Lethargic, Hiding Australorp

[Arthaey]

We have an Australorp hen who’s never given us any trouble since we got her as a pullet in the spring.

But starting last week, she started hiding in the same corner all day, not interacting with the rest of the flock (and they seem to ignore her too), not leaving the coop on her own in the morning, and sometimes not going into the coop at night either.

Today, she has started “nodding off” on her feet! I’ve never seen a chicken behave like this before, so I don’t know what’s wrong with her.

She did start molting just before her behavior became odd, the weather is getting colder (but still Seattle temps, not anything “extreme”), and the younger chickens are just getting old enough to be establishing their places in the pecking order. We’ve read that any or all of these could make a chicken hide from the flock… But it doesn’t explain the new “falling asleep” thing.

We’ve checked her for injuries, lice or mites, spots or lesions on her comb or legs, egg bound, hard crop, or empty crop at the end of the day. Nothing odd with any of that. She’s not acting like the one time she wanted to go broody, either

Here is a video of her blinking slowly (20 seconds in) and nodding off (40 seconds in):

(The noises she’s making is actually encouraging, believe it or not! She has always been a “constantly complaining” clucker, so those are her normal sounds. In fact, we were first tipped off last week that something was odd when we noticed that she was quiet!)

And here is a series of photos from last Friday, Sunday, and yesterday, of her “hiding” in a different spot all day:

Any idea what might be up with her? So far no one else in the flock is acting oddly, so we’re hoping it’s not contagious, but we really don’t know what is going on.

 

[azygous]

She's very sick. Now you need to think back to what she was doing yesterday or right before you noticed this behavior. Could she have been exposed to any insecticide? Any mold? Any rotten fruit or veggies? Any stagnant puddles with scummy black water?

What sort of table scraps has she been given? Any coffee grounds or potato peelings? How about avocado pits?

Has anyone been working on cars in the vicinity? Flushing out cooling systems? How about cleaning paint brushes with thinner?

Think along those lines. Somewhere, she may have been exposed to something that is now making her sick.

 

[azygous]

One thing you can do is collect a stool sample from her and have your vet run a fecal float on it for coccidia and worms.

How about her crop? Have you felt it for fullness of liquid or solid material impacting in it?

 

[Arthaey]

Thanks for the reply!

There are certainly little puddles in the yard here and there — we live in Seattle and it’s fall, so that’s impossible to avoid. Not big stagnant ponds or anything like that, though.

There are (a small amount of) coffee grounds in a compost pile they can scratch around in, but not a lot, and it’s buried under a layer of leaves too.

That said, the other 7 chickens have all been in the same run and “exposed” to the same things. I wonder why she is the only one sick, and all the others seem completely normal even after a week?

 

[Arthaey]

My husband checked her crop tonight when he locked up the coop. He says she hadn't eaten much but it definitely wasn't hard or impacted in any way. (And he regularly does feel the chicken’s crops, so he knows what “normal” feels like for them. I trust his observations.) So that seems like a dead end too.

Given that we aren’t going to spend hundreds on vet visits, tests, procedures, etc, is there anything more we can/should do beyond watch for further decline, keep food & water available near wherever she chooses to hide, and watch the others in flock?

 

[azygous]

Since we know she's definitely sick, and the compost definitely has some coffee grounds in it, and coffee grounds, even in a small amount is incredibly toxic to chickens, (get rid of the coffee grounds tomorrow), I suggest treating for this toxin with a flush of her system.

Either molasses or Epsom salts make a nice drench that will stimulate diarrhea and flush out her intestines. Do it tonight. Do not wait until morning or she could be dead by then.

Molasses flush is one-fourth cup warm water with a teaspoon of molasses dissolved in it.

Epsom salt flush is one-ounce warm water with a teaspoon of Epsom salts dissolved in it.

Choose one and see if she will drink it on her own. If she refuses, you will need to get an oral syringe and give it to her right into her beak. Do it like the photo below. Slip the syringe into the right side, sliding it past the tongue, careful to direct it under the tongue, not on top, thus avoiding the trachea (airway) in the center of the throat behind the tongue.

Prepare for messy diarrhea. This is necessary to flush as much of the toxin as possible out of her system.

 

[Arthaey]

I read more about coffee grounds and chickens, and it sounds like the primary concern is caffeine. But my coffee grounds are actually decaf! So that’s a relief...

Also, caffeine would be out of her system long ago; as I said, it’s been a week now. Which is both good and bad news, obviously…

Finally, our chicken doesn’t exhibit any of the caffeine overdose signs listed on PetMD:

Symptoms to watch for include restlessness, agitation, hyperactivity, vomiting, and panting, [and sometimes] tremors and seizures.

So I think it’s safe to rule out the coffee grounds as the problem.

 

[Arthaey]

Here's an update from my husband, who let the chickens out this morning.

On the negative side:

• still quiet (when we don't interact with her) and "not right"
• comb "shrunken"
• scraggly feathers (although it is molting time…)
• hiding in the nesting box again
• not interested in food (at least while we're watching her)

On the positive side:

• clucking normally for her (when we do interact with her)
• comb well-colored
• crop empty in the morning (not hard)
• normal poop
• no masses
• no lesions
• no wounds
• rest of flock is looking & acting normal
• it's been a week without steep decline, so… that's good, I guess?

Our buff Orpingtons definitely lost more weight when they were broody than this Australorp has lost, which makes me think she must be eating at least a little bit during the day while we are not actively observing her.

We dusted the flock with sulfur in case there are mites etc (although we have not observed any), and we dusted the Australorp a bit extra just in case.

Given that she's not exhibiting any further observable physical signs/causes, and no other chickens are acting odd, we are going to keep on the plan of "if she is actively dying & we shorten her suffering, then axe; otherwise, keep observing."

 

[Sally PB]

Sending positive waves for her. And hugs for all of you.

 

[azygous]

She could have a bacterial infection. You could try her on an antibiotic if you have any. I use Fish Mox (amoxicillin) and you can buy it here:

https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

Another possibility is a reproductive infection or internal laying. Has she ever passed any cheese curd -like substance in her poop? There isn't much to be done about that, though.