Hen with one eye closed, lethargic

[Lalachickens]

Hi all,

I have a 1.5 year old golden laced Wyandotte named Ruthie. Yesterday morning I went in to scoop poop and noticed she hadn’t come down from her roost. Her bum had a bit of droppings on it (not normal for her), and the droppings underneath her were quite watery and slightly yellow. Up until now she has been laying regularly.

I felt her crop which was 98% empty - just a bit of grit left in there. She was closing one eye (her left), however there is nothing visibly wrong with the eye- no swelling, redness or discharge. When I put a bit of food in front of her, she nibbled a bit, but normally she eats like a maniac.

We decided to bring her in yesterday to observe. We gave her an epsom salt soak, vitamins in her water, some egg and fermented feed. Her colour is slightly paler but not so pale as I would normally be worried. She is still closing her left eye from time to time, and seems to fall asleep easily. Appetite is still low, but she goes for blueberries and greens whenever I offer those. Droppings seem normal, less though because of reduced intake. I just got her to eat a bit more by doing a fine dice on some greens and mixing them in (and of course as I type this she is eating). She doesn’t seem too interested in water though (I added some to her food to make sure she doesn’t dry up).

We have had a mycoplasma synovaie diagnosis recently, confirmed by PCR. I realize this could be related? I could give her tetracycline, which I have on hand.

It’s the eye that’s nagging me - we will prob rinse it out with saline tonight but we were debating putting her back in with her flock after dark and seeing how she does. But I’m wondering if we should keep her in and give her the meds.

This forum has always been so helpful so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask for thoughts?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm just now seeing this thread.

How is Ruthie doing?

I agree with you, I'd rinse the eye with saline to make sure there's nothing in the eye that may be causing her to keep it closed.

The eye, coupled with the lethargy does sound like she had more going on though.

MS could be what's affecting her, if she's not improved by now or has declined, you can try the antibiotic to see if it helps.
Have you noticed any lameness or swollen joints with her?

 

[Lalachickens]

I'm just now seeing this thread.

How is Ruthie doing?

I agree with you, I'd rinse the eye with saline to make sure there's nothing in the eye that may be causing her to keep it closed.

The eye, coupled with the lethargy does sound like she had more going on though.

MS could be what's affecting her, if she's not improved by now or has declined, you can try the antibiotic to see if it helps.
Have you noticed any lameness or swollen joints with her?

Thank you @Wyorp Rock .

We gave her another day inside just to observe, and she suddenly had her appetite back, although I was unconvinced she was drinking much, but she had to have had some?

Her eye also stopped squinting and she had a bit more energy, so, we decided to put her back with her flock. She seems fine? I am giving the whole flock vitamins right now (to help her out specifically), but she was pecking away with the rest of them. Who knows. We are keeping an eye on her, and I will see what she left me on the poop board this morning… fun fun.

Thank you for taking the time to chime in! Always appreciated.

 

[Lalachickens]

Thank you @Wyorp Rock .

We gave her another day inside just to observe, and she suddenly had her appetite back, although I was unconvinced she was drinking much, but she had to have had some?

Her eye also stopped squinting and she had a bit more energy, so, we decided to put her back with her flock. She seems fine? I am giving the whole flock vitamins right now (to help her out specifically), but she was pecking away with the rest of them. Who knows. We are keeping an eye on her, and I will see what she left me on the poop board this morning… fun fun.

Thank you for taking the time to chime in! Always appreciated.

One last thing, @Wyorp Rock , since we quite recently got our MS diagnosis, we have read up on that particular form of MS, so we were looking at her legs, and they didn’t seem swollen? As I said her energy was lower, but she seems to be normal out there now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad she's improved and back with her flock.

MS does affect the legs/joints, you may see respiratory symptoms like MG along with it sometimes too.

I'd monitor her and see how it goes. Could be she was feeling a bit off and needing to lay an egg or she may be fighting illness and it will come and go for a while.