Ill Rhode Island Red Hen

[chickenlover chickencrazy]

One of my three rhode island reds is ill. She is between 3 and 5 years old. She (as well as the other rhode island reds) has stopped laying eggs. Her comb was pale but has started regaining colour. She is eating and drinking but has a small appetite. She is always very tired and sits in the run with her eyes closed, standing up. She lacks energy and cannot make it up steps but can walk around freely. Her poo is quite runny. Please help!!!

If you have any ideas at all please reply!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

3 and 5 years old...stopped laying eggs. Her comb was pale but has started regaining colour...eating and drinking but has a small appetite...always very tired and sits in the run with her eyes closed, standing up

Can you post some photos of how she stands and of her poop?
Any bloat, swelling or feeling of fluid in the abdomen?

At her age, and by your description, it sounds like she may have an internal laying/reproductive disorder like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, cancer, tumors, Salpingitis or Ascites.

Taking a fecal sample to your vet for testing of worm and cocci overload would be a good idea, just to rule those out.

Try to keep her hydrated, offer poultry vitamins and see if she will eat for you.
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx

 

[biophiliac]

@rebrascora ?
How long ago did she stop laying?
@WVduckchick ?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Where in the world are you??... it really helps if you put your location on your profile page so that we can see at a glance each time you post and therefore have an idea of your climatic conditions and seasons..... Excessive heat can cause them to stop laying and have runny poop and make them weary.

Have you checked her over physically for any injuries or abnormalities?.... particularly her crop and abdomen for excessive swelling and any unusual/bad smells. When do your girls normally moult?.... I have some shedding feathers now and that can make them under the weather and obviously stop laying.... are you seeing feathers in the run and coop?
Another option would be egg bound, if she has been laying recently. Sometimes as they get towards the end of their cycle, their body gets low on nutrients to make hard shells and the produce a shell less egg that is very hard for them to pass. That will make them exhibit these symptoms too. Does she look like she is panting and her vent pulsing? A soak in warm Epsom salts bath and perhaps a lubed, gloved finger inserted into the vent a couple of inches and gently worked around to try to ease the constriction may help together with a direct dose of calcium.... a tums tablet crushed onto some scrambled egg will help with contactions as well as shell quality for future eggs.... it might be a good idea to assess their diet and see if perhaps they are getting too many treats which means that they eat less of their layer ration which has the calcium they need..... not always the case but it happens all to easily because we love to treat out chickens.... so it's important to take stock every once in a while and be firm with ourselves as well as out chickens.

I hope this has given you some ideas as to what may be wrong and how to progress. Good luck with her

Regards

Barbara

 

[rebrascora]

If she has not laid an egg for several weeks/months, then internal laying/ascites may be an issue as Wyorp Rock is suggesting.

 

[rebrascora]

She looks like she may have an impacted crop. Can you check her crop and give it a massage. How does it feel? Smell her breath.... does it smell bad?
She does look sick. Feel her body. Does she feel thin and scrawny with a sharply protruding breast bone?

Obviously not heat stroke since I now see you are in the UK like me.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, feel her crop, but also check her abdomen for swelling/bloat.

She looks like she is very uncomfortable.

 

[rebrascora]

Go easy on the sweetcorn, it doesn't have much protein in it and will dilute their overall protein and calcium intake.

Skinny says she is starving which means her body is not getting the nutrients it needs.... this may be due to a partial blockage (crop or gizzard impaction) or a tumour or possibly blindness causing her not to find food. Chickens will try to appear normal by pecking at food with the rest of their flock but if you suspect you have a sick one, watch closely because they will often pick up and drop the same bit multiple times or peck but not hit the piece of food....usually indicating poor vision.
If her crop is impacted she will be very hungry, but unable to eat much, which sounds like your situation and she will become weak because her body is living off it's reserves.... hence light weight and emaciated. Obviously she will not have enough nourishment to produce eggs. My guess from my own experience is that this has been an ongoing problem for weeks if not months. In my cases, the crops contained a soggy plug of tangled straw/hay and long grass that was preventing food from traveling down into her digestive tract. I managed to get one broken up with massage but it took over a week and the other it didn't work and as a last resort I had to do crop surgery, which was incredibly successful.

If it is her crop, I would recommend 10 minute massages 4 x a day, massaging from the bottom upwards.... she should enjoy it or at least find it beneficial. Sloppy food made from regular chicken feed (pellets or crumble, not mash) soaked in water and then made into a runny gravy with more water and a little olive oil mixed in and if you can get some "Nutri Drops" (they come in a small bottle with a dropper lid) from your local feed store, they will help give her some essential liquid nutrients. Some natural yoghurt mixed into her sloppy feed will also be beneficial.

If you are unable to get things moving after a few days, then you might want to try vomiting her but there are risks, so try massage first.

Or if this is a loved pet and you have the funds, find a vet because she is seriously ill by the look of her.

 

[biophiliac]

I had to do crop surgery, which was incredibly successful.

Did you make an article or thread about this? I would love to hear more.

 

[rebrascora]

I am cutting and pasting a reply I made to the OP via Private Messaging or whatever it is now called on the new forum format, so that others can read and may benefit...

It would be better if we conduct this discussion entirely on the forum rather than through messages so that everyone can see and add to anything I forget or correct me if I say something wrong....we all get it wrong sometimes..... don't worry about the moulting now, your chicken is sick from something much more serious than losing a few feathers and will almost certainly die if you don't take action...

Sour crop is usually caused by a yeast infection in the crop, a bit like thrush. It makes the breath smell bad and the chicken usually goes off their food.

Impacted crop is when the crop is blocked with something and food cannot proceed into the digestive tract to be broken down and absorbed, so the bird effectively starves even though they have plenty of food available. Fibrous material like straw, grass and hay are common causes of impacted crop, but a foreign object can also cause it or a blockage further down the digestive tract. My chickens with this had a wad of soggy straw/hay which was plugging the outlet from the crop and stopping food and water from getting through. They had been eating their straw bedding and long grass and it was all tangled up inside them. If it is this, the crop doesn't usually feel hard but soft and squidgy. Massaging it from the bottom upwards will hopefully help to lift it up off the outlet pipe and allow food to drain through. Giving only liquid feed will help to get nourishment draining through it. Imagine putting a wet ball of cotton wool in your sink and then pouring in a whole load of chicken food and water on top. It will mostly just sit there unless you remove the cotton wool pad covering the plughole.... this is what I think is happening in your chicken's crop, bit the cotton wool pad is probably an entangled ball of soggy straw in your chicken's case.

I hope that makes it easier to understand.