Mystery Disease in Older Hen- Emaciation, Dehydration and More...

[Breac]

My five year old Rhode Island Red hen, Fred, has taken a turn for the worse. She has been under the weather for a while, but in the past week it's gotten pretty bad. Right now, she's terribly emaciated, dehydrated, has mostly watery green diarrhea, occasionally breathes through her mouth, and is listless and ruffles her feathers. I noticed she was getting skinnier a while ago and dewormed my whole flock approximately one month ago. Fred immediately took a turn for the worse. I noticed her laying down a lot in the days immediately following the deworming, and she's still been getting thinner and thinner. She drinks a TON but is still dehydrated.

Fred does have a long history of troubles, so I'll list them now:
-She had a respiratory issue two years ago in the winter. That was coupled with a small abscess in the bottom of her mouth. The vet diagnosed her as having Pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics (Baytril). She recovered from both issues.
- Fred has an ongoing 'issue' with being half-white. I posted about this issue a while ago and one person mentioned it might be nutrition related. She has gained some of her brown coloration back, but still has many white feathers.
-For many years Fred has had a habit of regurgitating half of the water she drinks. She takes a sip and half of it comes back out of her beak as a glob of mucus. She drinks twice as much, but only seems to consume half of it (or less)
-She has also had a habit of making odd noises when she eats. Grunts, coughs, gurgles, sneezes and the like. I don't know if it's relevant, but I figure I should mention it.
- The diarrhea has been a problem for a while as well

Fred currently lives in a small pen with a blind rooster for company. She acts as his seeing-eye bird, so it would be devastating to loose her. Since the rooster is old and blind, there isn't an issue with food/water availability. He's in better shape right now than her.

Right now, Fred is separated entirely. She drinks massive amounts of water, but is reluctant to eat much of anything. She is very weak, but is still hanging on. Fred is a fighter, and if she has any chance, I'd like to find it. I'm a bit low on funds at the moment, so taking her to a vet is unfortunately not an option right now.

So, my questions can be summed up as...
*What is wrong with her? Is it viral, infectious, parasite-related, or just genetic?
* How can I convince her to eat/ make her gain weight?
* What is causing her dehydration despite her massive water intake?
* Is there a way to cure her?
* Are my other birds at risk?

 

[J-Sanders]

Sounds like a crop issue. Have you tried to acidify her with fermented oats? Does she have access to grit? She is unfortunately nearing the end of her life. Chickens have a span of some seven odd years, although the do live longer when they are given TLC.

Can you try to feed her with soaked oats? There is a great thread on fermented grains and I would try to give her a probiotic infusion to help her with her gut flora. Put some organic unpasteurized apple cider vinegar in her with a dropper. Or you could try yogurt with live culture.

Jim

 

[terryg]

Fred is quite old. I do necropsies on my birds, and have yet to see a hen of that age that isn't filled with cancer and/or tumors. (Ovarian cancer is so prevalent in hens that they are the animal that researchers use to investigate human cancer.) If she has something that isn't terminal, then my "Spa Treatment" usually helps.
http://hencam.com/faq/the-spa-treatment/ I have hens that are nearing 8 years of age, and this has helped to keep them active.
But you also probably want to read about old hens and end of life here:
http://hencam.com/henblog/2012/06/the-kindness-of-euthanizing/

 

[Breac]

Sounds like a crop issue. Have you tried to acidify her with fermented oats? Does she have access to grit? She is unfortunately nearing the end of her life. Chickens have a span of some seven odd years, although the do live longer when they are given TLC.

Can you try to feed her with soaked oats? There is a great thread on fermented grains and I would try to give her a probiotic infusion to help her with her gut flora. Put some organic unpasteurized apple cider vinegar in her with a dropper. Or you could try yogurt with live culture.

Jim

I haven't considered a crop issue, but when I felt her crop today I did notice that it felt semi-solid in one area. This may definitely be what's going on with her. I will look up the thread on soaked oats ASAP. Thank you so much.

Fred is quite old. I do necropsies on my birds, and have yet to see a hen of that age that isn't filled with cancer and/or tumors. (Ovarian cancer is so prevalent in hens that they are the animal that researchers use to investigate human cancer.) If she has something that isn't terminal, then my "Spa Treatment" usually helps.
http://hencam.com/faq/the-spa-treatment/  I have hens that are nearing 8 years of age, and this has helped to keep them active.
But  you also probably want to read about old hens and end of life here:
http://hencam.com/henblog/2012/06/the-kindness-of-euthanizing/

I certainly hope it's not cancer. One thing I've noticed about giving Baytril to hens is that it seems to render them sterile for an extremely long time. I gave it to Fred over a year ago and she hasn't laid an egg since. It's the same story with even my best layers who get a dose. I always thought chickens lived longer than that; the most common number I've heard is around 10-12 years.

Thank you for both articles; I think a spa treatment is in order as well. I'll keep the other one handy just in case.

 

[J-Sanders]

With TLC 10 to 12 years is doable but remember she will not be productive for that whole span. They run out of eggs just like women do, although I suspect they aren't as mean as women are when they go through menopause...

Why is it that all the mean things that happen to women have male sounding names??

Jim ducking for cover