Lethargic Buff Brahma w/ puffy cloaca and "winking" - new chicken caretaker seeks your advice!

[tapawingochicks]

Hello -

I have a ~3 year old Buff Brahma hen who's been acting odd for about 4-6 weeks. I've pulled her from the flock and have her spending her nights in the house in a dog-crate, so I can monitor food and water. I'm very new to chickens, and I'm constantly second-guessing myself with them, so any feedback is appreciated!

Symptoms I see include:

1. Feather loss from the back of her neck, starting approx 5 weeks ago - now almost bare. I initially thought this was due to conflict with other hens (Miss Brahma is the lowest on the totem pole) and her perchant for roosting under another hen who poops on her.
2. Lethargy: she will sit in the coop, or in the run, rather than peck around with other hens. This week I moved her inside to a dog-crate at night, and she will sit quietly in the crate rather than move around the room/explore, even with the door open). Her lethargy has been noticeable for approximately 10 days. I started bringing her in at night 3 nights ago, and she spent all of today in the crate instead of returning to the flock so I can easily monitor food/water (total 4 nights inside).
3. Trouble standing/walking (she never goes very far without stopping to squat, and she will stumble as she walks, especially after getting up). I've checked her legs/feet, and there are no open wounds/breaks I can feel. This has been noticeable for about 10 days.
4. "Winking" of her cloaca, like a mare in heat, accompanied by strained breathing sounds on the "push" out. The word that comes to mind is "constipated". However, I've seen her poop in the past few days (brown and white, not particularly runny), and she typically has some manure in the dog-crate in the morning. The area surrounding her cloaca is clear (no discharge), and a bit pink. I cannot remember what her butt looked like beforehand, but my suspicion is that it is now puffy/swollen - I'm just uncertain how much. I just started checking this
5. Crop - this is where I get lost. I'm comparing her crop to other hens in my flock, and hers feels squishy and round (which I'm guessing means "full). I've only checked it correctly for 2 days - I completely misunderstood where the crop was before this.
6. She feels thin through her breastbone. I didn't notice it until earlier tonight, but she feels especially delicate compared to my other hens.
7. I suspect she's not eating enough - she is still eating and drinking, but noticeably more her water than her food.

Since I'm struggling to diagnose (both knowledge and confidence are lacking), I've tried a hodgepodge of different things over the past few days. Actions I've taken thus far include:

1. Removing her from flock overnight (for 3 nights), and full time for the past 24 hours
2. Adding apple cider vinegar to her water (plenty of water available for her), and calcium dusting on her food.
3. Gave her a warm Epsom salt bath. When I collected her from the coop the other night to bring inside, she was nesting in someone else's dropping pile, rather than getting up on the roost. She was icky, and a bath seemed appropriate. I did some quick reading and it sounded like warm bath might also be relaxing/help with egg bound too, but I'm now doubting the efficacy of that source.

Any assistance diagnosing, or just solid references I could refer based on her symptoms to would be VERY helpful - I am particularly fond of this hen, and she's the reason I decided to try keeping a small flock when my roommate left (my roommate was the Head of Chicken Care previously, and had a much larger flock - this Brahma is part of a clutch she raised from chicks 3 years ago in our living room).

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/symptoms

You can try the poultry symptom checker. I sometimes find it overwhelming. It can bring up more questions.

#2 and #3 that you listed are the most worrisome to me. If she feels cruddy she may not be taking care of herself. Eating less and then losing weight. Her crop should be full at night and empty in the morning. I would keep her separated until you can figure out better what’s going on. I’ll tag a few more people to get some ideas.

@casportpony @KikisGirls @Eggcessive @WVduckchick

 

[tapawingochicks]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/symptoms

You can try the poultry symptom checker. I sometimes find it overwhelming. It can bring up more questions.

#2 and #3 that you listed are the most worrisome to me. If she feels cruddy she may not be taking care of herself. Eating less and then losing weight. Her crop should be full at night and empty in the morning. I would keep her separated until you can figure out better what’s going on. I’ll tag a few more people to get some ideas.

@casportpony @KikisGirls @Eggcessive @WVduckchick

Thank you! every little bit helps!

 

[WVduckchick]

Hello and
Sorry your joining us is under such circumstances.

First couple things that come to my mind, definitely not the only possibilities, but maybe we can help narrow some things down...

Since she is 3-years old, I assume she has laid eggs ok in the past? Is she currently laying? Most of mine that stopped over the winter have resumed laying now.

Has she ever been dewormed?

Also monitoring her weight would be a good idea. Try to track her weight around the same time each day, or at least make note of crop-full or crop-empty weight.

Hopefully some others will also offer suggestions. pictures may also help, if you have some to share, maybe someone will notice something.

Best of luck!