Please Help! Hen acting listless, has a pale comb and diarrhea

[Chickenchick11]

Is she gasping for air, neck stretched up or just breathing heavy through her beak?

She's just breathing heavy through her beak. I'll have my dad, mom, or grandma get the wormer.

 

[TwoCrows]

If she is really gasping we might suspect gape worm. But if she is just breathing heavy and not drawing air in like her throat is clamped off, she is probably in destress. But just the same, get her wormed as soon as possible.

Is she over heating do you think? Is she holding her wings out from her body and breathing heavy? This would indicate over heating. If she is doing this, you might cool her off in a cool tub of water. Not cold, but cooler than the outside air.

Feel her abdomen on the outside. And you can compare hers with others...is it soft and squishy like a water balloon or fairly firm like the others?

While you are there, feel between her legs on the outside. The Liver is in this spot. And compare her to others here, but is it distended and hanging low?

 

[Chickenchick11]

Here's a picture of her diarrhea.

 

[Chickenchick11]

I don't think she's overheating. Her abdomen feels normal I think.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Just a random idea here: could she have eaten something that she was not supposed to?

 

[Chickenchick11]

Just a random idea here: could she have eaten something that she was not supposed to?

Possibly, there was a broken tarp in their run, I pulled it out but a bunch of little pieces of tarp were still in the run. I took as many pieces of tarp out as I could but I may have accidentally missed some.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hard to tell from the picture but are the urates yellow? They should be white. Many times yellow urates means the liver is malfunctioning or is diseased.

If she continues with the yellow urates you might get her on some antibiotics.

 

[Chickenchick11]

Hard to tell from the picture but are the urates yellow? They should be white. Many times yellow urates means the liver is malfunctioning or is diseased. 

If she continues with the yellow urates you might get her on some antibiotics. 

Her urates were kind of yellow. What kind of antibiotics should I get her? Can she have the antibiotics and wormer at the same time?

 

[TwoCrows]

If the urates are only slightly yellow and not yellow every time, I would do the worming first. And no, I wouldn't do both at the same time. Too hard on the bird.

But if they are a bright yellow all the time, you might try the antibiotics first. Something like Amoxicillin.

Liver disease in chickens will cause yellow urates or greenish diarrhea. Hard to treat this and have the liver recover. Dietary changes can help...no fatty seeds or foods. Veggies and fruits for treats, etc...

 

[casportpony]

E. coli infections can also cause yellow urates.

-Kathy