Please Help!! What is wrong with this chicken - inactive, lethargic

[Crazy Maizie]

Please read this thread @coach723 has great advice dosing corid.

 

[Bawkbok]

Her poop is all water, just runny. Her body feels normal, her crop is of course empty. She is laying alert today, not as much head down and eyes closed. When bringing her in tonight at coop time to clean her up and double check her vent I will offer her Calcium Citrate with D3. That vitamin is HUGE so I cut it in thirds, will soften it with water and offer it in some bread or something soft that I can shove (wrong word) in her mouth. In reading a chicken health book it indicates to avoid all vitamins with Corid, which sounds like it can only be administered via water and not directly undiluted. Can anyone validate this? So do I wait to give her the Calcium Citrate? The more I read, the more confused I get.

She did take a few bites of cold watermelon today and when I offered the boiled chicken her sister gobbled most of it up but she took a couple bites. She is not eating any feed at all that I've seen.
My concern is her lack of foraging. She is content to lie in the shrubs. I too forage for bugs with them. I'm elated when I find one and she will eat it. It has been so hot here we have few insects in which to forage for - they are deep in the sand. We are forecasted to get rain over the weekend so I'm hoping that will help with the insufficient insect population.

They have not laid any eggs for three weeks now when the weather turned hot, all production stopped. They were just coming into a good consistent lay every day.

I was thinking she might have Coccidia based on presentation? But then wouldn't the other hen be showing signs of that as well?

When she was standing to eat watermelon, her left foot toes were curled inward - as if making a fist - and she was standing that way. So I don't know if that's indicative of a specific problem or due to weakness.

This is so concerning. I spend more time in tears these days than I do laughing at her antics; she's our silly one full of personality.

I found a distant vet that treats chickens so I'm hoping to get her in asap; but I have my own medical issues which are up front and center right now so I'm trying to strike the balance in caring for us both.

Thank you all for the responses and suggestions. This is a great forum to learn. I find it maddening that symptoms can present the same for so many diseases and illnesses.

 

[Bawkbok]

That's a great article on treatment of worms - thank you for sharing.

I inspect their poop when cleaning the coop every day and I have seen no evidence of worms; not that they aren't there I just don't see any in the poop tray.

Is it safe to deworm while on Corid or should I wait to start that after the Corid treatment? I'm concerned with chemical overload in an already deficient body.
Thank you

 

[TannerTrue]

I started treating the water today with Corid, more out of desperation than anything else. I have not seen her eat or drink. I forced her out of the run to see what she would do; she quickly found a spot under shrubs to lay down where she stayed for two hours. When the auto door opened it took them both over an hour to come out - very unusual. Our one other hen is behaving fine, eating and drinking normally. I saw her poop this morning and it is a "pretty" yellow color and runny, the consistency of water. I had to clean her butt feathers again this morning. I tried the scrambled eggs, neither hen will eat them. Next I will boil some chicken breast and see if she will eat that. I will force feed some water. It has been very hot and dry here until yesterday, we received a trace of rain, enough to make it more miserable. It has been mostly cloudy with a slight breeze the last three days so minimal sun. They are on dry ground. I have not checked the roost at night for mites and will do that. Thank you for the suggestion. I will have to research vent gleet; I don't know what that is. Her vent looks clean, despite the diarrhea. Is it ok to put other things (nutri-drench) in the water with the Corid?
Thank you for the response and suggestions. I feel helpless to help her at this point.

Can you bring her inside? If you’re treating her for Coccidia, don’t add anything to the water. It lives on thiamine, so you would be exacerbating

I started treating the water today with Corid, more out of desperation than anything else. I have not seen her eat or drink. I forced her out of the run to see what she would do; she quickly found a spot under shrubs to lay down where she stayed for two hours. When the auto door opened it took them both over an hour to come out - very unusual. Our one other hen is behaving fine, eating and drinking normally. I saw her poop this morning and it is a "pretty" yellow color and runny, the consistency of water. I had to clean her butt feathers again this morning. I tried the scrambled eggs, neither hen will eat them. Next I will boil some chicken breast and see if she will eat that. I will force feed some water. It has been very hot and dry here until yesterday, we received a trace of rain, enough to make it more miserable. It has been mostly cloudy with a slight breeze the last three days so minimal sun. They are on dry ground. I have not checked the roost at night for mites and will do that. Thank you for the suggestion. I will have to research vent gleet; I don't know what that is. Her vent looks clean, despite the diarrhea. Is it ok to put other things (nutri-drench) in the water with the Corid?
Thank you for the response and suggestions. I feel helpless to help her at this point.

