Hello! I'm a newbie here, but have read the forums for a few years. I just started raising chickens (mostly silkies) as a hobby about 6 years ago. We currently only have hens.
The hen in question is about 4 years old. We got her as a 2-3 day old chick and were told she's a silkie, but she isn't. She appears to be maybe a d'uccle cross? Her tail shape reminds me of one. She is smaller than our silkies and weighs maybe a pound or so. At the moment she seems thinner than usual.
About 3.5 weeks ago she started keeping to herself and wasn't as peppy as she usually is. Her comb also seemed a bit pale and her eyes weren't as round and bold as usual - as if she's squinting. Her nostrils also seemed really clogged up and she was holding her tail down a little bit. I thought it could be a respiratory issue, so I brought her into the house to quarantine. She is currently in a big plastic rubbermaid tub with her usual food. We added a hay and straw mixture for bedding with a heating pad underneath one side so she can move away if she gets too warm. I started alternating electrolytes and vitamins with garlic and ACV in her water.
For the first week or so, she would move freely around this tub, spent most of her time away from the heating pad, and even perched on the side of her food bowl. She seemed to not be able to see her food or water bowls, but once I "showed" her where they were every morning, she would gobble up food and water. During this time period, under the impression it was a respiratory issue, I was flushing out her eyes with a saline solution 1-2 times a day and then rubbing VetRx under her chin, on her beak, and on her comb. She was also making her usual chicken noises and her poop appeared relatively normal.
For the past week she has been spending more time on the heating pad.
Also about a week ago, I put a humidifier next to her tub because her nostrils didn't seem to be clearing up at all. Since then, they seem to be a little bit better.
Five days ago I started flushing her eyes with Vetericyn Antimicrobial Pink Eye Spray 1-2 times a day. Please note that she hasn't had any discharge from her eyes, but she seems to be squinting all the time.
Also five days ago I gave her a bath with a mixture of tea tree oil castile soap, peppermint oil soap, alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide diluted about 30% because I found lice on her. I blow dried her completely. Unfortunately, this seemed to stress her out a lot and she didn't seem to bounce back in terms of energy.
She seems to be getting quieter and holding her tail down almost all the way to the ground, as well.
Three days ago I started giving her Duramycin 10 in her water (instead of electrolytes, garlic, and ACV), but she doesn't seem to be drinking much. Her poop has also been less frequent and smaller (appears to be completely white).
Today she is laying down with her legs tucked under her body and her eyes closed. A lot of the time she tucks her head away like she's sleeping.
I have stopped applying VetRx to her head and I no longer run the humidifier (stopped both of these about five days ago).
I don't mind taking her to a vet, but I worry that the stress of a vet visit could kill her. Also, I'm not aware of an avian vet within two hours of me.
All of our other birds seem to be doing fine, although we did lose one about four weeks ago for unknown reasons. She was sick this past winter and my assumption is she never entirely recovered.
What else can I do? Should I risk taking her to a vet and stressing her out even more? Should I ride it out at home? Is there something else I am missing? I raise rabbits, as well, and am pretty well versed in treating their ailments. I know chickens are much different in some ways, but are just as fragile as rabbits are when it comes to stress and dying just for the heck of it.
I'm so sorry this is a novel, I just wanted to make sure I included everything I've done so far. Thank you so much for sticking around this far.
I have attached photos:
(1) She has been laying in this position much of the day today
(2) Her eyes are squinty when they're open, which isn't a lot
(3) Her poop is a little smaller than a dime
The hen in question is about 4 years old. We got her as a 2-3 day old chick and were told she's a silkie, but she isn't. She appears to be maybe a d'uccle cross? Her tail shape reminds me of one. She is smaller than our silkies and weighs maybe a pound or so. At the moment she seems thinner than usual.
About 3.5 weeks ago she started keeping to herself and wasn't as peppy as she usually is. Her comb also seemed a bit pale and her eyes weren't as round and bold as usual - as if she's squinting. Her nostrils also seemed really clogged up and she was holding her tail down a little bit. I thought it could be a respiratory issue, so I brought her into the house to quarantine. She is currently in a big plastic rubbermaid tub with her usual food. We added a hay and straw mixture for bedding with a heating pad underneath one side so she can move away if she gets too warm. I started alternating electrolytes and vitamins with garlic and ACV in her water.
For the first week or so, she would move freely around this tub, spent most of her time away from the heating pad, and even perched on the side of her food bowl. She seemed to not be able to see her food or water bowls, but once I "showed" her where they were every morning, she would gobble up food and water. During this time period, under the impression it was a respiratory issue, I was flushing out her eyes with a saline solution 1-2 times a day and then rubbing VetRx under her chin, on her beak, and on her comb. She was also making her usual chicken noises and her poop appeared relatively normal.
For the past week she has been spending more time on the heating pad.
Also about a week ago, I put a humidifier next to her tub because her nostrils didn't seem to be clearing up at all. Since then, they seem to be a little bit better.
Five days ago I started flushing her eyes with Vetericyn Antimicrobial Pink Eye Spray 1-2 times a day. Please note that she hasn't had any discharge from her eyes, but she seems to be squinting all the time.
Also five days ago I gave her a bath with a mixture of tea tree oil castile soap, peppermint oil soap, alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide diluted about 30% because I found lice on her. I blow dried her completely. Unfortunately, this seemed to stress her out a lot and she didn't seem to bounce back in terms of energy.
She seems to be getting quieter and holding her tail down almost all the way to the ground, as well.
Three days ago I started giving her Duramycin 10 in her water (instead of electrolytes, garlic, and ACV), but she doesn't seem to be drinking much. Her poop has also been less frequent and smaller (appears to be completely white).
Today she is laying down with her legs tucked under her body and her eyes closed. A lot of the time she tucks her head away like she's sleeping.
I have stopped applying VetRx to her head and I no longer run the humidifier (stopped both of these about five days ago).
I don't mind taking her to a vet, but I worry that the stress of a vet visit could kill her. Also, I'm not aware of an avian vet within two hours of me.
All of our other birds seem to be doing fine, although we did lose one about four weeks ago for unknown reasons. She was sick this past winter and my assumption is she never entirely recovered.
What else can I do? Should I risk taking her to a vet and stressing her out even more? Should I ride it out at home? Is there something else I am missing? I raise rabbits, as well, and am pretty well versed in treating their ailments. I know chickens are much different in some ways, but are just as fragile as rabbits are when it comes to stress and dying just for the heck of it.
I'm so sorry this is a novel, I just wanted to make sure I included everything I've done so far. Thank you so much for sticking around this far.
I have attached photos:
(1) She has been laying in this position much of the day today
(2) Her eyes are squinty when they're open, which isn't a lot
(3) Her poop is a little smaller than a dime
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She hasn’t laid since she’s been quarantined. My first thought was that she was egg bound and I thought I felt some swelling about the size of a small egg between her legs when I brought her in, but it’s so hard for me to tell. Would there be any part of their anatomy I could mistake that for? She was also pooping pretty regularly at the beginning. She’s also about four years old if that makes a difference.
She did eat and drink a little bit this morning, though!! 
