Lethargic chicken, white/yellow liquid poop, trouble walking

[Lyris]

I have a two year old hen who is sick and I'm not sure what to do. There is only one vet around me who sees chickens, and I wouldn't go there if you paid me. They're worse than useless. I am at wits end and could use some advice.

She started walking slowly about a month ago. I thought she was getting picked on by my rooster. He has been after her for a while and I thought he just wanted to establish his authority over her. It has gotten worse to the point where she will lose her balance. Then last week she took another turn. She has white/yellow liquid poops and seems to poop a lot. She is absolutely obsessed with water. Now she just sits there with her tail down and eyes closed. There is no signs of illness. No crop problems, no mites, she still has weight on her. No breathing problems or runny eyes/nose.
The only thing I can think of is she might be pooping shortly after drinking which might be kidney problems. It's also possible she got into some turkey food and has been eating that for a while. But she has had a problem walking last summer before I ended up with the turkey food. In the last week she has had walking problems twice. The first time I gave her antibiotics from Jedds and she recovered enough to rejoin the flock. Walking slow with her wings dropped but hungry and following the flock. I have no idea if the antibiotics from Jedds actually work or if it was just vitamins.

Has anyone seen anything like this? What can I do for her? A vet isn't an option. The only one near me is well known for misdiagnosing animals (including mine) and insisting on expensive/unneeded tests. The one time I was there two people walked out, one yelled at the doctor for the misdiagnosis, and a third was chewing out the receptionist about their prices.

 

[Tookie]

What breed is she?
Do you know when she last laid?
Does she have any bloating or swelling of the abdomen?
Is the yellow in her droppings a brighter yellow?
Is she eating well?
Did you check the crop early in the morning to make sure it completely emptied?

I'm wondering if she could have a reproductive issue.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She started walking slowly about a month ago. I thought she was getting picked on by my rooster. He has been after her for a while and I thought he just wanted to establish his authority over her. It has gotten worse to the point where she will lose her balance. Then last week she took another turn. She has white/yellow liquid poops and seems to poop a lot. She is absolutely obsessed with water. Now she just sits there with her tail down and eyes closed.

She's obsessed with water, is her crop emptying overnight?

Do you have her separated or is she with the flock?

When was her last egg?

I would start with giving her Extra Calcium once daily for 5 days. Calcium Citrate+D3 can be found at Walmart, CVS, etc.

In addition to the Calcium, I'd also give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily. Give her a little treat of egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

What is the antibiotic you gave her?

She may be having some reproductive problems, hard to know. If the rooster has been rough, check her over again for any signs of bruising, scrapes, etc. especially under the wings where they may be hidden.


Examples of Calcium, Vitamin E and B-Complex.

 

[Lyris]

What breed is she?
Do you know when she last laid?
Does she have any bloating or swelling of the abdomen?
Is the yellow in her droppings a brighter yellow?
Is she eating well?
Did you check the crop early in the morning to make sure it completely emptied?

I'm wondering if she could have a reproductive issue.

She's an Easter Egger. I've had her since last spring. I think she's only laid maybe ten eggs total? It's always been weird. There's no bloating or swelling. The yellow is very bright, kinda like a store bought egg. Yesterday she wouldn't eat at all. Today she's walking slowly and pecking at some mealworms, but she's not really into it. She only ate maybe 10-15 while the other chickens gobbled like they're dying. Yesterday she wouldn't move at all. I had to force some vitamins down here to make sure she got a little nutrition.

She's obsessed with water, is her crop emptying overnight?

Do you have her separated or is she with the flock?

When was her last egg?

I would start with giving her Extra Calcium once daily for 5 days. Calcium Citrate+D3 can be found at Walmart, CVS, etc.

In addition to the Calcium, I'd also give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily. Give her a little treat of egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

What is the antibiotic you gave her?

She may be having some reproductive problems, hard to know. If the rooster has been rough, check her over again for any signs of bruising, scrapes, etc. especially under the wings where they may be hidden.


Examples of Calcium, Vitamin E and B-Complex.
View attachment 4060882View attachment 4060883View attachment 4060885

Her crop empties. I had an experienced chicken person check her over. No water belly, no bloating, no egg binding. No raspy breathing or any signs of illness in her lungs. It's very strange.

I have her inside most of the time. She flat out refuses to eat/drink inside so I take her out for supervised meal times to at least get some water in her. She seemed a bit confused by it. She would either try to drink next to the water dish, or shove her entire face into the water and get it up her nose and all over her chest. My top hen kept her company while she drank and cleaned her chest of water, which was nice.

I was giving her Doxycycline, but I ran out. When she took another turn for the worst I gave her a bit of amoxicillin.