I’m sorry she’s so sick. It’s hard when you have to sleuth your way to an answer. Can you bring her inside? If you’re treating for Coccidia, don’t add anything to the water. Coccidia feeds on thiamine, so you would be exacerbating the problem.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Her poop is all water, just runny. Her body feels normal, her crop is of course empty. She is laying alert today, not as much head down and eyes closed. When bringing her in tonight at coop time to clean her up and double check her vent I will offer her Calcium Citrate with D3. That vitamin is HUGE so I cut it in thirds, will soften it with water and offer it in some bread or something soft that I can shove (wrong word) in her mouth. In reading a chicken health book it indicates to avoid all vitamins with Corid, which sounds like it can only be administered via water and not directly undiluted. Can anyone validate this? So do I wait to give her the Calcium Citrate? The more I read, the more confused I get.

She did take a few bites of cold watermelon today and when I offered the boiled chicken her sister gobbled most of it up but she took a couple bites. She is not eating any feed at all that I've seen.
My concern is her lack of foraging. She is content to lie in the shrubs. I too forage for bugs with them. I'm elated when I find one and she will eat it. It has been so hot here we have few insects in which to forage for - they are deep in the sand. We are forecasted to get rain over the weekend so I'm hoping that will help with the insufficient insect population.

They have not laid any eggs for three weeks now when the weather turned hot, all production stopped. They were just coming into a good consistent lay every day.

I was thinking she might have Coccidia based on presentation? But then wouldn't the other hen be showing signs of that as well?

When she was standing to eat watermelon, her left foot toes were curled inward - as if making a fist - and she was standing that way. So I don't know if that's indicative of a specific problem or due to weakness.

This is so concerning. I spend more time in tears these days than I do laughing at her antics; she's our silly one full of personality.

I found a distant vet that treats chickens so I'm hoping to get her in asap; but I have my own medical issues which are up front and center right now so I'm trying to strike the balance in caring for us both.

Thank you all for the responses and suggestions. This is a great forum to learn. I find it maddening that symptoms can present the same for so many diseases and illnesses.

No vitamins while treating with Corid. Which corid are you using? I forgot to paste the thread when I posted above.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Here's one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-treatment-question.1628270/

And this is the one I meant to post above: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/possible-coccidia.1629416/#post-27827535

It depends on the type of Corid you have as to how you dilute it. You would still dilute with water, but give it directly to her if she is not drinking in her own.

Most suggest not to feed watermelon when they have diarrhea as it creates watery stools even in the healthiest chicken.

The other hen could still have coccidiosis, but not as bad of a load so she's not as affected as much. They all have cocci, it's just that sometimes its too much of an overload.

You might want to get a fecal done to see what the worm load is.

I'm going to tag a few people to see if there is someone that offer more knowledge.
@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock
@HollowOfWisps

 

[Crazy Maizie]

To answer your question regarding corid and wormer at the same time @casportpony is very knowledgeable in that regards.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

6 month old EE - quit laying three weeks ago when weather turned extremely hot.

In reading a chicken health book it indicates to avoid all vitamins with Corid, which sounds like it can only be administered via water and not directly undiluted. Can anyone validate this? So do I wait to give her the Calcium Citrate?

Please post photos of her poop.

I'd give the Calcium Citrate +D3. 1 tablet daily. It can go directly in the beak.

If you are treating with Corid, then don't add any EXTRA supplements/vitamins that contain B1 (Thiamine) during course of treatment. So...giving the Calcium is fine.


Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.

The thread seems to be all over the place. If you wish to deworm you can. The dewormer is given orally and afik, there's no contraindications between Fenbendazole (Safeguard) and Amprolium (Corid).

Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once daily for 5 days in a row.

Work on hydration. If she's not drinking on her own, then she's dehydrated. Syringe or tube fluids into her.

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you all for your posts. We did syringe water with Corid in it last night, then put her back in the run, she then actually took a couple bites of feed - YAY. I have no poop to post yet as I haven't seen any in the run this morning, only the roosting tray and without knowing which hen's excrement it was, I didn't take a photo. On a happy note, I don't see as much yellow goo anywhere and her tail feathers and butt are clean today. I hope that doesn't mean she doesn't have enough fluid in her in which to relieve. This morning, we syringed more water treated with Corid into her beak.

I appreciate that watermelon can create diarrhea, however, she is actually taking a few bites and being comprised of mostly water, I think this is helping to hydrate her.

Today a NEW PROBLEM - her left eye is completely closed. I inspected for mites, fleas, etc. and don't see anything. No obvious sign of injury. In the hope of treating whatever this problem is early, we applied
Terramycin to her eye. They mystery continues.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I appreciate that watermelon can create diarrhea, however, she is actually taking a few bites and being comprised of mostly water, I think this is helping to hydrate her.

Yes, I thought about that as well. I just thought I would mention it.

I'm glad to hear she is making some improvements. Hope the eye thing clears up.