Lethargic and not eating

[CandDPhilly]

Hey all,
I'm new to chickens and am having a bit of a scare.
I have a barred rock that is about a year and a half old. Over the past week or 10 days shes been very lethargic, standing with her eyes closed a lot, slowly walking, not putting up her usual fight when we pick her up. In the past 4 days or so she hasnt been eating much. She eats dried meal worms but the crickets we tried giving her seemed to be too much work for her to eat.
She has very watery and sparse poop. She did start molting a little while ago but that seems to have slowed down or stopped midway through her molt.
We started giving her vetRX, put diatomaceous earth in their food, and put rooster booster(vitamind and electrolytes with lacto bacillus) in their water 3 days ago. Our other 3 are acting fine, but this one seems to be getting weaker by the day.
Any idea of what it could be and how we can help her?

 

[ChickNanny13]

Stop with the DE, it's of no use ... Picture of her poop & her would be nice
Molting is very hard on them, takes alot of "energy" out of them.
Try some scrambled eggs or boiled (mashed), tuna, tofu, mealworms are a good protein treat. Wet her feed into a mash, see if she'll eat that.

Have you checked in her mouth?
Have you checked her crop, empty in the mornings & full at roost?
What are you feeding?
Have you checked under her feet?

 

[aart]

This is what I do when a bird if acting 'off':
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Please describe the housing. Square footage, number of birds and available ventilation at night.

 

[CandDPhilly]

Please describe the housing. Square footage, number of birds and available ventilation at night.

About 20 square feet, 4 birds, well ventilated. Its a prefab one from tractor supply co, I believe it says its for 6-8 birds

 

[CandDPhilly]

This is what I do when a bird if acting 'off':
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

Thank you! I will try these things. These are very helpful suggestions.
She did eat this morning when we made her food into mush, she seemed to perk up quickly after eating

 

[aart]

About 20 square feet, 4 birds, well ventilated. Its a prefab one from tractor supply co, I believe it says its for 6-8 birds

Can you post some pics, please?
I have yet to see a prefab coop that is well ventilated....
..and they always exaggerate the number of birds they will healthily house.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

About 20 square feet, 4 birds, well ventilated. Its a prefab one from tractor supply co, I believe it says its for 6-8 birds

If it is a prefab coop from tractor supply, it won't hold 8 birds and it isn't well ventilated.
I've seen them. I haven't seen one with sufficient ventilation.
Which of the coops in the following link is it?
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/catalog/chicken-coops-pens-nesting-boxes
ETA
Sorry if the link doesn't work. Is it the Omaha coop? That one declares 6-8 chickens.

 

[CandDPhilly]

If it is a prefab coop from tractor supply, it won't hold 8 birds and it isn't well ventilated.
I've seen them. I haven't seen one with sufficient ventilation.
Which of the coops in the following link is it?
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/catalog/chicken-coops-pens-nesting-boxes
ETA
Sorry if the link doesn't work. Is it the Omaha coop? That one declares 6-8 chickens.

I only have 4 anyway, I wasn't planning on having 8 in there ever.

 

[leslielbk]

I have the same thing going on. I've lost two chickens in the past two weeks and this morning another one is exhibiting the same lethargy. That's how it started before the other two died. Of course it's Saturday and I can't find a vet that does chickens without taking her to the emergency for a beginning cost of $115. I want to stabilize her for at least the weekend and try to find a farm vet Monday.
I'm not trying to scare you. But I did a necropsy on the last one that died two days ago and all she had was wet feed in her crop. No smell no grass nothing. For the life of me checked her everywhere and I couldn't find anything.
I'll isolate her in a cage and set her up. I have some nice mealworms to feed her. We'll see what happens. But if she dies over the weekend I will feel absolutely horrible.