Lethargic RIR Hen with Clear (egg white looking) poop with dark green

[RIRLVR]

Help Please

My RIR Hen is lethargic, not interested in food, drinking lots of water, and laying down and sleeping most of the day. I had to clean her vent area off 3 days ago from dried poop, then the next day I found fragile shell remains stuck to her butt fluff, with a partial egg shell piece still stuck inside her (like it broke in the process of laying it). I couldn't find any remnants of the egg itself, besides what was stuck to her butt. She laid a small light colored thin shelled egg the next day, but hasn't laid anything since, and seems to be getting worse. She isn't interested in food at all. Drinking lots of water. Her poop is clear and running (looks like egg white that just begin to warm up in the frying pan) with a slimy dark green part too.

I tried giving her crumbles soaked in milk, applesauce and some scrambled egg, but she isn't really interested. She did find some dry cat food in the back yard and seems sort of interested in that? Is that healthy for her? She won't really eat anything else.

Otherwise, she looks healthy. She is a bit skinny. I don't know how old she is, or anything from her past, as I rescued her after she was abandoned in a cardboard box in the country. She is the sweetest hen and I don't want to lose her.

I am afraid she has EYP, since I found a broken egg shell stuck to her butt. But I don't know for sure. How can I tell?

Any help is appreciated.

jess

 

[thecraycoop]

I just noticed similar poop this morning with one of my hens too... One of my hens just layed her first two eggs and yesterday we received no egg. This morning when I went to feed them, she was in her nesting box but when I started feeding the hens she ran out to eat. She looks fine but maybe I need to sit and observe her for awhile. When I was in the run I noticed some egg white substance poop. It was completely clear. I thought that was odd and never seen that before. I'm guessing it's from my oldest hen who just started laying but not sure. It has been very hot here lately and yesterday it stormed all afternoon and I was wondering if that stressed them out because their run is all wet and we had to lay down some wood so they have some dry areas to stand. What a mess. I need some advise on what to do about that. I'm in Louisiana and it's been rainng alot lately. We do have two wheels on the run and can move the run but if we keep it where it is I need to figure out what to lay down on the ground so the hens are not having to walk in mud. Any advise on the poop and run would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dhinshaw]

Yesterday, I noticed symptoms from one of my hens very similar to Post #1. She was sitting in shavings on the ground when I got there but did get up and drink a lot of water, she wasn't interested in food at all. After she got up, where she was sitting looked like she had pooped a clear egg white substance. Other than that yesterday, she appears to be healthy. She is a Barred Rock Hen that is laying age, but hasn't laid eggs yet. I thought she might be ready to lay eggs wasn't sure. Any suggestions?????

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yesterday, I noticed symptoms from one of my hens very similar to Post #1. She was sitting in shavings on the ground when I got there but did get up and drink a lot of water, she wasn't interested in food at all. After she got up, where she was sitting looked like she had pooped a clear egg white substance. Other than that yesterday, she appears to be healthy. She is a Barred Rock Hen that is laying age, but hasn't laid eggs yet. I thought she might be ready to lay eggs wasn't sure. Any suggestions?????

Hi @Dhinshaw Welcome To BYC
You found an old thread....

Did you happen to get any photos of the clear egg white substance?
How old is your girl?
Check her crop, was it empty this morning before she had anything to eat/drink?
What do you feed including treats?
Is she lethargic? Any discharge from the vent?

 

[Dhinshaw]

Hi @Dhinshaw Welcome To BYC
You found an old thread....

Did you happen to get any photos of the clear egg white substance?
How old is your girl?
Check her crop, was it empty this morning before she had anything to eat/drink?
What do you feed including treats?
Is she lethargic? Any discharge from the vent?

I did not get a picture. She is about 23-24 weeks old. I feed them laying pellets mixed with oyster she'll crumbles. Sometimes for treats, they have scratch with purple corn pieces, scatter treats, black sunflower seeds, cantelope, and meal worms. I also put a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with the mother in their water. No discharge was noticed and she seemed fine up until then. She wasn't lethargic really, just remained sitting under the nesting boxes yesterday instead of greating me like she always does. I went over to check on her and she did get up fine, just didn't want anything to eat. Drank a lot of water. I wasn't able to check on her this morning before I left for work.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I did not get a picture. She is about 23-24 weeks old. I feed them laying pellets mixed with oyster she'll crumbles. Sometimes for treats, they have scratch with purple corn pieces, scatter treats, black sunflower seeds, cantelope, and meal worms. I also put a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with the mother in their water. No discharge was noticed and she seemed fine up until then. She wasn't lethargic really, just remained sitting under the nesting boxes yesterday instead of greating me like she always does. I went over to check on her and she did get up fine, just didn't want anything to eat. Drank a lot of water. I wasn't able to check on her this morning before I left for work.

Check on her when you get home and let us know how she's doing.
She may have been having some trouble with her first egg, hard to know. Sometimes new layers have soft shell or shell-less eggs. If she's still off tonight, then I would feel her crop when she goes to roost, then first thing in the morning to see if that has emptied.

I would not mix oyster shell with the feed, provide that free choice in a separate container, the girls will pick out what they need.
The treats sound good, mine love all those things too, but watch that you aren't too heavy handed with them (oh my, they are beggars aren't they). Hens can get too fat and it makes it hard to lay eggs and the excess fat can lead to liver disease, prolapse, etc.
If your BR is like mine, they love to eat, especially their treats (and everybody else's too if they can LOL) So monitor her weight from time to time.

 

[Dhinshaw]

Thanks so much for your help! I will check on her this evening and post an update!

 

[Dhinshaw]

Checked on my hen this afternoon after work, and she was just nesting on the ground. Didn't get up much at all today. Wasn't interested again in food. She could stand and looked fine, but just wanted to sit mostly. I offered her water and she drank a little. Brought her over to my house and sat her in a cool sink of water for a bit. She seemed to enjoy that. Took her back and just placed her in a nesting box. There was one egg in the coop on the ground that had a hole in it, but not 100% that it was hers .Her crop felt empty to me. I'm really puzzled. I have one rooster and one other hen right now in the coop with her. Sometimes they seem to bully her at treat time. What should I do? She just didn't want to get up much today, but she appears fine. I did look at her bottom, but didn't notice anything wrong.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Checked on my hen this afternoon after work, and she was just nesting on the ground. Didn't get up much at all today. Wasn't interested again in food. She could stand and looked fine, but just wanted to sit mostly. I offered her water and she drank a little. Brought her over to my house and sat her in a cool sink of water for a bit. She seemed to enjoy that. Took her back and just placed her in a nesting box. There was one egg in the coop on the ground that had a hole in it, but not 100% that it was hers .Her crop felt empty to me. I'm really puzzled. I have one rooster and one other hen right now in the coop with her. Sometimes they seem to bully her at treat time. What should I do? She just didn't want to get up much today, but she appears fine. I did look at her bottom, but didn't notice anything wrong.

Can you cage her overnight so you can get a good look at her poop?
It might be worth feeling inside the vent to see if there is an egg stuck.
While you are at it, feel her abdomen between the legs below the vent for bloat or swelling.

Is she "new" to the rooster and hen? Could they possibly be keeping her from food/water and she's dehydrated?

 

[Dhinshaw]

She's not new to them, they were raised together. Yes, I can cage her overnight and observe. Will post updates. Thanks!