Liver disease?

[moonnippie]

Our approx 1.5-2yr old hen has been hiding in the nesting corner of the coop for about a week now. She sleeps there, lays there, spends the day there. We rarely see her out and she used to sleep on-top of the coop roof until this started. She's always been very vocal and bossy. I've checked her several times to see if she's egg bound, nope. They are all currently moulting so we maybe get 1 egg every few days from our 6 hens and lately have been getting tiny eggs.

This am she came out after puffing up at me and had a massive normal consistency but yellow urate and green stooled poop. I also noticed out of the coop how pale she is next to the other girls. Any ideas? She kind of wanders around "fake eating" then goes back in the nest. I thought maybe broody until I saw the stool this am.

They eat Jones' feedmill organic layer ration and I add crushed oyster to their run/paddock area.

Thanks! No idea of her breed, we took her in from someone else.

 

[Eggcessive]

She looks like an australorp, although I could be wrong. That poop does look reminiscent of a broody poop, but may be just because she is so inactive. Broody hens have various typical behaviors, so it is fairly easy to tell if that is what is happening. Usually when hens are separating themselves and lying around there is something serious going on, such as a reproductive disorder or crop problem.

She is so pale, which may be from not laying eggs and possibly molting. But mites can cause severe anemia, so I would check her closely for any moving bugs or their droppings on the skin. Cancer is also common and might cause this as well. Reproductive disorders are a very common problem in hens over 2 years. Many times without vet care, we don’t know exactly until a necropsy can be performed after death, by ourselves or a vet.

Look her over for any enlargement of her lower belly compared to other hens. Feel her crop in the early morning to make sure that it has emptied overnight, and is not puffy or full and firm.

 

[moonnippie]

I think she's an EE/orpx but I could be remembering wrong.

Having lost a couple to egg yolk peritonitis in the last few years I've been checking for ascites and haven't noticed any. She def seems to have a yellow pallor to her abdominal skin when I checked.

 

[moonnippie]

Oh and def no parasites externally. They were treated in spring as well with fenben and praziquantol.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes when you do an autopsy/necropsy, they may have a great deal more fat than usual and sometimes the liver can look pale or have hemorrhages, which are signs of fatty liver disease. If you feed foods other than chicken layer feed, they can overeat and alao have tons of fat.

Most broodies I have seen have a large patch of missing feathers on their bellies and chest, will roll any egg set in front under them, will walk around clucking loudly, and go straight back to the nest if broody. Since she looks poorly, if she is broody, I would break her in a large wire dog crate on the ground with no bedding. You can put a roost bar in there for them to roost on.

 

[moonnippie]

Ok. She's separated into an x pen in our shed. She can see the others and hear them. She's certainly very spry once out of the nest...flew out of the pen (4' sides) and we had to put a roof on it .

She has a perch and food, water with vitamin power added and I'm going to take her a scrambled egg.

Thanks I'll keep you posted.

How many days does it take to break a broody chicken? There aren't even any eggs as they are all moulting.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does she have the bare area on her chest and seem to have the other symptoms of a broody? I only ask, since I worry about her being ill.

When I have broodies, the easy ones take 3 days, but 5 days is about average. One stubborn hen this summer stayed broody for weeks though. A determined broody will sit on nothing. Hopefully, she will do fine in 5 days or so. She can have a companion if the cage is big enough. But seeing the others should be well enough.

 

[moonnippie]

Yup. A lovely totally bald area on the chest/belly area. It's been about a week of this. Every time one of us would go in the coop she would fluff herself up and start talking at us from the nesting corner. She ate half the scrambled egg and knocked her food over. Was roosting when I went in to turn the shed light off and lock the other 5 ladies up for the night. As a vet tech i won't let her suffer if she doesn't begin to improve.