There's no way my rooster is bothering her. She hangs out with The Brat Pack. My rooster is a white wyndotte bantam and is terrified of the Brat Pack. Lately he's been trying to get after her to make her leave the flock, but he hasn't really been able to do more than one peck on her neck before she goes to hide by my top hen. He is also too small to mount the girls. (He's a rescue. I didn't get him for rooster duties)

I've had her inside except bedtime and supervised meal times. I know I should try to keep her inside at night. Last time I tried she somehow got out, let herself out the door, and was snuggled against my top hen. (I left the sliding door opened by accident)

Is it possible she's getting into something that's making her sick? Wouldn't the rest of the flock also be sick? I have some turkey feed that shows signs of the hens being into it. I've since moved it, but is it possible she got too much protein and it's hurt her kidneys or something? I'd feel awful if that were the case.

I'll get her some vitamins and such today. I also intend to deep clean the coop in case there's something there. Ideally I'd like to disinfect it as well, but everything I've read seems to suggest you need to kick the chickens out for a week which isn't possible for me.

This hen is a very special girl. I'm hoping it's not something like cancer or something fatal. She's the sweetest one of the flock.

 

[Tookie]

She's an Easter Egger. I've had her since last spring. I think she's only laid maybe ten eggs total? It's always been weird. There's no bloating or swelling. The yellow is very bright, kinda like a store bought egg. Yesterday she wouldn't eat at all. Today she's walking slowly and pecking at some mealworms, but she's not really into it. She only ate maybe 10-15 while the other chickens gobbled like they're dying. Yesterday she wouldn't move at all. I had to force some vitamins down here to make sure she got a little nutrition.

Hm, since she's hardly laid any eggs and they were weird I'm definitely thinking its reproductive.
The bright yellow droppings can be a sign of infection.
I'm so sorry she's not eating! You could try tube feeding, or making little balls of food mixed with water to the right consistency, and pop those into her mouth.
Keep up the vitamins!

 

[Lyris]

Hm, since she's hardly laid any eggs and they were weird I'm definitely thinking its reproductive.
The bright yellow droppings can be a sign of infection.
I'm so sorry she's not eating! You could try tube feeding, or making little balls of food mixed with water to the right consistency, and pop those into her mouth.
Keep up the vitamins!

If it's an infection, do I need to sanitize the coop or will it die out on its own?

Today she's walking, just slow. She even stood tall and flapped her wings at me. She's been picking at food and actually took a few bites. Her one leg falls out from under her now and then. If I remember right she had a few soft eggs before she stopped. My flock got sick over the summer so I didn't think much of it. Most of them haven't laid since they got sick. Some sort of respiratory thing.

How can I make sure she's not in pain or something? I'm more familiar with cats/dogs. I don't want her uncomfortable.

Is there one type of antibiotic that would be better than another for her yellow poop? Hopefully something I can get online or locally. (I don't know if Jedds sells fake stuff or really watered down stuff, but I can get some from there if needed)

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures of the typical poop she is having? A picture of her may be helpful as well. It sounds like a reproductive problem. Have you tried the calcium citrate tablets?

 

[Lyris]

Can you post any pictures of the typical poop she is having? A picture of her may be helpful as well. It sounds like a reproductive problem. Have you tried the calcium citrate tablets?

That was from two or three days ago. I had her on a towel specifically so I could see her poops.

Here's some videos of her over the last two days. The ones with her by the water are her worst days. She physically wouldn't move. Gretchen is the caretaker of my flock and cares for the sick ones. When she's moving you can see she's slow and stumbles sometimes. With the water she missed it somehow and went to drink next to it.

I did get the stuff for her! I start her tomorrow because I forgot to get one more thing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd start the Calcium and see if it helps. Likely she's having some reproductive issues, hard to know which one.

If you have Amoxicillin, you can try that to see if that gives her some relief as well. Dosing is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10days.

The Orpington in your video looks to be adjusting her crop quite a bit, I'd check her out too.

 

[Lyris]

I'd start the Calcium and see if it helps. Likely she's having some reproductive issues, hard to know which one.

If you have Amoxicillin, you can try that to see if that gives her some relief as well. Dosing is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10days.

The Orpington in your video looks to be adjusting her crop quite a bit, I'd check her out too.

Oops, it somehow put in the wrong video! The Orpington ended ended up having a tumor and passed away.

She's doing better today on antibiotics. I just gave her the other stuff an hour ago. She's currently up and eating. Can a common cold type thing cause a chicken to behave that way? Yesterday I confirmed excess sneezing within my flock. No other symptoms though. They're all on amoxicillin as of last night. Whatever this recurring sneezing thing is, its annoying. It's why they all stopped laying. Today I'm going to start dismantling parts of their coop and painting it with a sealant in case it's urine or something has gotten into the wood. It's been treated before, but it's been a long while. Couple years I think.