Please Help, So Confused

[Chickeemariee]

Okay so my unproblematic chicken recently took on all problems possible and I am not sure what to do or frankly what's going on.
Start from the beginning, she is about 2.5 years old month Barred Rock and very consistent layer but stopped laying randomly. She started losing feathers on her head which was weird but then she started losing a ton of feathers so I was like cool she's molting, she started getting really sluggish which I know can be common in molt but it always worries me. I then notice a ton of round worms in her poop so I treat her and the rest of the flock, worms are gone and poops look normal. She then gets even more sluggish and her comb is a pinky/white instead of red. I find lice! So I spray her down with Adams tick and flea and the rest of the flock, clean the daylights out of coop and run and have not found another bug on her since. Pin feathers are coming in all over her body and her normal feathers are dull and beat. She eats when I free rang them but doesn't show a ton of interest in pellets. Pecks at mealworms but normally would go insane for them. Ill pick her up to bring her back into the coop and when I set her down shell just lay down or fall but then will get back up and keep moving, but slowly. I believe she has had some green poops which worries me because Mareks (also wondering if it's green because she primarily eating grass/free range food and not feed) but I thought she was too old. Is this just a horrendous molt or what to I do? Ive made her some scrambled egg and crushed calcium and D3 on it and she ate a little of it but not a ton. I will take any and all advice please. This whole story is over the span of about a month now.

 

[Themellowyellows]

Woah! I feel so bad for you, it seems like this is a hard molt. When was her last egg? Does she have any bumbles on her feet? Do they get enough sun? Get, "poultry Nutri-Drentch." Its possible she is deficienct of nutritions.

 

[SamLockwood]

Green poops tend to mean the bird is passing bile, which means they're undernourished. It's not necessarily Marek's.

If she's undergoing a hard molt she will need more protein than usual, and sometimes they'll get lethargic at times from that. The loss of appetite is unusual for just a molt.

First, double check that she's not had a relapse of the lice and / or worms. Then look for the following symptoms:

• Reddish or bloody stools (coccidosis).
• Bluish comb (this could be any number of things, including cardiovascular problems).
• Swelling around the eyes or face (bacterial infections)
• Gasping for breath (gapeworm or respiratory infection).
• Foul smelling breath (respiratory infection).

Two and a half years is a bit early for age-related problems in a heritage breed. Absent other problems I usually get 5 to 6 years on average out of them. Right now my oldest is a red sex link that's going on seven years old, still lays eggs, and is still feisty. I had a speckled sussex that made it to about 13 years old and I hatched six chicks from her the last summer she was alive.

Make sure she's not getting bullied and the feather loss isn't somebody else yanking her feathers out. Chickens can be really cruel and sometimes they'll try to drive off a bird that has a limp or acts sick or just looks strange. They'll yank feathers and try to keep them away from food, and that sort of thing can make the victim depressed and they'll just give up eating or drinking anything.

I've had that happen a few times, and if I can't isolate the bully (they can be sneaky little jerks) I'll just figure out how to feed & water the victim on the sly.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Maybe her system is just very vulnerable right now cuz of the molt which led to her easily getting the worms and lice. Are you adding electrolytes to the water?

 

[Chickeemariee]

Green poops tend to mean the bird is passing bile, which means they're undernourished. It's not necessarily Marek's.

If she's undergoing a hard molt she will need more protein than usual, and sometimes they'll get lethargic at times from that. The loss of appetite is unusual for just a molt.

First, double check that she's not had a relapse of the lice and / or worms. Then look for the following symptoms:

• Reddish or bloody stools (coccidosis).
• Bluish comb (this could be any number of things, including cardiovascular problems).
• Swelling around the eyes or face (bacterial infections)
• Gasping for breath (gapeworm or respiratory infection).
• Foul smelling breath (respiratory infection).

Two and a half years is a bit early for age-related problems in a heritage breed. Absent other problems I usually get 5 to 6 years on average out of them. Right now my oldest is a red sex link that's going on seven years old, still lays eggs, and is still feisty. I had a speckled sussex that made it to about 13 years old and I hatched six chicks from her the last summer she was alive.

Make sure she's not getting bullied and the feather loss isn't somebody else yanking her feathers out. Chickens can be really cruel and sometimes they'll try to drive off a bird that has a limp or acts sick or just looks strange. They'll yank feathers and try to keep them away from food, and that sort of thing can make the victim depressed and they'll just give up eating or drinking anything.

