Mouth Discharge, Closed Eyes, Runny Poo

[GirlsMommy18]

I've got a 7 month old bantam cochin hen who has had poo stuck on her fluffy butt over the last couple weeks, but everytime she poops when I'm watching it looks normal. Last night we had our first realish (59F) cold front. She went out with her flock to eat this morning, but now her eyes are swollen shut, she's lethargic, and she appears to have some discharge from her mouth. She is mouth breathing. There has not been any sneezing, coughing, etc while I've been near her.

I also know she's been laying eggs regularly. We do have a massive feral cat, opossum, racoon, and ready problem in the area and the chickens free range all day, so she may have been exposed to a wide variety of unfriendly pathogens.

I would really appreciate any clues as to what this may be. The rest of the flock is acting normally so far, but this seems to have hit very quickly so I'm a nervous wreck now.

 

[Eggcessive]

Swollen eyes sound like a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma (MG) or coryza, and can also become swollen from other barnyard bacteria such as E.coli and others. Can you any pus in the eyes or nasal drainage, and can you look up into the roof of the beakfor any yellow pus-like material? Does she have a bad odor around her face? Have you added any new birds to the flock? Runny droppings can be common with a respiratory infection, and can cake up around the vent. I would remove any dry droppings, and trim any extra fluff. Here is a good link that incudes symptoms of most common respiratory diseases such as MG, coryza, ILT, and infectious bronchitis:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[GirlsMommy18]

Swollen eyes sound like a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma (MG) or coryza, and can also become swollen from other barnyard bacteria such as E.coli and others. Can you any pus in the eyes or nasal drainage, and can you look up into the roof of the beakfor any yellow pus-like material? Does she have a bad odor around her face? Have you added any new birds to the flock? Runny droppings can be common with a respiratory infection, and can cake up around the vent. I would remove any dry droppings, and trim any extra fluff. Here is a good link that incudes symptoms of most common respiratory diseases such as MG, coryza, ILT, and infectious bronchitis:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

That's a huge help! Thank you! No pus or nasal discharge, or white pus in her mouth. She does have a clear sticky slime from her mouth though.

 

[GirlsMommy18]

She went down hill from there unfortunately. Her crop wasn't emptying fully, which I attributed to being sick. After a necropsy, I discovered a sharp piece of thick rusty wire. I suspect that's the initial cause, and her going downhill faster after I started messaging her crop. I believe she may have aspirated if she threw up, which she did plenty of. Her lungs were full of fluid, and her crop was disgusting. Good news for the rest of the flock at least.

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh no, sorry that she died. Glad that you did a necropsy and found a possible cause of death. There have been several threads about chickens swallowing small pieces of metal lately. I keep an can in my coop area for when I find small pieces of glass and other materials that are forever coming to the surface. Screws, nails, and staples are very dangerous to chickens when dropped.

 

[GirlsMommy18]

Oh no, sorry that she died. Glad that you did a necropsy and found a possible cause of death. There have been several threads about chickens swallowing small pieces of metal lately. I keep an can in my coop area for when I find small pieces of glass and other materials that are forever coming to the surface. Screws, nails, and staples are very dangerous to chickens when dropped.

I try to keep a clean yard for myself and kids mainly, but everyone "free" ranges in my 1/4 fenced yard. Not sure where she found it, but it may even be a piece of the old fence that we are replacing in a few months. Hopefully no one else attempts to eat anything weird....