Hen not eating - Lethargic! Advice please!

[Puddin Fluff]

My almost 2 year old banty cochin frizzle has been "off" on her behavior for about a week +. She has been going to roost in the day or will stand by herself and "sleep". I put her in a cage in the coop during bad weather to keep the others from running over her as she is low on the pecking order and I thought this would help her rest if she wasn't getting pushed around. While in the cage she seemed to eat some but a tiny bit, of course she is a banty and doesn't eat much anyway. When the weather was better she came out and was wandering around with the other birds but did spend more than usual amount of time inside alone.

Observations:
Soft squishy crop.
She is on "winter break" for egg laying but no masses detected in her abdomen.
No interest in feed,scratch,scrambled eggs, strawberries, bread, yogurt.
No poo observed.
She will move around on her own but doesn't seem interested in doing so.

currently in cage with water, feed, scratch & yogurt in heated room.

I have a syrenge (no needle) and have dripped water on her beak to make her drink a little and have dripped some liquid vitamens the same way.

Suggestions on what to try is greatly appreciated.

thank you.

 

[casportpony]

Maybe this will help you, it's a cut and paste from another post of mine

When mine get sick, this is what I do:

• Thorough exam which includes inserting a gloved, lubed finger into the cloaca, check for cuts, bruising lumps etc.
• Dust for mites/lice with poultry dust even if I cannot see any. DE does not work.
• Weigh on digital kitchen scale (see avatar), record weight and weigh daily. any weight loss is bad.
• Place bird in a warm, quiet place on towel with food and water that it can't drown in.
• De-worm with Safeguard or Panacur, liquid or paste 50mg/kg by mouth and repeat in 10 days.
• Once warm, if not drinking, and crop is empty, hydrate with warmed Pedialyte or lactated ringers with a feeding tube - 30ml/kg every 6-8 hours.
• If not eating after 24 hours and crop is empty, tube feed baby bird food mixed with Pedialyte
• Inspect poop.
• If I suspect a stuck egg, treat for egg binding.
• If I suspect a bacterial infection, treat with antibiotics.

From: http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/cam/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf
Supportive Care
SICK-BIRD ENCLOSURES
Sick birds are often hypothermic and should be placed
in heated (brooder-type) enclosures


b (Fig 7.7) in a quiet
environment (see Chapter 1, Clinical Practice). A temperature
of 85° F (29° C) with 70% humidity is desirable
for most sick birds. If brooders are not equipped with a
humidity source, placing a small dish of water in the
enclosure will often supply adequate humidity. A moist
towel that is heated and placed on the bottom of a cage
or incubator rapidly humidifies the environment, as indicated​

by the fogging of the acrylic cage front.

FLUID THERAPY
Oral Administration
Oral administration is the ideal method of giving fluids.
This method is more commonly used in mildly dehydrated
birds or in conjunction with subcutaneous (SC)
or intravenous (IV) therapy. Oral rehydration (30 ml/kg
PO q 6-8 h) also may be used in larger birds (eg, waterfowl)
that are difficult to restrain for parenteral fluid​

therapy.

 

[casportpony]

Great info on tube feeding:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754

More on tube feeding:
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7933

 

[grayeyes]

i had this problem and have just got passed the same issue. it cost over half my flock. i gave all the chickens atibiotics for 3 days and then a pro-antibiotic. i had too hand feed the sick birds. if you cant get a pro-antibiotic, use bread and buttermilk too replace the belly inzimes. hope this solves your problem

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Thank you for the replies. I just took her some cooked oatmeal and she pecked at it but did not try to eat it. I have watched her do this with her feed and with bread. She will scratch out some of the feed or scratch with her beak and she will scratch the shavings with her beak as if looking for something but doesn't eat anything.

I also noticed poo in the cage that was a watery pale green with a blob of white. don't know if that helps with a diagnosis or helps with how to treat but thought i would add it.

She is normally a very vocal chicken but is currently very quiet. Could that indicate something other than she just doesn't feel well?

 

[casportpony]

I think she's probably very sick. You'll need to get her warm and hydrated, then worry about the food.

 

[pwand]

When you checked her crop, was it flat first thing in the morning before she got up? If her crop didn't empty over night, she may be dealing with sour crop.

http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/green-muzings/2208-chicken-impacted-crop-or-sour-crop.html

 

[Puddin Fluff]

When you checked her crop, was it first thing in the morning before she got up? If her crop didn't empty over night, she may be dealing with sour crop.

http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/green-muzings/2208-chicken-impacted-crop-or-sour-crop.html

I have checked her crop all day today off and on and it is so empty it is difficult to find. I have tried to observe her and see if she is eating at all and as far as I could tell she would not take anything today.

I have her in a room with heat and I spent the afternoon taking water in a syringe and dripping it on her beak and she would "lick" it down. I tried to do this about once an hour. I also gave her a tiny bit of poly-vita-sol which she "licked" down.

She perks up when I pick her up and is aware enough of her surroundings to be alarmed when the cat walked by. She also demonstrated her irritation with me trying to make her drink by trying to flap out of my lap.

She is so tiny and I am unexperienced with tube feeding, I am afraid I will do more damage than help.

Any other suggestion as to getting fluids/nutrition into her?

 

[pwand]

Tube feeding seems to be the best option, you can do it. Mix her feed in warm water, probably more on the watery side to hydrate her. Check out the info Casportpony has posted in previous postings. Great information and links on tube feeding. The tubes and syringes can be purchased at the vets.

 

[casportpony]

She needs 30ml of fluids per kg of body weight every 6-8 hours. You will kill her if you try to drip that into her mouth.