ILL CHICKEN UPDATE Not eating.

[Chickenman MAN]

Hi! I have an ex-bat called Bettie, she is the tattier of the bunch but this morning I noticed she was acting lethargic. I came up this afternoon and she was stood there with her head tucked down. She had no food in her crop (all the other chickens had at least some). When she goes to eat something she does the pecking motion but stops about 2cm away from the food, she repeats this multiple times without eating any food. Poo is liquidy and solid (liquid urate, semi-solid green faeces) please see images attached. I looked down her throat, nothing strange, I also smelt her breath, nothing rancid. I noticed two bugs the other day on her face seemingly drinking her blood, I removed them with tweezers (idk if this is important), they are lice and mite free, however. They were black and decent-sized (ticks?). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

She has eaten basically nothing and drank very little today. Should I syringe feed her?

 

[azygous]

It sounds like she could be blind. Have you looked at her eyes? Use a light to see if the pupils react. Compare one eye to the other. Are they different? Is the pupil of one eye shrunken and irregular? Color of the iris, faded, muddy looking?

To test her vision, separate her from the others. Use a favorite treat. Test the right eye, which focuses on close things, by holding the treat off to the right side. See if she turns her head or reacts at all.

The left eye focuses on distance. Test is by getting ten feet away and holding out the treat.

What does her poop look like? It might point in one direction or another.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is the OP’s other thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...crop-weird-green-poo-images-attached.1463708/

 

[Chickenman MAN]

It sounds like she could be blind. Have you looked at her eyes? Use a light to see if the pupils react. Compare one eye to the other. Are they different? Is the pupil of one eye shrunken and irregular? Color of the iris, faded, muddy looking?

To test her vision, separate her from the others. Use a favorite treat. Test the right eye, which focuses on close things, by holding the treat off to the right side. See if she turns her head or reacts at all.

The left eye focuses on distance. Test is by getting ten feet away and holding out the treat.

What does her poop look like? It might point in one direction or another.

No she can definately see. Eyes look normal, when I opened the shed this morning she was desperate to get out. I will check with a light though! Thanks.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

She can definately see. Just tested. She went out the door to explore a bit, and when I put her back in she stood back in her bed. She just doesn't want to eat. I'm going to syringe feed her a sugar water solution.

 

[Eggcessive]

I prefer to hold up a small cup or lid of water up to the beak to let them drink on their own which decreases the chance of choking. You can dip the beak in the cup to encourage her.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

I prefer to hold up a small cup or lid of water up to the beak to let them drink on their own which decreases the chance of choking. You can dip the beak in the cup to encourage her.

I've just force fed her with a syringe. Both sugar water and mashed up layers pellets. I tried multiple times to do as described by you but she simply doesn't want to. She occasionally eats about 5g of pellets, but she's only done this twice today.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

Good news! Gave her warm mashed up layers pellets and sugar water this morning. She ate it by herself.