single dose would harm her new feathers or not. I just want to get her started on something asap.

I will be using Equimax in about a week or two to get rid of potential tapeworms (either when the store gets it in stock, I can finally get to a farther store, or I cave and order it online) but with Cleo's situation, I would like to start deworming her asap. Especially considering they've never been wormed before.

 

[Cinnaminute]

I'm going to be giving her some Safeguard Dewormer for goats today. I don't think I should wait on the Valbazen or Equimax in case worms are causing her to be this ill, though my other 19 chickens are fine. Will give her the .23ml per lb of body weight. She's 4.5lbs. So I guess a total of 1ml would do.

I worry it could be something reproductive. Like perhaps that soft shell egg I found squished in the coop came out squished rather than got stepped on. I hope she doesn't have a bacterial infection. Thinking of looking into getting her antibiotics. I'm at such a loss though and I know I get overly paranoid when a problem arises.

She's perky inside, wanted out of the carrier and on my lap... but acts off outside. Don't know if the 48F temps are bothering her in her ill state or what. So I'm keeping her inside. She's very tired, started dozing off outside. Took a nap after I brought her in. Although I might've accidentally kept her up last night since I had the carrier in my bedroom.




Poop from last night was more solid like normal. Still not quite right. Looks a little thin to me and the urates a bit too off-white. Though she's not drinking a lot now but she's eating moistened feed so maybe that's why.

 

[azygous]

There is a reason behind throwing as many unconflicting treatments as we can at a chicken at once. It helps rule out simple causes. However, her poop doesn't show any common signs of reproductive infection. Nor does it indicate egg binding.

 

[Cinnaminute]

Update on Cleo:

Something still seems off with her but I hope it's safe to say she's in the clear? I'll still keep a close eye on her. She is mostly her normal self to the point I'd say she is no longer lethargic. When I open the run to let them free range, she nearly plowed me over along with everyone else and ran clear across the yard with the group. However, there are times when she will stop foraging and take a rest with her tail down somewhere away from others like under a bush, on the porch stairs, or on a roost. When she's resting, if I pester her, she will move or stand a bit and lift her tail to normal, but it's clear she wants to be left alone to rest. She then rejoins everyone once she's rested up for about 10 minutes. Maybe she's just recovering her strength after her ordeal? Or perhaps the cold weather (mid 40sF) is bothering her a bit? Perhaps some of both?

Thursday (this day was her 5th and final dose of Safeguard) avoiding everyone

Thursday (Cleo behind, Stitch in front) foraging together

Stitch (left) Cleo (right)


Friday (resting)

Resting on the porch stairs (still has some blood from her comb injury)



All I know for a fact is:

• She's not laying - The last egg I got from her was December 28th. Not 100% certain if the soft shell on December 29th was hers or not. However, the other 5 EEs stopped laying when they began molting in November. One of them has returned to laying late December. (Of course, every chicken is different.)
• She's not visibly molting - She is the only EE to have not molted yet. Unless she's slowly molting feather by feather. The other 5 EEs all lost a bunch of feathers and regrew them so they went through a period of looking very scraggly. Cleo, upon close inspection, has a lot of broken feathers and I don't see many if any new ones coming in.
• Bullying - There has been some flock changes prior to Cleo not feeling well. I just started allowing a rooster as well as some new hens to mingle in the flock, so I wouldn't be surprised if the girls are stressed and they're all trying to rework out everyone's positions. Upon reintroducing Cleo a few days ago, my head hen Zelda gave her quite a hard time. Even tore her comb. After that, Zelda is fine with her but 4 of my younger hens are bothering her so much she doesn't want to leave roosts or the coop roof. Again, this could just be behaviorial. I'm keeping food & water where she can reach. This might be why she was so thirsty when I found her ill initially. She might've already been getting bullied away from oyster shell, food, and water. Cleo is a very passive girl and usually lets everyone push her around.
• Appetite is good! She eats and drinks as she should.
• Poop is normal! No more blood or diarrhea.

Treatments: Dewormed with Safeguard for 5 days. Just switched her from severe dosing to preventative dosing for Corid today along with everyone else. She returned to the flock back on January 3rd. Tapeworms in dogs was a false alarm! Turns out it wasn't tapeworm segments found in the indoor dogs, it was rice! Explains why I never saw anything in the chicken droppings. Deworming and Corid seemed to help Cleo a lot so I'm sure that was part of her problem, if not the entirety.

Future Plans: On January 13th when everyone is done with Corid and deworming, I'll give everyone a healing boost with Nutridrench and treats of scrambled eggs and buttermilk with boiled rice (saw such a recommendation in this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...llet-black-around-vent.1603799/#post-27299950). And of course, I'll keep monitoring Cleo.

Thank you so much @azygous for your help! I've been reading a lot into parasites with chickens and it seems I've heavily underestimated how brutal it can be in places with hot humid climates like mine. I'll be setting up a testing and worming routine to prevent future problems. I already treated for cocci in July and was planning a January deworming anyway but clearly should've done so sooner. I'm so thankful for you and everyone here on this forum.