My chicken is lethargic and has diarrhea please help.

[Ariathwen]

My chicken is lethargic and has diarrhea. She’s about 3 years old a white w red crop I don’t know the exact breed. She drank water this morning but she’s not eating. Her poop is watery with some white/yellowish parts. I found her with ants on her backside. Separated her from the other chickens in a pen on the patio away from the sun. We washed her backside with warm water. This started yesterday, I’m not sure when the last time she ate, maybe yesterday afternoon. We live in Katy, TX so I thought maybe it was the heat recently but idk for sure. They have free range of a chicken run and a coop for 6. They eat Thomas Moore layer pellets and have 1 treat of mealworms in the morning. We use hay inside their coop. The coop gets cleaned about twice a week. We started with 4 chicks but one of them got taken last year by something so we’re down to the 3 shown in pics. Is there anything I can do to help her? I do not intent to take her to a vet since we don’t really have the money right now.

 

[Eggcessive]

The yellow color of the droppings and the urates can be from having liver issues, related to possible reproductive infection or cancer. Does she have any swelling of her lower belly that seems to be water belly? Does she lay eggs? I might consider giving her some amoxicillin orally 250 mg twice a day.

 

[Ariathwen]

The yellow color of the droppings and the urates can be from having liver issues, related to possible reproductive infection or cancer. Does she have any swelling of her lower belly that seems to be water belly? Does she lay eggs? I might consider giving her some amoxicillin orally 250 mg twice a day.

I didn’t feel any swelling when I picked her up but I have zero experience on how to tell. I know she does usually lay but we never see who’s doing the laying so out of the 3 we have we normally get at least 2 eggs a day sometimes 3. She hasn’t laid since we separated her I know that. She has had a few brown runny poos and continues to drink a lot of water but still won’t eat. I tried tempting her with mushy feed w a bit of tuna but she wasn’t having it.

 

[Tonyroo]

Checking for Water belly feels like touching a water balloon on a chicken underside. If it doesn't feel like that she doesn't have that symptom.

Try giving her a raw egg yolk in a shallow bowl, no whites. When my chicken feel ill this is what there able to eat.

 

[Ariathwen]

So this morning we took her outside and she stood up and looked alert. So we let her out in the yard and gave her some grubs and food and she immediately started eating. She’s walking around a bit, still seemingly a bit weak but I see this as a good sign right?

 

[Eggcessive]

It is good that she is up and around and eating some. laying hens can gradually develop ascites when they are suffering from a reproductive disorder, fatty liver disease, and cancer, all common in hens over 2-3 years. The lower belly may feel fuller than other hens and hang down and outward more where droppings may become stuck on. From the side she doesn’t look that full though. Poop pictures can be helpful if the normally white urates appear yellow, or if there is a lot of yellow fluid in the droppings.

 

[Ariathwen]

I felt it again but nothing feels swollen or full of liquid. She feels normal, she’s always been on the thinner side compared to the others. I always just thought it was because she was on the bottom of the pecking order. Anyway, here’s and updated poo pic From just now.