Lethargic Plymouth Rock

[speckledhen]

I still think you just need to make sure she's eating/drinking, that her crop is emptying, keep parasites (lice/mites/worms) at bay and let her chicken on until she no longer can

Yep, exactly. That's what I would do and have done more than I wanted. It's really hard to feel helpless to heal a hen and worse if you have no idea what you're really dealing with. Just enjoy her and love her and that's really all you can do.

 

[Fwoof]

Sorry she's not making as much improvement as you would like.
I still think you just need to make sure she's eating/drinking, that her crop is emptying, keep parasites (lice/mites/worms) at bay and let her chicken on until she no longer can.

Yep, exactly. That's what I would do and have done more than I wanted. It's really hard to feel helpless to heal a hen and worse if you have no idea what you're really dealing with. Just enjoy her and love her and that's really all you can do.

Thank you both so much! I really appreciate it. It's hard when the chooks aren't feeling well.
Wanted to add that when I checked on her today, the poop on her feathers smelled hhhorible. I gave her an epsom salt soak and got the poop off, and she's currently under a heat lamp.
Any explanation for the extra strong poop smell? It smelled almost rancid.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you both so much! I really appreciate it. It's hard when the chooks aren't feeling well.
Wanted to add that when I checked on her today, the poop on her feathers smelled hhhorible. I gave her an epsom salt soak and got the poop off, and she's currently under a heat lamp.
Any explanation for the extra strong poop smell? It smelled almost rancid.

Hot weather?

Not sure why the poop would smell so bad. If she's getting messy often, then giving her a cleanup every day or two may help.

 

[azygous]

Your description of the smell of her poopy discharge brings to mind what my hens' with egg binding smell like. It's a very runny, dark poop with streaks of yellow and it's very biting and acrid. I would give her a calcium tablet in case egg binding is what's wrong with her.

 

[speckledhen]

When hens are laying internally or have salpingitis, the poop does smell bad. I haven't had that with egg binding, but the other stuff I mentioned will do that.

 

[Fwoof]

When hens are laying internally or have salpingitis, the poop does smell bad. I haven't had that with egg binding, but the other stuff I mentioned will do that.

Unfortunately, I looked into it and internal laying sounds like the most likely thing that's wrong with her. Light green poop, swollen abdomen (i feel something hard in her abdomen, too. feels like a tumor), reluctant to walk, all signs point to something wrong with the ovaries.
I've heard that there's really nothing you can do about it except a risky surgery (a risk I'm not willing to take) but there's a natural infection preventative (cinnamon and oregano tea) that I'm giving her daily.
It's sad that she's going through this and wish I knew what it was sooner, but all I can do is love and support her and I'll keep doing what I can to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

 

[speckledhen]

Sadly, there is no prevention and no cure. I consulted a PhD in poultry science about it when I began to lose one after the other of my original flock just after they turned two years old, and since then, have lost many hatchery girls to those malfunctions. It rarely seems to happen with breeder quality birds, though. In the future, I won't be getting hatchery stock again. I tried it again three years ago and same think with the hatchery Easter Eggers, already lost two of those young hens to reproductive stuff. There is really nothing you can do except make her comfortable as you can.

 

[Fwoof]

I'm sad to say that Joleen passed away yesterday afternoon.
I must say I did see it coming, she was losing more energy/weight each day. I really think she was laying internally or had egg yolk peritonitis.
She will be dearly missed, but I am glad she left sooner rather than later so she didn't have to be in pain any longer.
Thank you all for your knowledge and support.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about Joleen.

Even though you know they are in decline, it's still sad to lose them.

 

[Fwoof]

I'm sorry to hear about Joleen.

Even though you know they are in decline, it's still sad to lose them.

Thank you. I know, it's always the hardest part.