I've had that happen a few times, and if I can't isolate the bully (they can be sneaky little jerks) I'll just figure out how to feed & water the victim on the sly.

No strange poops from what I’m seeing other than the green. Doesn’t seem to have any of those other issues, in the very beginning her comb was a bit purple but now it’s pretty evenly pale. Doesn’t seem to be any bullying at all and she was always alpha but like you said they can be sneaky so not too sure. Shes just all over dull and lethargic. I tried force feeding her bits of egg and she fought it so still enough energy to be difficult. I’m at work now but wondering if I should force water on her when I get home?

 

[Eggcessive]

Molting is hard on chickens, causes weakness and vulnerability, and it will sometimes be the time an illness will show up. Green poops indicate that she is not eating much. Tempt her with wet chicken feed and water, made fresh often, and a little bit of cooked egg or rinsed tuna. Be sure to repeat the wormer to get any worm eggs that hatch. Lice and worms can weaken her, so keep up in checking for more lice or their eggs. Permethrin garden dust applied with a sock can be used at 10 day intervals for lice.

 

[Perris]

Okay so my unproblematic chicken recently took on all problems possible and I am not sure what to do or frankly what's going on.
Start from the beginning, she is about 2.5 years old month Barred Rock and very consistent layer but stopped laying randomly. She started losing feathers on her head which was weird but then she started losing a ton of feathers so I was like cool she's molting, she started getting really sluggish which I know can be common in molt but it always worries me. I then notice a ton of round worms in her poop so I treat her and the rest of the flock, worms are gone and poops look normal. She then gets even more sluggish and her comb is a pinky/white instead of red. I find lice! So I spray her down with Adams tick and flea and the rest of the flock, clean the daylights out of coop and run and have not found another bug on her since. Pin feathers are coming in all over her body and her normal feathers are dull and beat. She eats when I free rang them but doesn't show a ton of interest in pellets. Pecks at mealworms but normally would go insane for them. Ill pick her up to bring her back into the coop and when I set her down shell just lay down or fall but then will get back up and keep moving, but slowly. I believe she has had some green poops which worries me because Mareks (also wondering if it's green because she primarily eating grass/free range food and not feed) but I thought she was too old. Is this just a horrendous molt or what to I do? Ive made her some scrambled egg and crushed calcium and D3 on it and she ate a little of it but not a ton. I will take any and all advice please. This whole story is over the span of about a month now.

This reads to me too like an intense moult; everything you have mentioned fits with what I have recently been reading in Jenni and Winkler's book the Biology of Moult in Birds 2020 - including the worms in her poop (during moult the bird's own immune system upregulates for worms, and the fact that you saw them in her poop was because her own system had expelled them).

You do not need to force feed her - her body is recycling what she needs by metabolizing other body tissues (the extreme case of this is penguins, who undertake their entire moult while fasting, as they cannot swim while moulting). Just make sure you offer her a varied diet and as much food as she wants when she wants it. And do not handle her, to avoid causing fault bars in the new plumage. And make sure she has plenty of fresh water available - the volume of blood plasma increases significantly during moult.

 

[Chickeemariee]

@Perris @Eggcessive
I really want to think you guys are right but she’s deteriorating. Only green runny poops, she’s not eating for herself at all that I’ve seen and she only wants water when it form in droplets off the waterer so I’ve been sitting there with a hose spraying it to make more for her to drink. She can barely walk or even open her eyes. She kind of just sits back on her haunches with her eyes closed but will wake up if I come near. I had hope because she was sleeping in nesting boxes but last night she roosted but this morning she’s just as bad. I have syringed her a little electrolyte water and egg yolk since I can’t get her to eat anything solid & I don’t have anyone to hold her to force feed correctly although I see you said don’t do that. I’m at the point where I don’t know if I should keep her alive because it’s cruel but if there’s any chance of her getting better I’m hoping for it. What would you guys do?

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to try tube feeding her. You can use a 12-15 inch piece of aquarium air tubing or oxygen tubing. Heat the end that goes into the beak with a lighter and let it cool to smooth sharp edge. Those will connect to a 35 ml syringe from the feed store. This can be used for fluids, liquid egg, yogurt etc. For KayTee baby bird feed or fine ground chicken feed mixed with a lot of water, use a 14-16 French tube below. You may also get a baby lamb feeding tube set from Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Abustle-pig-...-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

 

[Eggcessive]

There are many videos and tutorials on tube feeding chickens, and here is one posted by a vet: