Lethargic Minorca hen, comb & skin purple!

[EggieRowe]

Yesterday evening she was in the nest box after dark. When I retrieved the eggs from under her there were none broken, but her belly and the box were moist with clear fluid (watery, not like fresh egg white). I left her alone, unsure what was wrong. This morning she was standing by the feeder hunched over in a daze. A friend suggested egg bound, but I can't feel anything unusually hard in her belly. I brought her in, soaked her anyways, blow dried her, and have her in a box in a warm, dark corner of the house. Just came home for lunch and she is flat on her belly breathing hard. The skin on her belly and her comb is darker purple than this morning. Definitely not frost bite and not black like silkie skin. (Plus not a mutt.). Is this sepsis or something? Also won't take food or water. No sores, no mites, no wheezing, and no discharge. I'm at my wits end! Any ideas?

 

[EggieRowe]

 

[cafarmgirl]

WIsh I could tell you what is going on with her, but it could be any one of quite a few things. The purple color is due to poor circulation, whether from a heart problem or other organ problem. And in the case of the dark coloring on her belly, maybe something has caused some internal bleeding? I don't know, but unfortunately I don't think you will save her at this point.

 

[EggieRowe]

You were right, she passed about an hour ago. I know it wasn't cocci - been there, done that. Best I can figure was maybe eggbound and it broke. I thought she was getting broody because she was in the nest boxes a lot. Didn't think she was ill because she's been quite alert and vocal when I went looking for eggs under her. (Which I found, but never sure if they were hers.) Wasn't until I felt the wet spot under her yesterday and saw her comb this morning that I suspected anything was wrong. Its been tough so far this year - culled one because of a head tumor/stargazing, lost one to exposure (escaped from coop on a cold, wet night), and now this one. So sad and frustrating!