I have a sick chook but I am not sure if I can help it?

[AnnieCopperkettle]

Hi all, I have a sick ISA brown hen. I recently had 3 2 year olds which I rescued from a farm, but they all died from nothing obvious within about 4 months of each other, at about a year after taking them on. The last one died a month ago. This ISA is from my original 3 chickens which I got at point of lay and have been well cared for, they are about 3.5 years old now. The other two young ones are totally fine. None are laying, but I think this has to do with broodiness issues with my other young hens. But even before this I had only been getting 2 or 3 eggs a week from the lot of the ISAs (this was over winter, we're in a cold part of Australia).

Her symptoms include, drooping neck and tucking under her tail, runny yellow droppings and a dirty bum, sitting in the corner of the run and looking generally miserable. She was still scratching about and eating, but not as much as usual. She had some white mites on her but by no means was she infested.

I thought she may be egg bound so I gave her a warm bath and had a good feel of her abdomen. I couldn't feel anything obvious but she seemed to really enjoy the massage. I have her isolated in a pet crate inside with vitamins in her water and extra crushed shell in her food, but she is not really eating much. She hasn't laid anything. I almost always put apple cider vinegar in their water, and also the occasional head of garlic.

Apparently ISA browns can have the tendency to not live long and die suddenly. Is she maybe just at the end of her days? Or can I help her? Maybe she needs dewormer? Maybe something is going through the flock and it killed the weakest chooks off first? I am relatively new to chicken keeping and am still learning. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[coach723]

When you have multiple unexplained losses in a short period of time, a necropsy is a very good idea, to find out what is going on and if it could affect the rest of your flock. There are state labs that are often very reasonable where you can send them for necropsy, and they can give you answers. Those answers are particularly useful for identifying bacterial or viral causes. ISA browns do have a higher percentage of reproductive issues as they get older (that doesn't mean it happens to them all) so those are always a possibility. Those can include internal laying, infection and cancers. Many times those things are not confirmed until necropsy. The other option is to learn to do your own informal necropsy at home to look for obvious things. I will link below to a list of poultry labs, you can contact your nearest for particulars so you know what to do when it's needed.
Yellow droppings can be from infection, if you have pictures of the droppings, that might be helpful. Did you feel any abdominal bloat when you bathed her, between the legs below the vent? Compare with others if you aren't sure. Is her crop emptying normally? Does it feel full, empty, soft and squishy, hard, etc? Check it first thing in the morning before she's had access to food or water, it should be empty then.
Necropsy sources:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
The crop is found on the lower right side of the breast, image below.