RR is acting sick with tail feathers down - ????

[UtahLisa]

1st disclosure: New Hen Mom.

I have inherited 13 hens and recently just moved them to my property. This has been a loud construction process of which the hens have been partially exposed to. So, I have stressed them out somewhat. During the first week I wasn't really getting eggs, which I expected and read a lot about...and that's normal. The second week I started getting about 5 eggs a day. Now that I'm in the 3rd week I'm getting pretty much 9 eggs a day, throughout the early morning and afternoon.

I have a RR what has been acting sick for the past week. I didn't really think much of it at first because she was eating somewhat and acting okay. During this past week however, I have had to deal with one of my buff's with poopy vent, poor thing. I have noticed that my RR now has poop around her vent. I'm thinking I have to give them some sort of treatment for their water and have been told vinegar, water supplements would be helpful..but I make sure the water is clean and as little exposure to fecal matter as humanly possible. I'm pretty clean anyway so I keep an eye on that.

So, my hen has been sick and she really doesn't move around a lot. If I put scratch right in front of her she will eat but makes no effort to free range or move around. Also, at the end of last week I noticed I had a white banded egg. It was a normal brown egg with a very large circular spot that had a very dark center. I have done a lot of research on this and from what I can see it's when two each form in the calcification process that are touching. So, my next question now that I have put these two issues together...is my Red egg bound? If so how do I know? What do I need to check? Slightly stressing about this now and can't sleep. She's such a good hen and has normally been laying but with her sick I can't tell if she is or is not. Suggestions?

I'm going to go check her out this morning again and see if I can feel any hard spots in her abdomen....but my fear is that I do find something...Yikes...yes, I have fear of the unknown. I read an article that I can check her vent with a gloved finger (hand) but what does that mean? Oh boy....I'm a bit lost her and just feel really bad for my girl.

Direction and assistance with resources would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Your hen may have a problem with her one functioning ovary. Stress, a temporary blip in her laying process, or a past exposure to infectious bronchitis can cause egg abnormalities. You should Google the good BYC article by Sumi called “Common Egg Quality Porblems,” where the laying process is explained, and there are many pictures and explanations of abnormal eggs.

Having one hen with this problem probably is about average in a flock your size. As my hens have aged, I see a lot more unusual eggs and reproductive problems. Five years ago, I believe I may have had infectious bronchitis, a virus affect some of my flock. In the article, IB is a listed possibility in many of the abnormal eggs.

 

[coach723]

My first thought was coccidiosis since they have been moved to a new area. Coccidia are in the soil and if your soil has a strain that they have not been previously exposed to they would not have any immunity to it and could become ill. Not eating, lethargy, puffed up feathers and runny droppings can all be signs. Treatment is Corid (amprolium) in the water, is simple and safe even if that is not it. Stress can bring out all kinds of illness in them, so if they were carriers of some other illness they brought with them then the stress could bring it out, you will need to keep an eye on them all for any other symptoms (hopefully not). If you have a vet that will do a fecal test for you then they can test for coccidia and other parasites, which would be a good idea. Egg binding is what you would use the finger to check the vent for. If you insert a lubed, gloved finger in the vent an inch or 2 you would be able to feel the egg if there were one there. Since it has been going on for a week I would suspect it is not egg binding, she would go down hill very rapidly from that, but checking is OK as ruling out as much as you can is helpful.
If they were mine I would go ahead and treat for coccidiosis since it will not hurt them, and watch for any other symptoms. Corid is available at most feed stores and tractor supply, usually in the livestock section. You can use the powder or liquid form, whichever they have. Treat the entire flock. You can also give a drench directly to really sick birds that are not drinking on their own, I will give you the dosing info below (use the severe outbreak dosing and make sure it's the only water they have access to), I have found that they usually start looking better in a day or two depending on the severity of the illness, and maybe others will have other thoughts for you. Best of luck.
This link takes you to the drench instructions, the drench is given IN ADDITION to the dosing for treatment.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/

 

[coach723]

I forgot to add, since they are new birds to you then going over each of them to check for mites/lice is also a good idea.

