Need help quick!!! Lethargic hen, bleeding from head, hard crop.

[Eggcessive]

Quick update on my hen:
Woke up this morning and checked on her. She opened her eyes and looked at me and seemed to be doing good. I picked her up and her neck seemed kind of stiff. She started gasping for air and breathing through her mouth. She did this for a good 45 mins or so. I held her and finally placed her back in her bin. After a few minutes in her bin she is now breathing through her nose again and opened her eyes a few times to look at me. Now she appears to be sleeping.

What do I do?

Gasping can be a sign of respiratory disease, aspergillosis, and gapeworm (rare.) Does she have a voice now--losing the voice is a typical sign of aspergillosis, which is a fungal infection from mold in the environment. There is no treatment for that. It probably would not hurt at this point to treat her for gapeworm with the SafeGuard, and start the Duramycin if you have it. She could have Mareks, or perhaps a leg problem from birth. Is her neck twisting, or is she holding it in a funny position up or down?

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I just gave her about 1/2 mL of safe guard and she drank it like a champ.
She does tend to hold her neck in very odd positions. Earlier she was holding it under her wing while she was gasping. Sometimes she sleeps with it extended way out. Definitely something odd about her neck movements
I have not heard her voice at all.

 

[casportpony]

Weigh her daily on a kitchen or postal scale.

-Kathy

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I found my hen standing up, alert and eyes open in her bin today. She has pooped several times already.
She has tried eating chicken food today, I mushed it up and she tried pecking at it and did appear to eat a little. She still seems to had something odd going on with her neck. I'm not sure if she was just beat up bad by one of her fellow flock members or if she has some sort of respiratory problem going on.
She has been breathing through her mouth a little today, but so far nothing like how she was yesterday.

Do you guys think I should give her duramycin in case it is respiratory? I gave her safeguard yesterday as a dewormer, it's been 24hours so is it safe to give duramycin?
Duramycin likely won't hurt her if it turns out not to be respiratory, right?

 

[oesdog]

Not sure about the med you mention we have different stuff over here than in the US. I use tylon for respiritory and it has helped my girls through a lot of stuff. I would think giving her an antibiotic can't do her any harm. I am glad she is seeming a little stronger.

Oes

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

My hen is doing very well today. Standing up, eyes open, walking around and eating well. She Still needs to start drinking more though.
I was feeding her yogurt/Gatorade/egg/chicken feed mix but now she is on grounded up chicken feed and eating well.
I found a large bruise on her head and neck. I'm wondering if this is what is causing her neck weirdness.

She has been breathing through her mouth a little today, but not gasping like yesterday.

Do you think a neck injury would cause her to gasp?
I'm thinking of holding off on any antibiotics right now, she seems to be doing very well. What do you guys think?

Edited to add:

Poop is very runny and green. It also smells completely awful (so bad that the poop has to be rushed straight outside to the garbage can).
What is causing this?

 

[casportpony]

Green poop usually means they aren't eating enough, but ican also be a sign of disease. If you have a kitchen scale start weighing her at the same time every day and if she loses weight, she's not eating enough.

-Kathy

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Thanks for the tip, going to start the weighing tonight.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I've been weighing my hen the last few days every night. Her weight remains the same ( 4 1/4 lbs). She has always been a very light weight hen.
Overall, my hen is doing much better. She is walking around, alert all day, eating normal, and talking. However, she is not drinking and I continue to use a syringe to drip water on her beak to get her to drink, as well as adding Gatorade to her feed to try and keep her hydrated as best I can.

Her poop is still not normal. I believe she may have diarrhea. It is occasionally green, always runny and very, very stinky.
She is currently eating a mixture of yogurt, layer pellets, Gatorade, and egg. I'm thinking of stopping the yogurt, I'm concerned this may be passing right through her.

Her crop was squishier, but today it is pretty hard feeling. She doesn't like me touching it today and extends her neck waaay out when I gently put pressure on it.

She is no longer gasping, but does breathe through her mouth occassionally while she sleeps.

What do you think is causing this diarrhea? How do I stop it?

Thanks so much.

 

[casportpony]

At 4.25 pounds I would have given her no less that 1ml Safeguard once *or* .4ml three days in a row., but that's just me. She's not losing weight, which is good. Can you post a picture of her poop?

Kathy