Hey Guys! I am having an issue with one of my Plymouth Rock hen and I would love some help and advice. She is 4 years old and seems to have stopped laying eggs as of a couple of months ago-- this is not the problem though. I apologize for the long post but I wanted to make sure you got all the details.
It started about two weeks ago when my husband found her laying in the middle of the chicken coop. She was not walking or moving much, eyes closed, and she was leaning on her right side. I did what I normally do with my sick chickens and put her in my bathroom. Although she wasn't walking, she did eat the yogurt I gave her and drank some water. Her poop was normal and I cannot feel anything in her crop at all. I also gave her some vegetable oil in case it was a crop issue. I put the oil in her vent as well just in case. I even "felt" around in her vent but felt no blockage. Feathers, skin, legs look normal although she has been ruffled since this happened. The next day she was standing up again but just a little weak. I thought she was getting better.
I continued giving her water with some apple cider vinegar and yogurt. I would give her the water through the syringe because I wasn't entirely sure if she was actually drinking. She was not eating much of her chicken food but she was more than happy to have yogurt, cottage cheese, bits of lettuce, and any other treats I brought so I wasn't too worried. 3 days later she was pecking and scratching around my bathroom so I figured it was safe to put her back in the coop with my other two hens.
Putting her back with the other chickens was a disaster. They immediately began attacking her and she fell over and went limp again. In the 20 seconds it took me to get them off of her, they had pecked her comb so bad that she was bleeding. I took her back into my bathroom, cleaned her up, and that's where she has been for the last two weeks. I realize now she was a lot weaker than I had thought when I tried to put her back in the coop. She started standing shortly after I got her back to the bathroom but when the attack happened it was like she lost all her strength and just fell over. I almost thought they had killed her.
She has continued to eat, drink, walk around and poop but she still seemed a bit weak. She is very alert but it was almost like she was depressed and lost her will to live. She didn't walk around much and I noticed her keeping her eyes closed a lot. I also have noticed whenever she does eat, there is a strange gurgling or clicking noise coming from somewhere inside her. Her crop feels fine though--there just isn't much in it because she isn't eating as much as she should be.
I thought maybe she was just depressed and lonely. One day this week it was about 60 degrees so I gated off one half of the coop where the other chickens couldn't get to and put her in there. She was outside for about 6 hours and walked around very little--maybe 10 steps at the most. I saw no pecking or scratching. She just kept her feathers ruffled and watched the other chickens on the other side of the coop. However, she did make some cooing and clucking noises so she seemed a little happy but, again, it is almost like the life has been sucked out of her.
Last night, I wasn't happy with the amount of chicken scratch she seemed to be eating (almost none had disappeared from the bowl) and she seemed to be losing weight quickly as I can see her beast bone. I also noticed she was not pooping much. So I watered down the feed and made it mush-I added a very small amount of dry cat food to the mix as well- and she did eat about 4 bites of it. She might have had more after I left but it couldn't have been much. I also gave her a little more yogurt, a syringe of water, and a syringe of oil. She went to bed looking about the same as she has for the last week--a little weak and depressed but completely alert and seemingly coordinated.
I woke up this morning to find her back on her right side and not moving at all. This time she has her right leg behind her instead of under her. She is also holding that right wing a little funny. However, she is completely alert but she keeps her eyes closed a lot of times. She has feeling in that right leg because when I picked her up she squeezed my finger with her right claw. I tickled her foot a bit too and she moved it. I moved her leg to make sure she hadn't hurt herself in the bathroom and it moved just fine with no argument from her. So she isn't paralyzed as much as she just doesn't seem to have strength on her right side.
The other noticeable difference is her comb has gotten extremely dark red. Not just where the other chickens attacked her but all over. At the tips of the combs it has turned a blackish/purple color with the very end of the tip on one part being a bit white or yellow. Her eyes look normal. I have not seen her poop all day although her vent was clear (I assume she hasn't pooped because she hasn't been eating much). I have propped her up in my bathroom using towels so she is laying upright and not on her side. She has tried to et up- especially when I force her to drink water from the syringe- but she cant seem to get that right leg underneath her.
I started antibiotics today (Duramycin) which I know I should have done two weeks ago. However, she got better so quickly that I just never thought she was really sick as much as maybe the other chickens had done this to her. She does not seem to want to eat anything at all so I have been giving her an electrolyte recipe that I found online. I also forced a bit of yogurt down her with a syringe. I have not heard any gurgling noises coming from her when I give her the liquid like I did before.
So any ideas on what this could be and how to maybe fix her? I know most people might be thinking Marek's but remember she is 4 years old and my other two chickens are acting perfectly fine. The store that I bought her from when she was a baby also said she had the Marek's vaccine.
Update - She pooped as I was writing this. First time today. It was mostly very smelly liquid which I expected considering she hasn't had much solid food. I felt her crop when I picked her up to clean her off and it did feel full but full of liquid (again, that's all she has had). When I massaged her crop, I heard a bubbly gurgling noise. Sort of like a chicken burp except she didn't open her mouth? Oh and no sour smells coming from her mouth so I do not believe it is a sour crop.
I will include pictures. Thanks for reading this and any advice or thoughts I would really appreciate. I just want to make my chicky baby better!

