Oh!!! Help!!! Hen is really not look good at all!!!!!!!!!!

[tankgirl88]

My Rhode Island Red is taking a turn for the worst I fear! I thought that maybe she was broody at first because she didn't want to leave the coop. After a couple days of noticing her not eating or drinking or moving much I took her out and set her down and she just kinda slumped back to laying down. No interest in food or water. She has no lice or mites or fleas. Great food that is dry, a brand new coop that is clean. Her vent was messy so today I brought her in and gave her a bath, I had to put her head on something cause she wan't holding her head out of the water on her own. After washing her I could see that she has a small dime sized white patch below her vent. I think this is a kind of yeast infection. I blow-dried her and made a bed for her in a plastic tub. Then I used a dropper to give her some water. I infused it with garlic, apple cider vinegar, and some chia seeds(they fir in the dropper and I thought maybe they could give her some nourishment). Then I just gave her some more regular water a while later. I left her alone for a couple hours and then came back to check on her. She can't even hold her head up at all, it's kinda just lobbed over to the side and forward(she is still breathing and alive). I broke open an antibiotic capsule that I had on hand and mixed it with water according to a ration I found on another chicken website and gave her the recommended dosage. When I first opened her mouth to do this there was a clear mucus or something in her mouth(just in her mouth from what I could see, her throat looked clear) so I sucked this out with the dropper first before giving the antibiotic. I also got some plain greek yogurt and watered it down a bit so it wasn't so thick to swallow and droppered than in her mouth as well. I hope some of this will help her pull through. But aside from the yeast infection I don't know if something else is wrong with her. Help!! Any idea as to what this could be or if I can do anything else to try to save her?!

 

[tankgirl88]

Also her comb is a weird color. It seemed lighter than normal yesterday, almost powdery. Tonight it looks darker....maybe slightly purple. Not her normal red for sure. I put some blue-kote and Nystatin powder on the yeasty looking spot too.

 

[ten chicks]

Also her comb is a weird color. It seemed lighter than normal yesterday, almost powdery. Tonight it looks darker....maybe slightly purple. Not her normal red for sure. I put some blue-kote and Nystatin powder on the yeasty looking spot too.

I will be honest with you,her condition does not sound good. That being said start checking for egg binding,impacted/sour crop,vent gleet.

To check for egg binding put on gloves w lubricant and gently insert finger into vent,see if you can feel an egg or broken egg shell. If you feel an egg,give her a tums or calcium tablet orally(crush up into pieces)keep her warm(when ill/injured birds cannot regulate their body temp,so additional heat is required)keep her somewhere dark and quiet/calm. If you find broken egg shells,gently remove,careful you do not want to accidentally cut her internally,flush internal vent with a diluted vinegar/water solution this helps with bacteria and to flush out egg contents.
Do not give her a warm water soak,in her condition the stress could push her over the edge.

To check for impacted crop,her crop should be full at night(after eating all day)check in morning(before eating)should be empty. With sour crop their crop usually has a squishy/watery feed and you may notice a foul smell coming from mouth.

With vent gleet there is usually a whitish discharge from vent area.

Most birds die of dehydration/starvation before you can even treat the real issue,they cannot survive long at all without water/food.

Here are some links describing above issues.

http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms.html

 

[tankgirl88]

Dang it, I already gave her a warm bath. She really didn't see to care one way or the other however. She just sat there. She didn't even fight it. Any idea what the clear mucus stuff in her mouth was?

 

[Dartanion]

I think she may have parasites and it has caused her to get diarrhea,that the cause of the messy vent.I would make her comfortable and give her some Ensure but just a little.If she will start eating feed her some bread it will help to clear up her diarrhea.Keep her warm and she is probably dehydrated and that's why she is weak.Also you need to see what medication is at your local feed store or a Tractor Supply and treat the rest of your flock.There is a kind of yogurt than is full of protein that you need to give her that would help but not to much that can make it worse.As for the liquid,It's a chicken thing I think my hen did the same thing.No more baths.....If she gets dirty clean her up with a warm rag.Hope this helps and if you have anymore questions let me know.Plus I would like an update if you don't mind.

 

[ten chicks]

Dang it, I already gave her a warm bath. She really didn't see to care one way or the other however. She just sat there. She didn't even fight it. Any idea what the clear mucus stuff in her mouth was?

Could be anything from her body shutting down to start of sour crop,i am not prepared to guess at this point. If she has not been eating/drinking,you might want to consider tube feeding her.

Here is a link explaining tube feeding.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

You can also use aquarium tubing(this is what i use)burn one end of tubing to melt it a bit,this helps tube to slide in easier.

 

[tankgirl88]

Aww, this is hard. This is my first sick hen. I try to be so careful and make sure they have good nutrition. I wish I know how this happened so I could prevent it from happening ever again. I will for sure go to the feed store tomorrow and get some meds for the rest of the flock. Do you think that if she has a parasite that, that could have lead to the yeast infection? This all came on so fast. I will for sure give an update as well.

 

[ten chicks]

Aww, this is hard. This is my first sick hen. I try to be so careful and make sure they have good nutrition. I wish I know how this happened so I could prevent it from happening ever again. I will for sure go to the feed store tomorrow and get some meds for the rest of the flock. Do you think that if she has a parasite that, that could have lead to the yeast infection? This all came on so fast. I will for sure give an update as well.

Have you checked her for any of the issues i mentioned? What meds are you going to purchase and for what?

 

[ten chicks]

I think she may have parasites and it has caused her to get diarrhea,that the cause of the messy vent.I would make her comfortable and give her some Ensure but just a little.If she will start eating feed her some bread it will help to clear up her diarrhea.Keep her warm and she is probably dehydrated and that's why she is weak.Also you need to see what medication is at your local feed store or a Tractor Supply and treat the rest of your flock.There is a kind of yogurt than is full of protein that you need to give her that would help but not to much that can make it worse.As for the liquid,It's a chicken thing I think my hen did the same thing.No more baths.....If she gets dirty clean her up with a warm rag.Hope this helps and if you have anymore questions let me know.Plus I would like an update if you don't mind.

Any discharge from chickens mouth is not normal and not a chicken thing. Bathing is perfectly fine,unless they are obviously ill then it is not recommended.

 

[tankgirl88]

Is there any harm to feeding her with a dropper like I have been trying to do? Can I hurt her that way somehow or make it worse? I make sure that she swallows before I give her the next dropper full.