RIR with Diarrhea, Pasty Vent, Lethargic, Distended belly, No appetite, etc.....HELP?

[TwoCrows]

The Halfprin will work. 1/2 of one of these 2 times daily. Keep us posted!

 

[RachaelLJ]

She is getting a bit worse it seems. Dropping her wings and head, only raises her head when I come up to the cage and speak to her. Eyes closed constantly. Hasn't moved from her spot by the waterer all day. I don't think she's drank anything though, except for what I've put down her throat. Still has not eaten. Despite the canola oil, which I read should work well, pooh is beginning to stick on again and dry up around vent. Her vent looks very irritated as well, red and almost purplish. Like it's raw almost, but looks moist. Very "bulgy." She has not pooped in hours either.

I am thinking I am going to finish dosing with Ceph today and maybe go through tomorrow, will have to clean her rear again. But if she continues like this (showing no improvement or getting worse) I think it would be best for her to put her out of her misery. Husband wants to do it today, but I would like to give her a chance...she's just seeming a whole lot less active/responsive than she was when we found her looking sick yesterday. Going downhill fast.

I went ahead and took the yogurt & oatmeal from her cage. She was dropping her head in it, hadn't touched it otherwise, and it was attracting ants.

If anyone has had a chicken with similar symptoms, what did you do? How did she turn out? I'm really torn about dragging it on for her or ending it.

BTW, about the reproductive issues, I am not sure of her age, as stated before, but I know for certain she has not been laying since we got her, though the others started laying for us almost immediately upon getting settled in here.

 

[Fred's Hens]

This young hen, on the left? None of this is a happy part of keeping production hens, but sadly, it is an ever so, so common a tragic end. That this was one of my best prospects in our breeding program was disturbing on a couple of levels. When I took this photo, I noticed how puffy she had become. Within days, she was in a bad way. As I said, I knew it wasn't a disease, she was internally in a bad way. I soaked her in an old wash tub a couple of times, but that was only momentary or short lived relief. She just got worse.

Once she put her head down, comb turned awful color, stopped eating and moving at all, that was it. I didn't allow any more suffering. Knowing the exact moment to stop the suffering is intuitive and compassionate, not an exact science. My very best regards to you.

 

[TwoCrows]

So sorry about your baby.

 

[RachaelLJ]

It is difficult to know how long to let it go on. If we wait too long, we'll feel horrible for extending her pain, but if we go ahead now, we might regret not waiting to see what happened. I'm not generally a sentimental person, I have tried not to get attached to our girls as pets because I know one day we will have to cull them eventually, whether for the table or out of mercy. But it is still difficult to watch any animal suffer.

Thank you both very much for your help.

 

[RachaelLJ]

Well, my husband and I decided it would be best for her to send her off gently tonight. It's getting dark so I went to go get her, and saw that she has pooped now. A lot. Green, watery, with little several little round black things in it (smaller than peas) and I caught her drinking a little. I have pictures of her, vent area, and pooh if helpful. Could post them.

Any input? Are these signs she might be "purging" whatever's got hold of her? We are thinking we'll give her the second dose of Ceph and see what happens.

 

[TwoCrows]

In some diseases, nasty green diarrhea means they are about at their end. But don't take my word for this. You need to do what is best for her and you and only you can make this decision. If you think she has a chance, continue with the Ceph. Let your gut tell you what to do in this case.

 

[RachaelLJ]

This morning she had moved around a bit from her place yesterday. Has not drank any more that I know of, her poop suggests dehydration I think. I am trying to give her liquids but she doesn't want to take them. She did take the cephalexin this morning, as well as last night. I don't think I remember to mention it before, but yesterday her crop was very full. I massaged it once yesterday, and today it is empty. She has pooped a lot more, less watery this time but still very runny. I felt of her belly and it is not as bloated/tight, but still bloated. And I am not sure, but whereas her comb was all purplish yesterday, this morning it is purplish at the tips still but more red at the base. Her behavior is still the same, though.

 

[RachaelLJ]

Got to the point where we couldn't watch her suffer any more last night. Just wanted to add some things about her last moments, in case they are helpful in figuring out what she might have had. In her crate, before I got her out, she had just been laying wth her feathers puffed up and head down a little. I held her in my lap just before, trying to calm her. She pooped (pretty much first time yesterday) and luckily I had her on a towel. She was trying to stand, trying to cluck a little and I could hear gurgling in her throat. I was just talking soothingly to her and she started dropping her head down with her neck stretched all the way out, she vomited a little (clear, runny, like baby drool) and then curled her neck around (like touching your chin to your chest) and at the same time started moving her head side to side.

If anyone has any ideas on what her problem might have been, I am interested to know.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Rachel, it is sad, but a real, if painful, part of keeping these birds.

Without a necropsy, it is going to be very difficult to know for certain. As I posted early on, these things never seem to end well. The "gunk" of reproductive infections gets all over inside them and basically, they almost drown in death. It often begins with a puffiness, swelling, strange Frankenstein type movements, followed by lots of sitting alone, hiding alone, tail pumping, sleep eyed look, passing nasty stuff, and ends with an almost comatose state.

Differentiating between ascites, internal laying, egg bound, etc, is not very relevant to me. The bottom line in that the hen is in serious reproductive trouble and without absurdly costly intervention with very little hope for a positive prognosis, the hens often pass away. I personally believe the wasting and passing is quite painful to them as they appear extremely uncomfortable. Putting them down is a merciful act.

We see far too much of this with the utility bred, top laying strains. The reproductive system are simply pushed by their genetics, too far, too fast.