Mystery weight loss

[wehrlegirl]

I'm really quite lost as to what to do... I've currently got a chicken who has been recovering well after quite literally loosing the skin off her back when our puppy decided to "have fun" with her a few months ago. All wounds have closed up, she's sprayed often with anti-itch stuff so that as her lovely skin grows back, she'll be less inclined to create new wounds (and so far, no new wounds have popped up). She's got food, and water galore in separate no-spill containers, has lots of straw and is happily cooped up in a pretty spacious dog-crate at nights with another chicken who was in a similar (though less severe) predicament... though I've made sure these two are kept in separate crates. In the day she usually gets to wander around our horse barn as she pleases, unless the horses are staying in for weather-related reasons.

However, I've been noticing for the last several days that this chicken has been rapidly dropping weight, where the chicken she's been cooped up with is in perfect weight. Her comb is nice and red, she seems to be eating/drinking okay, she's not very old and she along with my other chickens have recently been wormed (with no change to her particular condition). I've been keeping her in to watch her and make sure she's eating, with a fan propped up next to her crate. I would love to keep her, as she's one of my favorites, but I'm not too sure what's going on...

 

[chickenzoo]

Sorry you chicky is ill. Has she been eating well............. you said she has plenty of food but is she eating a lot of it. You also said you were spraying her with anti-itch stuff.... many ingredients that are pain relievers to us can be fatal to chickens or make them very ill. I would stop using the spray and use an ointment w/o pain killer in it. If you can give her scrambled egg, canned dog food etc... to try and get her weight up. If she is eating a lot and still losing weight I would try using some Corid or Sulmet to see if perhaps coccidia might be the cause. What did you worm them with last time?

 

[speckledhen]

Is she laying still? I'm not saying this is her issue, but dramatic weight loss can sometimes be associated with the final stages of internal laying. I've lost four to that and almost lost a fifth last year.

 

[dlhunicorn]

has lots of straw

I have noticed when birds are in shock or ill they quite often go around eating things they normally would not... perhaps she has been eating the straw instead of her feed?
Is she NOT eating or is she losing weight despite eating enough ?
I would say separate her and dont allow her to free range anymore until she has regained her weight back... this will also provide you an opportunity to observe her more carefully for additional symptoms (use shavings)
Add a good supplement to her feed like AviaCharge 2000 (available online from McMurry or Strombergs) and offer free choice live culture yogurt.
You can also mix a cooked eggyolk every now and then through her feed along with some sunflower hearts.
What did you worm with? If it was not a broad spectrum wormer she may have a type of worm the other wormers are not suitable for.​

 

[wehrlegirl]

She has been finishing her feed from what I've seen, though stopped laying ever since this sudden weight-drop occurred. And the anti-itch spray was labeled for our dogs... though I'll take her off of it just in case it's causing more problems. I'm simply worried that when she is off it, she pecks at herself, so is there anything else I can use to discourage her from doing that?

I talked to a vet this morning but sadly I wasn't able to get too much help from them, though they did recommend the shelled sunflower seeds and the isolation. If I used the dogfood or yogurt, what kinds are recommended to be best (as in puppy or adult dogfood, and brand if possible)? I'll try the eggyolk strategy as well...

I haven't seen her pecking at the straw at all, and I used Ivermectin (not sure on the exact spelling of it) as a wormer. A question on the shavings, wouldn't there be more of a chance for her to ingest that then straw? Unless you mean a bigger type of shavings, as we've only got medium-fine shavings for our horses. I've never seen shavings used with chickens before...

EDIT: Something I forgot to mention before, she's been pretty active. Not quite as energetic as my other hens, but she still likes to wander around

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[wehrlegirl]

In update, just went to go look at her, and checked her vent/cloaca only to see something long/roundish desperately trying to be pushed out... wasn't able to see exactly what it was, but... should that be cause for concern, especially because I haven't seen it before today? (maybe the wormer's finally done its job and I don't know it?)