Lethargic chicken, closing eyes and lying down

[chickentim]

Hello,

We have a Rhode Island Red of about 12-15mo who has started acting extremely lethargic and is lying down and closing her eyes around the yard. She also hasn't passed an egg for about a week that we have been able to find. We thought that may have been due to the stress from two new hens added to the flock, but concerned it could be a factor here. It seems she had some diarrhea last night. I've inspected her physically and she doesn't seem to have any signs of cuts or predator attack.

I've read about a bunch of possibilities. It seems like cocci could be likely, and I'm planning to go get some Amprolium now to force feed her. Have read a lot about egg binding, though that seems very rare and doesn't seem to have all the signs (panting, straining) but maybe they don't always present themselves. Anything else that we can do?

Context: She is one of our small backyard flock of three hens. We've had her for about a year. We got the other two a few weeks ago, and quarantined them for about 10 days before introducing them. Our older hen seemed to quickly establish herself as top of the pecking order then they got along fine. They are free range - they have a small coop but can wander the yard all day. We feed them organic layer pellets. Noticed roaches in our layer pellets the other day, not sure if that could be a factor. Just added some electrolytes and calcium gluconate in the water today after seeing the symptoms but don't do that regularly.

Thank you for any help!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would insert a clean finger into her vent about 2 inches to feel for a stuck egg or other obstruction. Look her over for lice and mites under her vent and belly, and under her wings. Feel of her crop to see if it is empty or full, hard, doughy, or puffy. Recheck it first thing in the morning before she eats or drinks. If you are going to give amprollium or Corid, mix it in the water. Remove the other water. No vitamins while on Corid. Dosgage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5-7 days. You can give her a human calcium tablet orally, or give the calcium gluconate directly, but I am not sure of the dosage for the latter. Watch to see if the others are keeping her from food or water. Poop pictures and ones of her are welcome.

 

[chickentim]

I would insert a clean finger into her vent about 2 inches to feel for a stuck egg or other obstruction. Look her over for lice and mites under her vent and belly, and under her wings. Feel of her crop to see if it is empty or full, hard, doughy, or puffy. Recheck it first thing in the morning before she eats or drinks. If you are going to give amprollium or Corid, mix it in the water. Remove the other water. No vitamins while on Corid. Dosgage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5-7 days. You can give her a human calcium tablet orally, or give the calcium gluconate directly, but I am not sure of the dosage for the latter. Watch to see if the others are keeping her from food or water. Poop pictures and ones of her are welcome.

Thanks Eggcessive. Add Amprolium as instructed, tried to get some in her mouth to make sure she gets it but also added to their water. Not sure she got more than a handful of drops of the solution, was just slowly dropping it on her beak and seeing what she licks off.

The poultry guy at the feed store felt pretty strongly it was cocci for what it's worth. Poop is mucussy.

I feel woefully unqualified to test the vent as you describe, but will take a shot at it this AM.

Thanks again for the quick help.

 

[ChickenLeg]

I second the cocci, if you have a baby syringe, or get a syringe (a syringe and needle will work if all thats available, just remove the needle) can be purchased at feed store. Get one that reads in 0.1mL increments. You can oral administer 0.1mL per pound of body weight of the liquid corid 9.6% twice a day for 3 days. Heres a link to help administer, this way you know shes definitely getting enough to beat the cocci. It can kill a chicken within days so the sooner you act the better

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[chickentim]

Thanks ChickenLeg. I got the powder Corid, so mixed a small amount according to the bag instructions (10mg of amprolin per 2.2lb of body weight) and gave to her directly this morning (per instructions in that link - very helpful thank you!). Will plan to repeat that for the next few days. There's also amprolin in her drinking water but she doesn't seem to be drinking.

Hopefully that sets her on the right path, though worried a bit about her getting water and nutrients as she doesn't seem to have the energy to go and eat and drink on her own. Looking at some options to force feed her some today, any suggestions are welcome!

 

[Pandang81]

Did you check her vent for a stuck egg? They can easily die from that. Happens more often than you think.

 

[chickentim]

Did you check her vent for a stuck egg? They can easily die from that. Happens more often than you think.

Ah I meant to say - found a soft shell egg with her this morning! So seems she is passing eggs with is a relief, but definitely still having some issues. I've put some calcium gluconate in the water as well to hopefully help with this, though again, any suggestions welcome as it's hard to navigate all the potential treatments there. I'm hoping that this is cocci and the stress of that has messed with her reproductive process and that will work itself out if she pulls through the cocci...