My hen has been sick for over a month

[Meandmyhens3]

I have a 4 year old Rhode Island Red named nugget. I believe she has some serious problem going on but I don’t know what it could be.

Symptoms: Her poop has been runny for well over 4 months by now and she constantly has soiled feathers around her vent, but that was her only symptom over the winter. Now that the weather is warming up all my girls started laying eggs except for her. About 30% of the time she sits with her tail down not moving while the others are foraging. She can’t be egg bound bc these symptoms have been around for about a month, and egg binding is fatal after 24-48 hours. Her appetite is fine, she is eating and drinking, she comes running up to the fence with the other girls when I walk outside.

The only thing I can’t think of is maybe she has a liver/kidney problem, or possibly cancer since she is kind of old.

 

[coach723]

At 4 years old a reproductive problem is possible. Is she eating and drinking? Does her abdomen feel bloated, below the vent, between the legs? Either very firm or water balloon like? How does her crop feel, empty, full, hard, soft, squishy, etc? Does her breast feel well muscled or is the keel bone very prominent? Have you ever wormed your birds or had a fecal test done to check for internal parasites?

 

[Meandmyhens3]

At 4 years old a reproductive problem is possible. Is she eating and drinking? Does her abdomen feel bloated, below the vent, between the legs? Either very firm or water balloon like? How does her crop feel, empty, full, hard, soft, squishy, etc? Does her breast feel well muscled or is the keel bone very prominent? Have you ever wormed your birds or had a fecal test done to check for internal parasites?

She is eating and drinking, as far as I can feel her abdomen feels the same as the other hens so I assume it’s normal, her crop right now is full but so are the others, and I also compared the keel bone to the others and that feels the same as well( not overly boney) though I’ve never actually felt it before this, and I have never wormed them or tested them for internal parasites so I suppose that could be a possibility.

 

[coach723]

If you have a vet that will run a fecal for you, I would start there. Alternately you could just worm her and see if it helps. You can use Safeguard Liquid Goat wormer or Safeguard Horse Paste (fenbendazole), both of those are often available locally if you are in the US. Or Valbazen cattle wormer (albendazole), that one usually has to be ordered on line. All of those are directly dosed to the bird orally.

 

[Meandmyhens3]

If you have a vet that will run a fecal for you, I would start there. Alternately you could just worm her and see if it helps. You can use Safeguard Liquid Goat wormer or Safeguard Horse Paste (fenbendazole), both of those are often available locally if you are in the US. Or Valbazen cattle wormer (albendazole), that one usually has to be ordered on line. All of those are directly dosed to the bird orally.

I will definitely try the wormer, I’m not sure if a vet is a possibility for me right now but I appreciate all the advice!

 

[Meandmyhens3]

I’ve decided to update this, Nuggets outward symptoms haven’t gotten worse but her abdomen is definitely more swollen and squishy then the others. I’m now pretty sure it’s water belly which is very unfortunate bc I do consider my birds my pets. With her being 4 years old it is somewhat expected because it is part of a natural deterioration as she ages. I had already suspected cancer or liver failure which then leads to water belly. So that’s the sad but true update.