Mystery illnesses continue (not urgent but help appreciated)

[clickchicks]

Back again with more chicken illnesses. I just can't seem to catch a break with these birds.

One of my hens fell ill a little over 2 weeks ago. She stopped laying and I thought maybe it just was just the heat. Then she started acting lethargic. Not lame, she still gets up to run if I try and pick her up and if I do grab her she puts up a spirited struggle. But while all the other birds are pecking around and acting normal, she sits in a shady corner of the run and sleeps. She was hardly eating. After about 5 days of this I caved and took her to the vet.

Nothing obviously wrong except she's clearly low energy and not eating. They gave me an antibiotic to try (sulfamethoxazole) and some powder omnivore diet to tube feed with if she totally went off food. She was on the meds for 10 days and nothing has changed. She hasn't gotten any worse, arguably things might be a little better since she is eating on her own in the mornings, but by mid to late day she's back to being sluggish and I give her a tube meal before lights out so she's not sleeping on an empty stomach.

Her symptoms are just lethargy and lack of appetite. Sometimes she keeps one eye closed even if she isn't asleep, but not 100% of the time. Her poops are mostly normal (albeit small) during the day, but green and slimy in the morning (I assume because of the liquid tube food).

There was a respiratory thing that went through my flock a few months back. At that time no other symptoms besides everyone was sneezing. A MG/MS blood test was done and it came back neg. We never figured out what it was but eventually they all stopped sneezing and it seemed to be resolved.

I did notice one white scab on sick chicken's comb and thought maybe fowl pox, but no one else has scabs and no new scabs have formed.

Rest of the flock is acting totally normal.

Any ideas on what I can do to help this bird? These are pet chickens so I'm trying to avoid culling unless its clear she will not recover.

 

[Eggcessive]

Hard to know exactly what is going on with the hen. How old is she? You may have had infectious bronchitis going through your flock when they were sneezing. It can lead to reproductive disorders. Internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, and ascites are all common in hens. Many times we can only guess what is going on unless they have specific symptoms, until a necropsy can be done after death. I usually do necropsies on any that I lose, and have seen quite a few repro problems.

Does she crop empty overnight by the next morning? Does she prefer to sit rather than roam around? Is her lower belly enlarged, and has she lost weight through her breast? Have her eggs always appeared normal with hard shell? Are any of your birds molting or are you seeing feathers in the coop and run? Mist sick chickens I have had will usually eat some scrambled egg, wet chicken feed, tuna, and canned cat food.

Probiotics can be helpful to keep her gut bacteria healthy. If you have not wormed her recently, Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer can be good for worming. Take some droppings in to a local vet to look for both worms and coccidiosis.

 

[clickchicks]

Hard to know exactly what is going on with the hen. How old is she? You may have had infectious bronchitis going through your flock when they were sneezing. It can lead to reproductive disorders. Internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, and ascites are all common in hens. Many times we can only guess what is going on unless they have specific symptoms, until a necropsy can be done after death. I usually do necropsies on any that I lose, and have seen quite a few repro problems.

Does she crop empty overnight by the next morning? Does she prefer to sit rather than roam around? Is her lower belly enlarged, and has she lost weight through her breast? Have her eggs always appeared normal with hard shell? Are any of your birds molting or are you seeing feathers in the coop and run? Mist sick chickens I have had will usually eat some scrambled egg, wet chicken feed, tuna, and canned cat food.

Probiotics can be helpful to keep her gut bacteria healthy. If you have not wormed her recently, Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer can be good for worming. Take some droppings in to a local vet to look for both worms and coccidiosis.

Thanks for the info. She's between 1-2 years old.

Fecal was done when I took her in and it was negative for anything. Her crop does empty and belly isn't enlarged/doesn't feel swollen. She's got a lean Leghorn-like body type so she's never been a meaty bird. I'll try and get her weight today and compare to what it was at the vet's.

She is a prolific layer, averages about 5 eggs a week but shells have always been good and hard. They are eating a higher protein later diet right now.

I've tried to tempt her with a few things, including egg, but all she does is take a bite or two then turn away. I've tried egg, sunflower seeds, various greens and vegies, and watermelon. For the most part its the same with all of them, maybe a little better with the watermelon but it seems like she just wanted to drink the juice rather than eat it.

Molting yes, maybe. One of the other hens had a particularly bad broody streak that took a while to break, since coming off she's been dropping feathers so I suspect she's starting to molt. No mites or lice, I did check for that just in case. The maybe-molting hen is acting normal/hasn't had any issues.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

Thanks for the info. She's between 1-2 years old.

Fecal was done when I took her in and it was negative for anything. Her crop does empty and belly isn't enlarged/doesn't feel swollen. She's got a lean Leghorn-like body type so she's never been a meaty bird. I'll try and get her weight today and compare to what it was at the vet's.

She is a prolific layer, averages about 5 eggs a week but shells have always been good and hard. They are eating a higher protein later diet right now.

I've tried to tempt her with a few things, including egg, but all she does is take a bite or two then turn away. I've tried egg, sunflower seeds, various greens and vegies, and watermelon. For the most part its the same with all of them, maybe a little better with the watermelon but it seems like she just wanted to drink the juice rather than eat it.

Molting yes, maybe. One of the other hens had a particularly bad broody streak that took a while to break, since coming off she's been dropping feathers so I suspect she's starting to molt. No mites or lice, I did check for that just in case. The maybe-molting hen is acting normal/hasn't had any issues.

I've been saying the same thing in the last 3 comments I've made on this forum (lol)...try giving her some raw garlic - minced, fresh garlic... It's worth a try. It has helped my chickens in a number of ways - including helping to ward off bacterial and viral infections...doesn't seem to cure anything, but it does help a lot...plus it will stimulate the appetite...the chicken's appetite of course.

 

[clickchicks]

Unfortunately she seems to have gone off food completely now. She didnt want to eat in the morning which was the one glimmer of hope I was holding on to.

Vet proscribed doxycycline to try as a last resort. If she’s not better by the end of the week we will likely have to let her go. I’m worried it may be some sort of organ failure at this point.

 

[clickchicks]

3 full days on doxy and she regained her apatite and is eating on her own again. Her comb has some color again too. I don't want to get excited but maybe the doxy caught whatever was messing with her. Fingers crossed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad to hear that the doxy seems to be making her better. Is she eating better?

 

[clickchicks]

Glad to hear that the doxy seems to be making her better. Is she eating better?

Seems like it. When I go and check on her she has solid food in her crop, whereas the last few days its been completely empty each time I've checked unless I've given a tube feeding.

 

[clickchicks]

I hate making these kinds of posts but I feel its better to update in case someone finds this thread in the future. My poor hen passed away this morning.

We thought things were getting better, she was eating on her own again and while not back to normal, didn't seem quite as bad. Then yesterday she crashed and passed away early this morning. We're sending her off for necropsy.

 

[clickchicks]

Necropsy came back, it was cancer. Ovarian carcinoma. Extremely sad but somewhat of a relief that it was nothing that might have been contagious to the others.