 

[UtahLisa]

Thanks for that. I did bring her into the house this morning to give her a warm bath and inspect. She's really weak now and didn't perch last night. She tucked herself in the corner and just slept there. I brought her in and she had a lot of poop around her vent. I could easily feel her breast plate through her feathers so she's lost a lot of weight. I cleaned her up and she doesn't have any redding from the mess, so that was good. I gave she some gentle squeezes to see if I could feel any hard masses but couldn't. He back lower abdomen did feel really soft and squishy...no idea if that is normal. But, with her being so skinny everywhere else I just through that it felt like gathering of fluids. I know, I don't have a clue on this so at least I didn't feel hard masses but if you say it's 1 - 2 inches inside her...I don't think I would feel that anyway, would I? All the other hens were out in the run so since she has no energy I put her in the coop. She didn't trying even fighting me but when I put her in she fell over and just stayed that way for a minute and I helped her onto her feel. I wrapped the dry towel around her and will go out in a bit to retrieve it. I don't have a heat lamp to put on her and not sure if I should but that was my next thought. I'm going to head to the IFA and grab the Corid (amprolium) and probably will buy a heat lamp there too. I have locked the other ladies out of the coop for now but not sure where I can put her. I don't have another coop or run or kennel. But, I'm afraid she's not doing so great and I don't feel she has the strength to beat this. She's my sweetest hen and I just feel so bad.

 

[UtahLisa]

Your hen may have a problem with her one functioning ovary. Stress, a temporary blip in her laying process, or a past exposure to infectious bronchitis can cause egg abnormalities. You should Google the good BYC article by Sumi called “Common Egg Quality Porblems,” where the laying process is explained, and there are many pictures and explanations of abnormal eggs.

Having one hen with this problem probably is about average in a flock your size. As my hens have aged, I see a lot more unusual eggs and reproductive problems. Five years ago, I believe I may have had infectious bronchitis, a virus affect some of my flock. In the article, IB is a listed possibility in many of the abnormal eggs.

 

[UtahLisa]

Your hen may have a problem with her one functioning ovary. Stress, a temporary blip in her laying process, or a past exposure to infectious bronchitis can cause egg abnormalities. You should Google the good BYC article by Sumi called “Common Egg Quality Porblems,” where the laying process is explained, and there are many pictures and explanations of abnormal eggs.

Having one hen with this problem probably is about average in a flock your size. As my hens have aged, I see a lot more unusual eggs and reproductive problems. Five years ago, I believe I may have had infectious bronchitis, a virus affect some of my flock. In the article, IB is a listed possibility in many of the abnormal eggs.

 

[coach723]

Do you know the age of the bird? Fluid in the abdomen is probably ascites (which you can look up). Older hens commonly get internal reproductive problems that can cause ascites, also infections, some cancers, or organ failures can also. If you have (or can borrow) a wire or plastic dog crate it works well as a hospital crate. In a pinch you can use a large rubbermaid tub with the lid off, she sounds too ill to try to get out at this point. Even a cardboard box could work for the short term For warmth I will sometimes move a sick bird into my second bathroom for the duration (even the bathtub could be an option).

 

[UtahLisa]

I did read that article and it was super helpful. But, still not sure what it is. I'm heading to get corid.... Hoping that will help. No idea what else I can do.

 

[UtahLisa]

Do you know the age of the bird? Fluid in the abdomen is probably ascites (which you can look up). Older hens commonly get internal reproductive problems that can cause ascites, also infections, some cancers, or organ failures can also. If you have (or can borrow) a wire or plastic dog crate it works well as a hospital crate. In a pinch you can use a large rubbermaid tub with the lid off, she sounds too ill to try to get out at this point. Even a cardboard box could work for the short term For warmth I will sometimes move a sick bird into my second bathroom for the duration (even the bathtub could be an option).

They are all around 2-3 years of age. All the same size but 2. One really big buff and one snake one that I don't know the breed. She's just the normal average size and age of the others.