Lethargic chicken not eating

[bhawk-23]

So I brought her to the vet and it was decided she is not isuffering nor even looks in any discomfort so we will finish out the antibiotics and syringe feed unless something changes.

She felt her abdomen and agreed it did not feel bloated. And she felt a firm lump (which was about the size of her eggs) further up that didn’t appear to hurt fluffy. But she is not a chicken vet. She is a vet who has chickens and kindly and humanely euthanizes my hens if they are suffering and hubs is gone.

And wouldn’t you know, Fluffy ate on her own some tonight

I did inquire about a hormone implant with a vet a bit further away. He is going to get back to me next week on prices. Not sure I will do it but I do want to see if it’s a viable option financially.

Thanks so much @azygous Your information and support has helped more than a few of my girls

 

[azygous]

Fluffy is a fighter. Thanks for the update. I was hoping to hear she got a stay of execution.

 

[bhawk-23]

Fluffy is a fighter. Thanks for the update. I was hoping to hear she got a stay of execution.

She has gone up from 614 grams on Friday to 630 grams this morning. She teeters between eating on her own and better poops to not eating and the clear with light green poops. Those sickly ones are smaller and less often though. She is grooming and quite active. She wanted outside yesterday so I brought her with me to do some yard work. She was pecked, losing feathers one time, by the normal hen that does it and stuck close to me after that. She didn’t eat after that trip outside so I will not attempt it again until she is stronger.
Should I consider the hormone therapy if it’s affordable or give her a chance to lay again? I’d hate to lose her from EYP after all this work to get her healthy again. I’m not convinced we are fully out of the woods yet either.
Thoughts?

Edit: to add a picture of her improving poop. I am a strange one but I do believe an animal’s poop can say a lot about their health

 

[azygous]

We all seem to be readers of chicken poop here. It kind of goes with the territory. Her poop does appear improved considerably.

Hormone therapy wouldn't hurt to try if you have the means. It does need to be redone every few months so you can see if it works before continuing it.

 

[bhawk-23]

We all seem to be readers of chicken poop here. It kind of goes with the territory. Her poop does appear improved considerably.

Hormone therapy wouldn't hurt to try if you have the means. It does need to be redone every few months so you can see if it works before continuing it.

I and my son have crohn’s so definitely versed on poop here

I am worried about the dosing since she is so tiny. This vet is an old school vet that works on all animals. He did my girls crop surgery over a year ago. It was his first one but all went perfect and she is thriving as top hen after surviving that and MD (knock on wood!!!!)
He has not done an implant but seemed to understand what it was, how to do it and willing to help, just the same as her crop. I only asked about an implant and not the injections. I asked on a duck thread about dosages in hopes they also had experience with using it on the same weight. I’ll discuss that this week when he calls back with more details on costs.

 

[bhawk-23]

@azygous
Ok, weird behavior that is not going away.

She circles her food and looks at it like she doesn’t recognize it. Like, looks close, backs up, moves. Repeat.

Sometimes she gets close enough to slightly touch her beak and it surprises her. Then she looks again and cautiously eats it. Fortunately, she is really starting to eat more now.

This has been going on since she started eating some on her own. She did forage and eat worms and seeds outside today! But we were only out for a short time since Saturday she seemed to go backwards after being out too long.
Thoughts on this weird reaction to the mash she used to dive right into?

I hope you are having a good Monday!

 

[bhawk-23]

So I’m not sure what is going on with Fluffy. All signs should lead to her making a recovery.
She is up and moving.
Goes to the door to go outside with the dogs (though we don’t let her at this time).
She is gaining weight.
She is preening.
She eats once she figures out it’s her food.

Despite all of this I still have concerns.
Her poops go from ok to bad to ok to bad. Why do they keep reverting?
I am still having to supplement her feeding because she does not eat on her own.
Her abdomen feels more full and squishy than it did last week.

Why is She struggling to identify her food? I have to repeatedly point her to it and even then she just circles it examining it. It’s like this with all food.

Today is her last day of Baytril. I’m not sure if I should extend it since this is day 7 of a fairly strong antibiotic.

Still no eggs despite her improving and calcium tablets. I give her only half a pill since she is so tiny.

Today her eyes are closed a bit more, like she is getting tired easily after preening and being up more.

This does not make sense to me
I have considered bringing her in for aspiration of the fluid since this is the first time it’s there. Not sure how quickly I can get her in though.

Thoughts on how to proceed? I’m tagging a few people in hopes others have dealt with this also.

@azygous
@NatJ
@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive
@aart

Thank you!

Edit to add my flock is confirmed MG and MD. This could also be affecting her recovery or even make all my attempts futile in the end. Considering she has faired this well though I’m hoping her MD vaccine is helping.

 

[azygous]

Barring a visit to the vet and X-rays, it's not possible to explain why Fluffy is declining, but guessing it's because tumors are causing organs to decline in function wouldn't be off target.

Liver function decline will result in fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity and slow crop function. I agree she's been on the Baytril long enough. Try giving a probiotic if you aren't. It can help the crop function.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

 

[NatJ]

Thoughts on how to proceed? I’m tagging a few people in hopes others have dealt with this also.

@azygous
@NatJ
@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive
@aart

I don't have any useful experience. Sorry.

She circles her food and looks at it like she doesn’t recognize it. Like, looks close, backs up, moves. Repeat.

Sometimes she gets close enough to slightly touch her beak and it surprises her. Then she looks again and cautiously eats it. Fortunately, she is really starting to eat more now.

This has been going on since she started eating some on her own. She did forage and eat worms and seeds outside today! But we were only out for a short time since Saturday she seemed to go backwards after being out too long.
Thoughts on this weird reaction to the mash she used to dive right into?

Why is She struggling to identify her food? I have to repeatedly point her to it and even then she just circles it examining it. It’s like this with all food.

About the weird behavior with food, do you think she might have some kind of vision problem? That would make things look different, so she might not trust what she sees. But unless it is a problem that progresses quite quickly, I would expect her to get used to the "new" appearance, and quit acting that way.

It sounds like she is concerned that something may be a problem, that she cannot tell by looking. So if she has been feeling sick, and thinks maybe the food caused the trouble, that might explain it. Or if the food sometimes has bits that taste bad, and she can't tell whether it will have the bad bits this time. But that is my thinking as a person, and may not have anything to do with how a chicken would think.

It does remind me of how one dog acted, after it ate spicy food and burned its tongue. It was very cautious of all foods for a while, until it could work out the pattern of which foods would burn the tongue and which would not. I do not think actual spicy food could be the problem here, since chickens do not get their tongues burned by the capsaicin that bothers dogs and people.

 

[bhawk-23]

Barring a visit to the vet and X-rays, it's not possible to explain why Fluffy is declining, but guessing it's because tumors are causing organs to decline in function wouldn't be off target.

Liver function decline will result in fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity and slow crop function. I agree she's been on the Baytril long enough. Try giving a probiotic if you aren't. It can help the crop function.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

Agree, I’ll be calling the vet this afternoon. I was going to ask for aspiration so I’m glad you mentioned x-rays also.
Thank you, your help has been tremendous and appreciated