Pullet not laying - super watery poop, acting aloof, not eating

paulinachickies

Chirping
Dec 6, 2019
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1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Olive egger puller, 6 months old, about 4 pounds. Is smaller than other ones in my flock. She is at the bottom of the pecking order, more or less.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She is not eating and not laying. Also, looks like she is avoiding the rest of the flock. She is digging up dirt and foraging a bit, but when I put food near her, she just goes off to another corner. She has very watery poop -- almost looks like just milk.
Her abdomen feels a little swollen but doesn't seem dramatically much more than my other laying birds. She is not standing with her tail down.
She seems to be almost falling asleep while standing up. She also doesn't run as fast as she usually does if I try to catch her...

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She has been acting more aloof for a day or so. I noticed the watery poop about 30 hours ago.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I'm not sure what happened. She started laying last week, so I chalked up the lack of eggs over the past 3 days as just inconsistency in laying in a young pullet - but not sure if it's actually the case.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She has been drinking but not eating, at least for today. She did eat yesterday.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Very runny. I did see a slightly foamy poop yesterday after I washed her poopy butt.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I gave her an Epsom salt bath and dried her off. I gave her yogurt and oatmeal but she didn't eat either.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I'd be willing to take her to a vet but probably can't do so til tomorrow (Monday) - any first aid remedies would be great
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
1583697554739.png

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
I have an unheated coop (but it's not too cold here now), the bedding (pine shavings) has been used since they were young.
 

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Sorry about your chicken. Can you put on a dispoable glove and insert a finger into her vent to feel for an egg or broken egg? Do you have any Corid? I would be tempted to start treatment for possible coccidiosis, because of the lethargy, not wanting to eat, and the runny poops. Corid (amprollium) is found at your feed store. Dosage is 2 tsp per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Try to hold up a cup of water to her beak to try and get her drinking. This might be something going on with her reproductive tract or her beginning to lay eggs, but I would start the Corid if possible. It certainly will not hurt her.
 
Sorry about your chicken. Can you put on a dispoable glove and insert a finger into her vent to feel for an egg or broken egg? Do you have any Corid? I would be tempted to start treatment for possible coccidiosis, because of the lethargy, not wanting to eat, and the runny poops. Corid (amprollium) is found at your feed store. Dosage is 2 tsp per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Try to hold up a cup of water to her beak to try and get her drinking. This might be something going on with her reproductive tract or her beginning to lay eggs, but I would start the Corid if possible. It certainly will not hurt her.

Thanks for the reply. I gave her some grapes and she had a few, but not as vigorously as she usually would. I will check out Corid - don't have any on me, but will try to find some. Do you usually administer to your entire flock too?

I put a finger into her vent and felt for an egg, but didn't feel anything... Right before I did that, she also had this very yellow watery and foamy poop :(

IMG_8565.jpg


After I took out my finger, there was some water that also came out along with a bit of somewhat slimey discharge (different consistency from normal poop).

IMG_8567.jpg
 
Coccidiosis could be diagnosed if you took some fresh droppings in to your vet, if they were willing to do a fecal test. But sometimes it is easier just to start the Corid. Birds usually build up a tolerance to coccidia in the soil, but they sometimes have immunity problems or get exposed to a large amount. I would probably go ahead and treat because it is not harmful. But her problem could be related to a reproductive infection or something else. The yellow dropping could be a number of things, such as egg matter, liver problems, or coccidiosis.
 
Thanks @Eggcessive - I finally took her to the vet emergency room last night when I noticed her tail was noticeably more down. They ran an x-ray today and found some screws / rings (?) in her gizzard. I'm not sure if that is what is causing the stool - still waiting on results from the white blood cell count to rule out infection. I'll post updates for others who may have a similar hen.
 
Oh no, I’m so glad that you could see a vet for xrays. Hardware disease can be common in chickens. They will swallow anything shiny they see. Please let us know how she is doing.
 

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