Hunched chicken

[Chicken_Hotel]

Hello, I’m quite new to chickens and inherited 4 hens 18 months ago.
My chalk hill blue (aged about 4/5) went down hill, stopped eating and was hunched about 2 months ago, we lost her last week when she started vomiting. Her poop was consistent with that of other chickens that had cancer (from reading online), but I’m no expert! One of by brown hens (about 3yrs?) is looking hunched up, she’s known as Wonky because she has a bad leg and laid funny eggs(long shape, sometimes soft / no shell). She pretty much stopped laying last September but recently she’s had a very smelly sticky poop which sticks to her feathers so I trimmed them back and cleaned her, this has helped but she’s still not great. She has days of watery poop with bits of corn in. Her crop doesn’t feel hard, normally squishy, it’s sometimes not empty in the morning. She’s perky enough but she’s hunched up, and her chest (above crop) is rounded. I’ll try and get a picture later. She’s eating and drink some days more than others. I’m sure her comb has shrunk!
Not sure if there is something wrong, something contagious or if she’s just who she is, a wonky hen in retirement!
Oh I should say she always has mites and I am at a loss of how to get rid of them. The other two don’t seem to get them tho…!!
No blood in any poop.
I have one other brown hen (3yrs?) who lays daily and a hen that thinks it’s a cockerel…!!!!
They have had the pellets infused with wormer last month (got this as I wondered if her sticky bum and the chalky’s problem was worn linked) and I use vermx monthly (ish!) I clean their bed out everyday.

Any advice gratefully received!
Thanks

 

[Chicken_Hotel]

 

[Chicken_Hotel]

She’s looking perkier and has just had some yogurt. Her keel is very pronounced- what can I give her to fatten her up?

 

[coach723]

Reproductive problems in hens over the age of two (and sometimes younger) are not uncommon. The stopping laying and soft shelled or no shelled eggs could be an indication of that. Those can include cancers, infections, internal laying. Symptoms can be similar with all of them, poopy butts, weight loss (prounounced keel), crop problems, bloated abdomens, can all be signs. Often you don't know for sure until necropsy. The mites can leave her anemic and weak, so those need to be dealt with. They will often find a bird that is ill with something else. Permethrin is your best option for treatment, it's the least expensive and easiest to find. You can also use Elector PSP, but it's much more expensive.
You can use powders or sprays on the bird, and you need to clean out the coop, remove and discard all bedding and nesting materials, and spray it also, getting into all nooks and crannies. You need to do repeated treatments, usually at least 3 at weekly intervals, to make sure that you get those that continue to hatch. The chemicals kill the mites but not the eggs. There are many brands, I've shown a couple below.
You can try giving some canned tuna, scrambled egg, liverwurst, etc. see if she will eat those to help with weight. Some nutridrench for a few days can give them a boost. If it's a reproductive problem then she may not want to eat, and it may just slowly get worse.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[Chicken_Hotel]

Reproductive problems in hens over the age of two (and sometimes younger) are not uncommon. The stopping laying and soft shelled or no shelled eggs could be an indication of that. Those can include cancers, infections, internal laying. Symptoms can be similar with all of them, poopy butts, weight loss (prounounced keel), crop problems, bloated abdomens, can all be signs. Often you don't know for sure until necropsy. The mites can leave her anemic and weak, so those need to be dealt with. They will often find a bird that is ill with something else. Permethrin is your best option for treatment, it's the least expensive and easiest to find. You can also use Elector PSP, but it's much more expensive.
You can use powders or sprays on the bird, and you need to clean out the coop, remove and discard all bedding and nesting materials, and spray it also, getting into all nooks and crannies. You need to do repeated treatments, usually at least 3 at weekly intervals, to make sure that you get those that continue to hatch. The chemicals kill the mites but not the eggs. There are many brands, I've shown a couple below.
You can try giving some canned tuna, scrambled egg, liverwurst, etc. see if she will eat those to help with weight. Some nutridrench for a few days can give them a boost. If it's a reproductive problem then she may not want to eat, and it may just slowly get worse.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
View attachment 3140644
View attachment 3140645

Thank you, I will try these products as I’ve been disinfectanting the coop and putting powder on the girls but they are still around. Makes sense they would target a sick animal.
I took Wonky to the vet as I was concerned and turns out she was in the advanced stages of heart disease. Nothing I could do really so kindest thing was to say goodbye to her. I’m gutted but also pleased I hadn’t missed something we could have treated. Looks like my other hen had it too purely by coincidence.
Thank you very much for all your advice though - I will definitely keep a close eye on my other hens.

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry for your loss.
I lost one once to a congenital heart defect, the heart was literally the size of my fist, just huge.
Sometimes it's very hard to know what's going on inside, symptoms can be so similar, and they hide it well.

 

[Chicken_Hotel]

I'm sorry for your loss.
I lost one once to a congenital heart defect, the heart was literally the size of my fist, just huge.
Sometimes it's very hard to know what's going on inside, symptoms can be so similar, and they hide it well.

Thank you. Yes she was hiding it well poor thing.