I need help! Very Sick Hen!

[aussie10girl]

Good afternoon everyone,
I have a very sick hen that is about 9 months old, and I can't figure out what is wrong with her or what I need to do to help her.
She has been panting very hard since Sunday (02/25/2024) and seems to have a fever. Her feet stay very hot and her comb is pale. She doesn't have any energy at all.
Since she started having symptoms, I have brough her into my house in our little "hospital coop" so that we can keep a close eye on her.
Because she seems to have a fever, I have been placing her in a small tub for a foot bath to help bring her temperature down and she will fall asleep in the water. When she is out of the water for about 15 minutes she starts panting again and she just looks so exhausted. Her other symptoms are as follows: feet feeling like they are on fire, comb hot, holding her wings out like she is very hot, lethargic, decreased appetite, not drinking very much, a little off balance, poop is a little watery, and hasn't laid an egg since Sunday.
I initially thought that she might have a respiratory sickness because she has been panting so much so, I gave her some VetRx and that hasn't helped at all.
She has access to electrolyte water, and we have chicken feed soaked in water to make a soft mash. We have given her some yoghurt just to given her some energy but, she just isn't getting any better. Any suggestions or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Premier Poultry]

Hi, the symtoms kind of sound like heat stress or an infection do you live somewhere hot

 

[aussie10girl]

No, I don't. I live in North Carolina and on Monday the hottest it got was around 70 degrees and it has been cool the rest of the week.

 

[nuthatched]

Diet? Poops? Crop feel? How's she standing? Has she been wormed?
Any wounds?

 

[aussie10girl]

Diet? Poops? Crop feel? How's she standing? Has she been wormed?
Any wounds?

She normally eats Purina Layena Pellets Chicken Feed, her crop is pretty much staying completely empty because she doesn't have an appetite. She is standing kind of hunched/slumped over. I haven't checked for worms but, it doesn't seem like to have any signs for them. No wounds at all.

 

[Eggcessive]

I usually offer scrambled egg and wet mushy chicken feed. Tuna is also good to use in small amounts. I would give her a total exam. Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? Has she lost weight in her breast muscle, or does her breast bone feel sharp? Is her lower belly under her tail between the legs enlarged or firm or full of fluid? Cannyou feel of her crop in early morning to see if it has emptied overnight? Have you checked her skin under her belly and elsewhere for lice or mites crawling around? Is she walking normally? What does her poop look like? You can’t see most worms or the worm eggs except with a microscope or fecal float at the vet. Two good wormers for chickens are Valbazen cattle wormer or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer. I can give dosages.

 

[aussie10girl]

I usually offer scrambled egg and wet mushy chicken feed. Tuna is also good to use in small amounts. I would give her a total exam. Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? Has she lost weight in her breast muscle, or does her breast bone feel sharp? Is her lower belly under her tail between the legs enlarged or firm or full of fluid? Cannyou feel of her crop in early morning to see if it has emptied overnight? Have you checked her skin under her belly and elsewhere for lice or mites crawling around? Is she walking normally? What does her poop look like? You can’t see most worms or the worm eggs except with a microscope or fecal float at the vet. Two good wormers for chickens are Valbazen cattle wormer or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer. I can give dosages.

We offered her scrambled eggs and mushy feed but, she has wanted to eat any of it.
She does lay eggs but, she has been in our house since Monday and hasn't laid since. Her tail position in a normal posture and it feels as if she has lost at least 1.5 pounds so, she feels like she barely has any chest muscles/meat at all. Her breastbone feels normal, she just feels very thin and her feet and comb are pale & hot (feverish like). Her lower belly has the normal firmness to it and were she isn't eating much, her crop feels pretty empty. I haven't seen any lice or mites. She does seem a little bit off balance but, I honestly think it's from her being very weak. Her poop has been very watery because she has only been drinking (very little). I asked a local feed store what we could give her and they suggested to give her Duramycin via injection for an infection but, I'm not sure how long we need to give it to her. Some say every other day and others say every day for 3-5 days.
Do you know anything about this for chickens?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

We offered her scrambled eggs and mushy feed but, she has wanted to eat any of it.
She does lay eggs but, she has been in our house since Monday and hasn't laid since. Her tail position in a normal posture and it feels as if she has lost at least 1.5 pounds so, she feels like she barely has any chest muscles/meat at all. Her breastbone feels normal, she just feels very thin and her feet and comb are pale & hot (feverish like). Her lower belly has the normal firmness to it and were she isn't eating much, her crop feels pretty empty. I haven't seen any lice or mites. She does seem a little bit off balance but, I honestly think it's from her being very weak. Her poop has been very watery because she has only been drinking (very little). I asked a local feed store what we could give her and they suggested to give her Duramycin via injection for an infection but, I'm not sure how long we need to give it to her. Some say every other day and others say every day for 3-5 days.
Do you know anything about this for chickens?

has not laid since monday? get her scanned, she could be egg bound

 

[aussie10girl]

has not laid since monday? get her scanned, she could be egg bound

Well, she isn't standing or looking egg bound. We have been letting her stand in water several times a day just to bring her temperature down so, I feel like that should have helped if she was egg bound. I know they were starting to slow down egg production because of the winter weather.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She has been panting very hard since Sunday (02/25/2024) and seems to have a fever. Her feet stay very hot and her comb is pale. She doesn't have any energy at all.

feet feeling like they are on fire, comb hot, holding her wings out like she is very hot, lethargic, decreased appetite, not drinking very much, a little off balance, poop is a little watery, and hasn't laid an egg since Sunday.

I'd get some extra Calcium into her asap.
She may be having a hard time expelling an egg or other material like lash egg.

You can find Calcium Citrate with D3 at Walmart, CVS, etc. on the vitamin aisle. Give her 1 tablet daily for a week. Just pop the pill right into her beak and let her swallow it.

Chickens have a normal body temp of around 105-107F so sometimes they do feel warm, especially feet and under the wings.
If she does seem to like having her feet in the water, that's o.k., just take care that soaking a distressed or lethargic chicken can sometimes add more stress and send them over the edge.

Photos of her and her poop would be good.