Lethargic hen, yellow diarrhea, minimal movement.

[Eggcessive]

To try and help anyone else who stumbles across this with the same issue....

I did try the gloved finger ~1.5in or so and felt nothing. Belly seemed normal.

Don't provide extra oyster shells, but we do use a feed with oyster shells added.

Not sure how to even perform any useful post-mortem procedures so I doubt I'd be able to report back with anything other than a mess.

Thank you for trying to lend us a hand. We genuinely appreciate it.

Most state vets will perform a necropsy for a fee if you want to rule out a disease or find a cause of death. Many of us do home necropsies, which basically for me is just to open the abdomen and examine the organs. When I do that, I would take pictures of what they look like, especially the liver, intestines, and the oviduct. Sometimes we will see lash egg material, basically from pus and egg contents, sometimes yellow fluid when the abdominal wall is opened if the chicken aphas ascites. Opening the gizzard and crop to look for a blockage is good to do. Here is a necropsy video that identifies the organs, and I do a very quick one using scissors and a sharp knife, not as thorough:

 

[khloee]

Hello everyone.

Posting here hoping that the wealth of everyone's information can help us out.

We have a 13 month old Barred Rock who is quite under the weather. I've done exhaustive Googling/forum reading/etc and am only more confused by the results. Many symptoms are general signs of chickens being ill and others are associated with multiple issues so it's hard to narrow them down to a specific cause.

Her list of symptoms:
- Diarrhea. Poo is creamy-yellow. Entirely runny. Doesn't appear to be any solid substance at all.
- Diarrhea buildup below vent.
- Standing still. Rarely moving. Showed no interest going into coop at night.
- May (or may not) have gently labored breathing, but it's not labored enough for me to confirm this as a symptom.
- Generally lethargic
- Crop seems spongy and didn't drain after last night's food-less quarantine.
- Keeps her head pulled in close and her butt upward.

Here's what we've done:
- Cleaned up the buildup below vent.
- Quarantined.
- Felt for any impacted eggs. Not very experienced, but didn't feel anything.
- Provided electrolytes last night. (Appears she may have drank some.)
- Provided fresh water as well.
- Ordered Safe-Guard (will be here tomorrow) as a preventative measure that may help in this case.
- Verified no visible injury or other abnormalities (eyes/legs/etc).

Here are some further thoughts:
- Vets in our area are awfully booked and we aren't aware of any with Avian experience. This likely rules a vet visit out, sadly.
- Her color is great still. Comb is bright red without any signs of issue.
- Her weight is great still. Not losing/gaining abnormally.
- We aren't sure the last time she laid.
- We have seen one egg from the flock that was soft without a shell. We can't confirm it was hers, but it's surely worth noting.
- She seems to be interested in a sip when we gently introduce her beak to the water.
- Edit: No other birds in the flock are experiencing any similar symptoms.

I hope the information dump above is enough for some direction. I'm personally leaning toward either an issue with her crop or with worms, but we've see no evidence of the latter (it just matches a lot of symptoms). I say this with the full disclosure that I truly have no idea.

Wife loves her "fat girls" and I do anything to help keep everyone (wife and birds) happy and healthy. Thanks in advance!

I’ve had a hen with similar symptoms. I still don’t know exactly what she had but I suspected egg yolk peritonitis. Which is a build up of egg yolk in the abdominal cavity. Mine did end up passing. It was hard to watch and I feel bad for not just putting her out of her misery sooner. If she is suffering that is something I would suggest you think about. I know especially if she’s more of a pet that it’s hard to make that decision. But before this maybe even a chat on the phone with a vet could help you decide what you’re next move could be. Who knows it may turn out differently than mine did.

 

[khloee]

Unfortunately, we were too late and she's passed . Best of luck to anyone else with similar issues.

Awe I’m so sorry I’ve been in your boat. And it’s upsetting to watch a pet your trying to help get better get worse.