This is a close up of her comb. The black spots on the right of her comb are where the other chickens attacked her and these are scabs that have formed. What I am concerned about is how the tips of her comb have turned a black/purplish color with the tip of one almost being yellow.

This is how she is looking now. You can see her right leg poking out in the back. The left leg seems fine.

Without the towels to hold her up, she is leaning on the right side. If I left her that way for long she would almost completely be laying on her side.

Her sad little face. I couldn't even get her to open her eyes for the shot. The crusty looking stuff by her eye is, again, scabbing and peeling after the other chickens attacked her. The feathers around her neck and face are all there but they do not look as "pretty" as they normally do. I attributed this to the stress, depression, and malnutrition. No skin problems that I can see.

A close up of her right leg. She is able to move it a little and it is not swollen or scaly


I know this is gross but this is the poo that came out of her. It sorts of hard to see since she had a magazine underneath her. Its basically all liquid and very very smelly. She had normal looking poop up until today. I believe it only looks like this because water, electrolytes, and yogurt are about all I can force her to eat

Back side of her right before I cleaned her off
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
It started about two weeks ago when my husband found her laying in the middle of the chicken coop. She was not walking or moving much, eyes closed, and she was leaning on her right side. I did what I normally do with my sick chickens and put her in my bathroom. Although she wasn't walking, she did eat the yogurt I gave her and drank some water. Her poop was normal and I cannot feel anything in her crop at all. I also gave her some vegetable oil in case it was a crop issue. I put the oil in her vent as well just in case. I even "felt" around in her vent but felt no blockage. Feathers, skin, legs look normal although she has been ruffled since this happened. The next day she was standing up again but just a little weak. I thought she was getting better.
I continued giving her water with some apple cider vinegar and yogurt. I would give her the water through the syringe because I wasn't entirely sure if she was actually drinking. She was not eating much of her chicken food but she was more than happy to have yogurt, cottage cheese, bits of lettuce, and any other treats I brought so I wasn't too worried. 3 days later she was pecking and scratching around my bathroom so I figured it was safe to put her back in the coop with my other two hens.
Putting her back with the other chickens was a disaster. They immediately began attacking her and she fell over and went limp again. In the 20 seconds it took me to get them off of her, they had pecked her comb so bad that she was bleeding. I took her back into my bathroom, cleaned her up, and that's where she has been for the last two weeks. I realize now she was a lot weaker than I had thought when I tried to put her back in the coop. She started standing shortly after I got her back to the bathroom but when the attack happened it was like she lost all her strength and just fell over. I almost thought they had killed her.
She has continued to eat, drink, walk around and poop but she still seemed a bit weak. She is very alert but it was almost like she was depressed and lost her will to live. She didn't walk around much and I noticed her keeping her eyes closed a lot. I also have noticed whenever she does eat, there is a strange gurgling or clicking noise coming from somewhere inside her. Her crop feels fine though--there just isn't much in it because she isn't eating as much as she should be.
I thought maybe she was just depressed and lonely. One day this week it was about 60 degrees so I gated off one half of the coop where the other chickens couldn't get to and put her in there. She was outside for about 6 hours and walked around very little--maybe 10 steps at the most. I saw no pecking or scratching. She just kept her feathers ruffled and watched the other chickens on the other side of the coop. However, she did make some cooing and clucking noises so she seemed a little happy but, again, it is almost like the life has been sucked out of her.
