Lethargic, droopy wings and staying still hen.

[fatimastic]

My 1 and a half year old mixed Australorp plus RIR is extremely lethargic. This is the first time I have seen her this sick. She was doing just fine yesterday.

She is the favorite of her roo and so lools really damaged and has lost a lot of feather throughout her body since spring. But that never affected her energy.

We have a respiratory disease in our flock and the condition of the hens fluctuates, but it hasn't killed anyone yet. I give them this medicine prescribed by another chicken keeper and it seems to make the hens okay when their condition gets worse. I gave her this medicine.

She seems to open her mouth slightly for air. Her wings are really droopy. She hates me and usually runs really fast away but this time around, I didnt have to struggle at all to catch her. She is occasionally sneezing.

I checked her vent. I could not feel an egg but I did feel a tissue/muscle type just an inch from her vent. She seems to be moving her her behind but I think it really doesn't look like she is trying to push something out. She isn't running so I can't really tell if she is hopping or not.

I am keeping her quarantined with electrolyte and her feed.

If her condition worsens or doesnt improve in a few hours then I might feed her dog food.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you know when she last laid an egg? Do you notice any bloat or fluid in the abdomen below her vent between the legs?

The poop doesn't look too good. Have you ever de-wormed her? I'm not sure what you have available to you. Fenbendazole, Albazen, Levimasole, Flubendazole?

I would suspect that she's having some reproductive issues if she's not laying eggs, but she may have something else going on as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Re-check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink - see if it's empty then.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hoping for a good outcome.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor dear, she does have a distended abdomen
Can you tell if it feels like fluid or ?

It's possible she may have tumor(s), cancer or is suffering from common reproductive issues like Peritonitis, Salpingitis, etc.

If there's fluid it can sometimes be drained to give the hen some relief for a short period of time. Some folks have found that offering a detox can be helpful for a time, others give an antibiotic to see if that helps for a while. Of course these are supportive measure to make the hen more comfortable and sometimes they can live for a good while longer. Other measures you can take would be to make sure her crop is emptying overnight (crop issues seem to go hand-in-hand with repro problems), that she's lice/mite free and that she doesn't get overloaded with worms.

 

[fatimastic]

It's normal for them to preen, but it's never a bad idea to check for lice/mites.

If the abdomen feels like fluid, sometimes it can be drained. Do some research on that to see if you think she may benefit from that.

I have checked them for lice/mites and did not find anything. But it still bothers me how dirty they all look. But it may be because of the roo.

Thank you, I will update on her condition.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she starting to molt as well? Have you seen feathers lying around in the coop, or is the feather loss just from the rooster? Most respiratory diseases in flocks are lifelong and affect the others. Respiratory diseases can also be a cause of reproductive infections and internal laying/egg yolk peritonitis. You can try to see if there is yellow ascites fluid inside her abdomen by inserting a sterile 18 gauge needle just inside the skin, but be sure to disinfect the skin. In post 42 of the thread below, there are good pictures of draining a hen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5

 

[fatimastic]

**UPDATE**

She just pooped again.

 

[fatimastic]

**UPDATE**

She just pooped again.

She seems to be panting but nothing that much. I have dealt with a prolapsed hen before and she was showing different symptoms as compared to her.

@Eggcessive @coach723 @Wyorp Rock

 

[fatimastic]

Do you know when she last laid an egg? Do you notice any bloat or fluid in the abdomen below her vent between the legs?

The poop doesn't look too good. Have you ever de-wormed her? I'm not sure what you have available to you. Fenbendazole, Albazen, Levimasole, Flubendazole?

I would suspect that she's having some reproductive issues if she's not laying eggs, but she may have something else going on as well.

Sorry but I have no idea when she last laid an egg. I did compare her abdomen to another hen and it does seem bloated.
I dewormed all of my flock around the end of last year.