Range of Symptoms That I Can't Figure Out

[hendaddy094]

Hey hendaddy... Again, I am not an expert but it does not sound like a crop issue but more that nothing is getting to her crop. If she had impacted or sour crop it would be swollen.

Have you had a look in her mouth [beak]? Just thinking she could have something blocking the passage. I have heard of chickens eating something stringy, getting stuck around their tongue and just hanging in the passage.

No signs of canker? This causes sores to develop in the oesophagus and potentially inhibit her ability to swallow.

I was thinking something along those lines. When we took her to the vet they said she was eating fine but clearly she wasn't because she has a hard time eating bigger pellets which they didn't notice. I was thinking it's gotta be more along a throat or beak issue because if it was respiratory I'd hear louder wheezing but shes not able to drink water cleanly or eat cleanly, or as cleanly as a chicken can. I uploaded some pictures up above so maybe you can glean something from those. But for me right now, I'm trying to figure out which symptoms are root causes and which ones are cropping up because of the illness. There are some that would be weirdly unrelated in humans like inability to eat and drink as well as eyes that have trouble opening. But I'm not sure what causes all of these symptoms together and the vet visit we took her to on Tuesday was over $100 for them to do an external exam, give her a little bit of food and some antibiotics and then send us on our way.

 

[Teila]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/canker

Clinical Signs of Canker in Chickens

Early signs of infection include the appearance of small, hard, well-defined, cream to yellowish sores that are stuck to the side and/or roof of the oral cavity, tongue, edges of the beak, and occasionally covering the glottis.

As the disease progresses, these sores increase in size and thickness, and become caseous ('cheese-like') in appearance.

Sores are usually found inside the chicken's mouth, but can also develop on the beak exterior and near the eyes (where it might be confused with fowl pox).

Other non specific signs observed include huddling, listlessness, ruffled feathers, and depression.

Oral sores that develop inside the bird's mouth are usually easy to see by gently opening the bird's beak and looking inside.

Sores can develop in the chicken's esophagus or throat can potentially block air passage and impact the bird's ability to swallow.

This may initially present as reduced feed and water intake and leading to weight loss.

Throat sores can also potentially close off the windpipe, causing the bird to suffocate. In other cases, the disease can progress to a lethal systemic infection, spreading throughout the body. If sores invade the roof of the mouth (oropharyngeal cavity) and sinuses, they can potentially penetrate through the base of the chicken's skull and into the brain.

 

[hendaddy094]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/canker

Clinical Signs of Canker in Chickens

Early signs of infection include the appearance of small, hard, well-defined, cream to yellowish sores that are stuck to the side and/or roof of the oral cavity, tongue, edges of the beak, and occasionally covering the glottis.

As the disease progresses, these sores increase in size and thickness, and become caseous ('cheese-like') in appearance.

Sores are usually found inside the chicken's mouth, but can also develop on the beak exterior and near the eyes (where it might be confused with fowl pox).

Other non specific signs observed include huddling, listlessness, ruffled feathers, and depression.

Oral sores that develop inside the bird's mouth are usually easy to see by gently opening the bird's beak and looking inside.

Sores can develop in the chicken's esophagus or throat can potentially block air passage and impact the bird's ability to swallow.

This may initially present as reduced feed and water intake and leading to weight loss.

Throat sores can also potentially close off the windpipe, causing the bird to suffocate. In other cases, the disease can progress to a lethal systemic infection, spreading throughout the body. If sores invade the roof of the mouth (oropharyngeal cavity) and sinuses, they can potentially penetrate through the base of the chicken's skull and into the brain.

Gonna be honest, she absolutely hates when I try and open her beak to give her antibiotics, but I'll take a closer look in the morning. As for externally, there aren't any issues that standout, I took the pictures and no one that saw this thread said anything about them so I assume my hen is relatively healthy looking with a problem that's internal instead. Will check tomorrow for sores though thanks for the advice.

 

[Teila]

Yeah, I could not really see anything on the pictures except to say that she looks a bit miserable.

I am hoping that the answer will be obvious when checking out her open beak.

If you can, I recommend early morning, before it gets light and with a torch? She may be easier to inspect at night time or early morning as that is when they do not move.

Lots of people find this the best time to medicate, dust, health check their chickens with a head torch etc.

 

[hendaddy094]

Yeah, I could not really see anything on the pictures except to say that she looks a bit miserable.

I am hoping that the answer will be obvious when checking out her open beak.

If you can, I recommend early morning, before it gets light and with a torch? She may be easier to inspect at night time or early morning as that is when they do not move.

Lots of people find this the best time to medicate, dust, health check their chickens with a head torch etc.

Damn, thanks for the help though. Will post results tomorrow and start round 2 of diagnostics.

 

[orrpeople]

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear you girl is not feeling well! One of the most difficult things we do, as poultry keepers, is try to figure out what's wrong when our birds are "off".

So, before you know exactly what's wrong, may I suggest some supportive care? Do you have a fast acting vitamin (Nutridrench is my go-to), increasing the amount of protein in her diet (scrambled egg is great for this), making sure she has plenty of fluids and electrolytes (Pedialyte, Gatorade, or something like Sav-a-chick electrolyte).

Secondly, I am guessing it may be neurological (balancing issues, shaking the head) and that the eye swelling may have been an unrelated "pecking" injury?

Can you post a nice close up of her poop? Also, if you upload a video of her walking to YouTube, then copy and past the link, it will show up for us to watch her.

 

[andreanar]

Whether she likes it or not, Id be getting a good look into her mouth! LOL. If her crop isn't hard/squishy/weird, hmmmm, and she's pooping so something is getting thru.. When was the last time she laid an egg? Can you feel down between her legs, is her belly at all swollen? Id try some NutriDrench or Rooster Booster, something with a lot of vitamins.

 

[rebrascora]

How old is she and where did you get her?
I agree that it sounds like something is blocking her from swallowing and it may be something like canker or possible linked to the neurological issue..... I'm leaning towards Marek's disease. The nerves control muscles and if the nerves in her neck or oesophagus are affected, that will make swallowing difficult, so if you can't find any plaques or lesions in her mouth, that may be the issue along with the difficulty keeping her eye open. You might also find that she has difficulty focusing that eye and her pupils are different sizes.
If you want to try to save her and it isn't canker, tube feeding would be the thing to try. This involves buying a catheter and guiding it down into her crop and then stringing water and then Kaytee Baby Bird food formula directly into her crop through the tube.
If it is canker then I would not advise trying to insert a catheter and treatment with appropriate medication would be the way to go.
I currently have a rooster with Marek's and whilst he is disinterested in regular food he is keen to eat cat food.... the pate type meat stuff that comes in aluminium trays. I cut it up into small pieces and he is taking that, so that might be something else to try along with scrambled egg.

Good luck with her but prepare yourself for the worst and consider euthanizing if she deteriorates further. If she cannot swallow water, sadly she will not last long.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What bacterial infection are you treating with the antibiotics and what kind?

 

[hendaddy094]

What bacterial infection are you treating with the antibiotics and what kind?

We had a hawk scare a few weeks ago where after she got attacked she acted pretty skittish for a few days but then went back to normal so the vet perscribed equisul sulfadiazine/trimeth for any internal infection or whatever. The weird thing is that when I google the medication all that comes up is horses.