Lethargic, Sick Chicken

[InstantLegend]

One of my 7 Golden Comets has been acting lethargic, not eating well, her head is pulled in, her tail is down and she is now much lighter than the rest of the hens. I checked her breathing and can't hear anything that sounds bad. Actually, I didn't hear anything. I checked for puss or discharge around her eyes and beak. They look normal. This has been going on for 3 to 4 weeks. I have had her isolated for the past week trying various things, but nothing has seemed to work. I have been giving her electrolyte/vitamin water mix for chickens. I checked her crop which seemed to be full slightly smaller than a golf ball. I massaged it and gave it yogurt in case of a blocked crop. Is this size normal? I looked for signs of a stuck egg and didn't see anything unusual. I fed her some hard boiled egg yoke of which she ate very little. Today I fed her some cooked corn and lima beans and she ate that. Her poop is very watery and smells terrible. This hen seems to stay in one place and doesn't move around at all. Three weeks ago she stopped roosting and started sleeping in the corner on the floor.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[dawg53]

I recommend you visually inspect her for lice/mites. Also you might want to consider worming her. You can Type "worming" in the search box and it'll come up with all you need to know about worming in postings.

 

[dweder]

Im bumping you up. I am interested in this post.

 

[ejctm]

My hen was exactly the same as yours. The advice I got was that she was probably laying internally, where the eggs don't make it into the oviduct but escape into the abdominal cavity. She was 3 years old, and you don't say how old your hen is.

Unfortunately, despite doing all the same things you are doing, and worming her, she died today. Sorry I can't be more hopeful, but you should prepare for the worst.

Best of luck.

 

[jjthink]

Given that she's been sick for so long, truly her best bet is to see an avian vet. So many things are very fixable when caught early. She's very compromised now that so much time has passed and needs expert help immediately. She may well be in need of meds urgently to pull her out of this.
JJ