Pale and dry comb

[Mercyr79]

Hi. My 2.5 year old hen is ill but I can’t figure it out. She’s slow, lethargic and won’t eat. I see her drinking water though. Her comb is not the usual bright red and it looks dry. She has poop stuck to her butt feathers and some white drippings. Her vent looks good. I see her drinking water though. We have isolated her and I will give her nutrí drench I’m the morning. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I’m still new at this and I just want to help her Thank you

 

[Tookie]

I would check her over for lice or mites to make sure she doesn't have any.
Also check her crop early in the morning and see if it's empty or not.
Is her abdomen bloated at all? (Abdomen is located underneath the vent and behind the legs.)
Is she having any trouble breathing?
How's your weather been?

 

[StinkyAcres]

Thank you. We live in the mountains and supply options are limited. I will see if any vets have the feeding kits. I’m so sorry about your hen I didn’t know hens can live that long!

Healthy hens can live into their teens. I currently have a 7- almost 8-year-old who still lays eggs. Breeds that were not bred to produce 300+ eggs per year live longer.

 

[dawg53]

I agree with Tookie. Inspect her closely for lice or mites especially around the vent area. It's imperative to use warm water to remove stuck feces from her rear end and look for Fly Strike.
Two other possibilities are that she needs to be wormed with Valbazen or Safeguard. The other is that a dark comb could be a heart valve problem or other heart issue.

 

[azygous]

The dark comb is often an indicator of cardio/pulmonary issues. Listen carefully to her breathing. Does it crackle like crumpling cellophane?

A dark comb can also indicate multiple organ failure. The yellow in the poop can also support this hypothesis, meaning the liver is failing. Is she drinking a lot of water? That's also a symptom of liver failure.

There is also another possibility - lymphoid leucosis which would be the underlying pathology that would cause all of the above.

I'm sorry. Your hen is very sick, and may be in her final weeks. Supportive care to make her happy and as comfortable as possible is what I suggest, meaning keep doing what you've been doing, but it's not likely she will get better.

 

[Mercyr79]

Thank you. We live in the mountains and supply options are limited. I will see if any vets have the feeding kits. I’m so sorry about your hen I didn’t know hens can live that long!

RIP Waffles. She had a good life and is no longer suffering. I am heartbroken but that just comes with the territory of loving animals Thank you all who helped me through this. I wil be forever grateful

 

[StinkyAcres]

Thank you. I will check those things this morning. It’s just hard because I don’t really know what an empty crop feels like. They always feel the same to us when we check them… Will the abdomen be hard if it’s bloated?

Do some comparisons with your healthy chickens. In the evening when your other chickens are on the roost feel their crops; they should be full at that time. Then you can compare it to how it feels in the early morning when it should be empty. When it is empty it's hard to detect. The crop is located just in front of the keel bone. Also compare the the size and firmness of their abdomens.

 

[azygous]

The others have already been exposed. It's extremely contagious if she has leucosis. Isolating her now won't accomplish anything.

 

[Tookie]

We got them from a neighbor and she sold us Golden sex links, Black sex link, Dominique, and Buff Orpington. Not sure which one she is….

She's probably a Golden Sex Link then, she looks like one and sadly they're prone to lots of health issues and don't live long.

 

[Stephine]

Molt can affect some chickens as seriously as an illness. Most suffer a decrease in appetite, but occasionally one will stop eating all together. I have one in my flock right now that has quit eating, lost half her body weight, and was beginning to fade. Yesterday, I intervened and tube fed her some raw egg, pureed Fancy Feast beef, Nutri-drench , a dash of baby cereal, and a teaspoon of sugar. It revived her almost miraculously, but she still refuses to eat, so she will get another tube feeding in the morning.

There is a chance your hen has an infection, but it's too soon to jump to that diagnosis. Sometimes just a little sugar in the water can bounce a chicken back to normal. I'd try that. Also, I can't recommend Poultry Nutri-drench highly enough. Get some.

Raisins, too are a good tonic for sickly weak hens and they will often eat them even if they want nothing else. It’s important to just get some energy into them, sugar in the drinking water is great, too.