Not-Well Hen Refusing All Food EXCEPT Scrambled Eggs (Help)

[TN Chick Mom]

My sweet Iris is not doing great. About a month ago, I went out super late (like 11pm) to fetch eggs and noticed her butt was covered in poop. I brought her in, cleaned her up, and started researching (she was ~5lbs that night). Poop looked like maybe it was cocci so I started Corid the next day and went ahead an treated my other 4 girls. During that time she also had a very distended lower side, which looked like Ascites (she had a prior bought of something that looked the same and I thought she was eggbound; it seemed to have gotten better for a while). She wouldn't eat or drink for about 2 days (tried eggs, plain Greek yogurt, mash, crumbles only, pellets only, favorite weeds, free-ranging - nothing). I totally thought she was at the end of her life and after a few days of the corid, let her go hang with the girls. She perked up and was active, though a little slower than normal.

I still noticed some suspect poops and so I did a round of deworming with that spice powder, which my girls were not a huge fan of. That finished about a week ago and poops did look better. I noticed around that same time after I let them out for supervised "free time" in the yard, that after a solid hour of grazing, her crop was not noticeable at all, and all my other girls were visibly full. I picked her up and it was flat I could feel some grit in there and that was it), and she was noticeable thinner. Since her first stay in the house infirmary, she does forage off on her own - she seems to spend more time scratching & pecking than eating, but she's a beast at finding worms. Worrying that my mean hens were keeping her from food, I started putting out extra in open dishes during the day and trying to give her some away from everyone else. I have 5 girls and 5 feed "ports" so there's no shortage of places to go. She had zero interest. Tried to give her treats - no interest.

FFW to now: I got yet another feeder thinking maybe they were still blocking her. I stood to the side this weekend for a while and just watched. She'd walk up to it, stick her head in, and then walk off. Eating nothing. Repeat at all the feeders. I put food in their activity balls, and she had no interest. Foraging is the same - lots of pecking, scratching but minimal eating.

I picked her up on Saturday for the normal loves and bug check and noticed she was REALLY thin - boney. She had 2 hours outside free-ranging that day, plus food and water inside. She had drank a little water (maybe a few tbsps) but didn't touch the food. After her outside time, I noticed again that everyone's crop was nicely full but not hers. Flat. I hoped that before roosting she'd eat. I checked the coop cam while at dinner and saw her sleeping in one of the next boxes. I put her on the roosting bar and she was wobbling all over so I brought her back inside. When I did, I noticed but was covered in poop again. Cleaned her up. Crop flat. She had a very normal looking poop that night. Put out a dish of food and water for her. She ate nothing. Yesterday morning, I broke an egg while washing it so I scrambled that and gave it to her. She scarfed it down - around the food I had sprinkled on top of it. Swapped it out for crumble, she didn't touch it. Tried pellets, nope. Gave her a raw egg last night with some sliced little tomatoes and some fresh herbs, she took a few drinks of the egg and then didn't touch it. Scrambled egg tonight... scarfed it. Poop smells high of ammonia.

Why is she starving herself and why is her crop never full?
Hardware disease? I suspect she has some incurable something or other. She's just the sweetest even sick. She just sits in her box in my office and shares her signature "peep peep peep" every once in a while.

Add'l details below:

• Dominque (or Dominique Mix), 3 years old, materially lighter & thinner than rest of flock; she was the 2nd smallest
• She's not laid since September before they molted.
• No other birds with these symptoms or any other symptoms (4 others)
• No trauma. injury, or mites/lice
• No respiratory, eye, or skin issues
• Comb/wattles are still red, but more rose than bright red
• Grit & oyster shell+eggshell offered separately and at all times
• Food is Kalmbach Feeds + Nutrena NatureWise
• My girls have an 8x12 enclosed run (plus space in our original coop 3x7) because we are in the city and have a serious hawk problem.
• We don't have vets locally that treat chickens

I just want her to enjoy whatever time she has left because I suspect it won't be long. And, I have to fly out Wednesday for a 4-day work trip.

Pic is her on Saturday taking cover in the hostas when the cars driving by scared her.

Many thanks. <3

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poop smells high of ammonia.

She's not laid since September before they molted.

Does she still have a distended abdomen?

She may have a reproductive disorder which unfortunately can be common in laying hens. EYP, Cancer, Internal Laying, Salpingitis, etc. If this is the case, usually there is not a lot you can do but provide supportive care and comfort.

If her abdomen is bloated with fluid and she's in distress you can try draining to see if that helps give her some relief. Alternatively, you can try an Aloe Detox.

It may be she has something else going on. You mentioned hardware disease, that's a possibility.

I've found when hens are not well with reproductive problems, they often stop roosting. This is likely due to pressure/discomfort in the abdomen and perhaps they have a hard time balancing as well. If she's finding a comfy spot on the floor or a nesting box, then I'd let her sleep where she chooses, just clean up the bedding and make it fresh daily for her.

Keep her bum cleaned, check for lice/mites if she's not dust bathing.

I leave mine with their flock, but may pull them aside daily to give a bit of extra care, see if they will eat something special, etc. Or just give everyone scrambled eggs...

If you feel she may benefit from deworming, then use an anthelmintic. You can find Safeguard Goat Dewormer at TSC or online. Valbazen can be ordered online.



To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm you can use Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer or Equine Paste (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen (Albendazole). Both are given orally by weight; they do not mix well with water.

Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days

Here's how to give oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/