Last night, I wasn't happy with the amount of chicken scratch she seemed to be eating (almost none had disappeared from the bowl) and she seemed to be losing weight quickly as I can see her beast bone. I also noticed she was not pooping much. So I watered down the feed and made it mush-I added a very small amount of dry cat food to the mix as well- and she did eat about 4 bites of it. She might have had more after I left but it couldn't have been much. I also gave her a little more yogurt, a syringe of water, and a syringe of oil. She went to bed looking about the same as she has for the last week--a little weak and depressed but completely alert and seemingly coordinated.
I woke up this morning to find her back on her right side and not moving at all. This time she has her right leg behind her instead of under her. She is also holding that right wing a little funny. However, she is completely alert but she keeps her eyes closed a lot of times. She has feeling in that right leg because when I picked her up she squeezed my finger with her right claw. I tickled her foot a bit too and she moved it. I moved her leg to make sure she hadn't hurt herself in the bathroom and it moved just fine with no argument from her. So she isn't paralyzed as much as she just doesn't seem to have strength on her right side.
The other noticeable difference is her comb has gotten extremely dark red. Not just where the other chickens attacked her but all over. At the tips of the combs it has turned a blackish/purple color with the very end of the tip on one part being a bit white or yellow. Her eyes look normal. I have not seen her poop all day although her vent was clear (I assume she hasn't pooped because she hasn't been eating much). I have propped her up in my bathroom using towels so she is laying upright and not on her side. She has tried to et up- especially when I force her to drink water from the syringe- but she cant seem to get that right leg underneath her.
I started antibiotics today (Duramycin) which I know I should have done two weeks ago. However, she got better so quickly that I just never thought she was really sick as much as maybe the other chickens had done this to her. She does not seem to want to eat anything at all so I have been giving her an electrolyte recipe that I found online. I also forced a bit of yogurt down her with a syringe. I have not heard any gurgling noises coming from her when I give her the liquid like I did before.
So any ideas on what this could be and how to maybe fix her? I know most people might be thinking Marek's but remember she is 4 years old and my other two chickens are acting perfectly fine. The store that I bought her from when she was a baby also said she had the Marek's vaccine.
Update - She pooped as I was writing this. First time today. It was mostly very smelly liquid which I expected considering she hasn't had much solid food. I felt her crop when I picked her up to clean her off and it did feel full but full of liquid (again, that's all she has had). When I massaged her crop, I heard a bubbly gurgling noise. Sort of like a chicken burp except she didn't open her mouth? Oh and no sour smells coming from her mouth so I do not believe it is a sour crop.
I will include pictures. Thanks for reading this and any advice or thoughts I would really appreciate. I just want to make my chicky baby better!
This is a close up of her comb. The black spots on the right of her comb are where the other chickens attacked her and these are scabs that have formed. What I am concerned about is how the tips of her comb have turned a black/purplish color with the tip of one almost being yellow.
This is how she is looking now. You can see her right leg poking out in the back. The left leg seems fine.
Without the towels to hold her up, she is leaning on the right side. If I left her that way for long she would almost completely be laying on her side.
Her sad little face. I couldn't even get her to open her eyes for the shot. The crusty looking stuff by her eye is, again, scabbing and peeling after the other chickens attacked her. The feathers around her neck and face are all there but they do not look as "pretty" as they normally do. I attributed this to the stress, depression, and malnutrition. No skin problems that I can see.
A close up of her right leg. She is able to move it a little and it is not swollen or scaly
I know this is gross but this is the poo that came out of her. It sorts of hard to see since she had a magazine underneath her. Its basically all liquid and very very smelly. She had normal looking poop up until today. I believe it only looks like this because water, electrolytes, and yogurt are about all I can force her to eat
Back side of her right before I cleaned her off
Thanks for any advice you can give me.