My chicken is ill

[Haf]

Hi, my family are new chicken owners. We have 2 white Sussex hens. Recently we came back from holiday and found one of the hens incredibly ill. Whilst we were away we left her with relatives (I regret this greatly now!) And I think they told us that the hens coop would leak and get wet during the night.

When we came to collect the hens, their coop in general looked nasty and damp (according to my brother). Now the youngest of here hens is obviously ill and I don't know what's wrong with her, I don't even know where to start.

Shes very inactive because she's weak, she sits in one spot and when she gets up to try and move you can tell it's a struggle. She move slightly and then feels weak and slump down again. She won't eat AT ALL. Yesterday she was drinking a slot and late evening she 'vomitted' the water back out. Now I understand chickens don't vomit but I think the water came out because she was drinking a lot and eating nothing. Today it looks like she's not even drinking very much.
Sometimes her breathing is slightly like she's gurgling. When she does poop its watery and slightly yellowy. Sometimes it comes out when she strains. She hasn't laid in a few months as before we went abroad she was slightly broody.

I don't know how old they are since my dad bought them from a friend. I think they must be around 2-3years.

Is there any hope for her? I feel so guilty for leaving them and I hate the thought of her being in any pain at all. It breaks my heart because she was the most active of the two, she would run around all day without getting tired.

Please advise any medication.

 

[azygous]

Have you examined this hen's crop? Is it large, full, empty, hard, hanging low? Have you noticed a sour putrid odor?

When you picked them up and saw the damp conditions, did you notice if their feed was moldy?

Had this hen stopped laying before you left on holiday? What made you think she has been broody? Had she been sitting on a nest for long periods without laying an egg but otherwise walking around and behaving normally? Had she been subdued before the trip and hanging around on the sidelines with her tail held low? Does she hold her tail down low and flat now?

To be able to even start guessing about diagnosis and medication, we need lots more particulars.

 

[Haf]

Have you examined this hen's crop? Is it large, full, empty, hard, hanging low? Have you noticed a sour putrid odor?

When you picked them up and saw the damp conditions, did you notice if their feed was moldy?

Had this hen stopped laying before you left on holiday? What made you think she has been broody? Had she been sitting on a nest for long periods without laying an egg but otherwise walking around and behaving normally? Had she been subdued before the trip and hanging around on the sidelines with her tail held low? Does she hold her tail down low and flat now?

To be able to even start guessing about diagnosis and medication, we need lots more particulars.

My father examined her crop yesterday and said it was empty. I guess because she won't eat. We do try to force feed her a little because I don't want her to starve. I mash up her pellets and mix it with water to make it easier for her.

When my brother picked her up, he observed something soft and lumpy in their feed.it didn't look like their own waste but he couldn't tell what it was.

She had stopped laying for a month, it took us a while to figure out she was broody but yes she would sit on an empty nest and if we tried to move her she got very defensive. Also she didn't eat as much but her appetite hadn't changed dramatically. Otherwise she was normal and active (once we closed the coop up during the day to break her broodiness).

She doesn't walk around much at all because she struggles, when she is walking about her tail does seem low. She'll walk a little and then suddenly slump down, I guess from exhaustion.

 

[azygous]

Thanks. That helps.

Please understand it's only possible to guess as to what would be a good course of action. When I suggest something, it's because I've had similar situations and successes with treatments. It shouldn't be construed as expert advice. You would need to see an avian vet for that.

When I have a hen with broad symptoms as yours, not really being able to nail down a specific cause, I put her on a course of a broad spectrum antibiotic such as amoxicillin or penicillin. I do a full ten day course of 250mg once a day or you can divide the dose into two and give once in morning and the other at night.

This serves two purposes. One is to employ an extreme measure to save the chicken. The other is to diagnose. If the chicken responds to the antibiotic, then I know it was a bacterial infection.

However, the symptoms you may be treating may be from a secondary infection brought on by low resistance from one of many avian viruses that can infect an entire flock. The antibiotic can't treat that.

 

[Haf]

Are

Thanks. That helps.

Please understand it's only possible to guess as to what would be a good course of action. When I suggest something, it's because I've had similar situations and successes with treatments. It shouldn't be construed as expert advice. You would need to see an avian vet for that.

When I have a hen with broad symptoms as yours, not really being able to nail down a specific cause, I put her on a course of a broad spectrum antibiotic such as amoxicillin or penicillin. I do a full ten day course of 250mg once a day or you can divide the dose into two and give once in morning and the other at night.

This serves two purposes. One is to employ an extreme measure to save the chicken. The other is to diagnose. If the chicken responds to the antibiotic, then I know it was a bacterial infection.

However, the symptoms you may be treating may be from a secondary infection brought on by low resistance from one of many avian viruses that can infect an entire flock. The antibiotic can't treat that.

Thank you! I totally understand that this is simply guess work as there's no real way of knowing without the vets but I'll willing to try anything to save her.

I will try these antibiotics. Will any one do or is one better than the other?

 

[azygous]

Either one. Your choice.

 

[Haf]

Either one. Your choice.

Okay thank you for the help!

 

[azygous]

Please keep us posted as to her progress. Hope this works.