listless hen is breathing hard, feathers all puffed up

[AbbyDog]

So my #1 least favorite hen (but best layer), Dolly, is sick. She is a 2 yr old Delaware. Yesterday I noticed that her comb was a bit droopy (she is just now feathered out from a hard molt a month+ ago) and then this morning she didn't get off the perch with the rest. When I returned in the evening, she was in the same position- standing on the perch, all puffed up and breathing hard but with bill closed. I gave her some yogurt in water with an eye dropper and then brought her into the house. We live in So Cal and the temps are in the 50's. Her poop is scant, thin and watery, greenish with clear fluid.

One of my hens has had very loose and yellowish/green poop for some time now- it might be Dolly. Up until yesterday, I didn't notice her looking off really at all. Now, she is huddled up, with a raspy breath which makes her wattles move as she breathes in and out.

The rest of the 5 hens look normal.
I have Dolly in a small dog crate and periodically she violently pecks at the towel and floor of the crate- but has no interest in eating.

Any ideas?

thanks....

 

[seminolewind]

I would treat her for coccidiosis right away. That would be the commonist reason for her situation. And no, they don't need bloody poo.

 

[AbbyDog]

Sad to say, Dolly has died. She was actually looking a bit better - not breathing hard and willing to eat- so I put her back into the coop. I did notice that she seemed to be a bit unsteady on her feet with a droopy wing yesterday morning, but I was not around for most of yesterday afternoon and so it was a bit of a shock to find her dead this morning- flat of her back and stiff as a board. I don't know if she has now been dead too long to do a PM- and I am not sure that I could tell what was off, anyways.

I am going to keep a closer eye on the others- all of which seem fine- and take action to treat if anything seems amiss.

Do I need to do any sort of decontamination? I think that I will replace the old litter in the coop but not sure what to do about the run.
Thanks anyways...

 

[seminolewind]

Sorry about Dolly. I think I would at least change the shavings, and disinfect the waterer and feed bowl.

 

[dougp23]

Sorry to hear about Dolly....I had a hen once that just showed the exact same symptoms, and like you, she improved to the point i put her back with the rest of the flock. Came out the next morning and she was dead. I put it down to am impacted crop, but it was impossible to really tell (except her crop was very large compared to the others for a couple days before. Usually she did this and it would clear up all on its own).

 

[AbbyDog]

I decided to do a post-mortem and will post some pics in a new post...

 

[Gardeninggranny]

Unless you have some experience with butchering and know what normal chicken insides look like or have some vet knowledge a post mort by you probably won't tell you much. Its better to just get her buried as soon as possible. Your other birds have already been exposed to her so just keep an eye on them. Sometimes chickens just get sick- like people - with things that aren't contagious or are only mildly contagious so don't worry too much if the other birds seem healthy.

 

[seminolewind]

I decided to do a post-mortem and will post some pics in a new post...

Experience from butchering is great. but after doing a few, you are gaining experience as well, and you can also look thru pics on the internet. I would also take pictures, lay as many separate pieces as you can and take some . Taking pics of parts as well will give you and (us) more info to go on. And you can compare your pics to normal anatomy online.

Sorry.