Seriously ill and in dire shape

[EdwinaHeadHen]

i hope someone can provide some advice on what i can do for a seriously ill chicken. i've checked the desease section in the learning center, but have found nothing that resembles my hens symptoms. I will try to provide as much info as possible, if i leave something out please let me know. my vet knows nothing about chickens either, which is not helpful.

chicken is an unknown breed. the guy i bought her from didn't know what she was. she is about a year old. used to lay blueish eggs. i have 4 other chickens and lost one last night - guessing heat? they have a large pen 20' x 20' under 3 large cedar trees and one walnut. they free range every evening from 5 pm until they take themselves to bed.

mid may she stopped laying and i noticed she wasn't herself. we had introduced 2 new birds to the flock, so i thought her laying quit for that reason. she continued to eat and drink fine. we feed them organic egg laying pellets, oyster shell, grit, and the occasional table scraps (vegetarian). everything seemed to be fine until last week. she started going to bed early and getting up late. then she started falling asleep during the day - getting very "droopy". this morning she has turned very bad. i found her crouched over her perch - actually more like drooping over her perch. she keeps hanging her head as if it's too heavy to pick up and her feet seem to want to stay curled. she pants from time to time but not constantly. she also acts as if she's crowing but no sounds come out. i brought her in our basement and put her in a cat carrier with a towel under her. i've been feeding her water by dripping it with a syringe over her beak. so far i've managed to get about 2 tbsp in. she takes the water okay, but doesn't show signs of wanting it. her eyes are shut and her flesh around the beak and eyes are very pale. she has not eaten anything today as i don't quite no what feed her. i don't want to force pellets down her for sure.

i'm sure she's got some heat exhaustion going on. but i do think there is more to it. i have been reading around the site today looking for answers and have yrt to find anything. any suggestions or help you may have would be greatly appreciated

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I'd consider gapeworm if she is "crowing" but no sounds come out.

I'd consider worms/mites for pale area around beak/eyes and lethargy. Anemia can result from parasites- internal or external.

Worms and mites can kill chickens- always helpful to consider those. You can take just a stool sample in to the vet for a fecal float to see if there are cocci or worms there if you wish. There is an exam to do for gapeworm involving looking down the throat. I think you look for a "Y" shaped worm down the throat with a flashlight.

Feet curled...that would not be something I have seen before in worms and mites. But EASILY the lethargy and paleness (even the panting) could be worms (and the cessation of laying).

 

[chkn]

Sounds like you are doing the right thing with the water. You can add a splash of gatorade to make it more appetizing.

Examine her all over...vent, under the wings, looking for the obvious; maggots, injury, etc.

The mouthing makes it sound like a respiratory problem. I'm thinking something blocking the airway, so maybe those parasites called gapeworm. Have you ever treated her with Valbazan?

Otherwise, something could be stuck or impacted in there. Feel the crop, is it empty or full and squishy? I am assuming she's not eating. Crop should empty over night.

If there were cold symptoms it could be pneumonia or some other bird respiratory tract infection. Put a thermometer under the wing and get a temperature if you think it's that.

If she stopped laying...how does her abdomen feel, is it bigger than the others? That's a whole other problem.

Do some research here on the gapeworm. It wouldn't hurt to get her some antibiotics.

I think first I'd dropper 1/2 ml Valbazan on her beak if she's standard size, 1/4 ml for small. Get Valbazan at feed store. Watch and see how she does and then after a couple hours, treat for mites.

Handle very carefully. Keep her calm and don't do anything like roll her on her back right now because you could push her over the edge real easy.

 

[Leslieb118]

If she stopped laying...how does her abdomen feel, is it bigger than the others? That's a whole other problem.

All of the above advice is good. As far as the abdomen goes, see if its enlarged. She could be laying internally, and if that's the case she could have fluid building up that would cause respiratory issues. I recently had to put down one of my Golden Comets. She didn't lay for a long time and was getting more and more swollen in the rear end. She wasn't eggbound. She started to kind of "waddle" or walk like a penguin, and then eventually was more lethargic. I'd read on here about draining the fluid, but that is a temporary fix and I wasn't going to go through all of that only to have it happen again.
One way to can check for gapeworm is with a Qtip. Swab her throat and if you see any red on it, it's possible she's got gapeworm.
You can scramble an egg for her to see if she'll eat that and maybe some sugar water temporarily to see if she can get that energy boost to eat something.
Good luck!

 

[EdwinaHeadHen]

Thank you to everyone for your advice and suggestions. I'm beginning to think it is worms and external parasites. I've given her a "physical" i guess you could call it. There are no signs of injury, external wounds, scales, or anything of the sort. Her wings seem to be okay. No impacted crop, no swollen abdomen. All empty. The most notable characteristic about her is how thin she is - amazingly thin. Also she has tons of little white bugs that are in her feathers. They look like they are nesting in the base of the barbs and not at the base of the feather. Plus they are crawling around the top of the feathers, her eyes and beak. I have not swabbed her throat yet. She is quite stressed currently and is a very jittery bird. I will try that this afternoon.

Funnily enough I went to the Tractor Supply day before yesterday searching for medicine. Most of them looked at me as if I were crazy for wanting to save a chicken. I did find a very nice lady who tried to help and she came to the same conclusion that is was worms, but had no idea what I should give my hen.

After I got home from the Tractor supply, day before yesterday, I gave the hen some watered down Wazine (sp?). What else can I give her to get rid of these internal worms? the Wazine says it works on roundworms. Also, I've been giving her Duvet vitamins and electrolytes. I also put Diatomaceous earth in her feathers and bedding. I think that's primarily for prevention though. This has not ridden her of those little white bugs. How do I solve this problem after I have an infestation? What can I do to get rid of these?

She really sparked up yesterday and was walking around with eyes open. She was eating and drinking - although not at her best as she is still wobbly. However, this morning she's back to being like she was day before yesterday. I'm dripping the Duvet vitamins back into her beak. Her eyes vary from being closed to open again. She has not eaten anything today. Once again, thank you so much for all of your help. It is so appreciated!

 

[EdwinaHeadHen]

I forgot to add she has not given any more indications of respitory problems; i.e. the opening to crow but no sound coming out or leaving her beak open. She clucks ever so lightly.

 

[froggiesheins]

For the bugs ON her, start using FRONTLINE+ on ALL your chickens. Just place a drop under each wing every few months. To get rid of them NOW, give her a bath and then the Frontline, because of her delicate physical condition I would not want to stress her anymore with dusting of Sevin Powder.....

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thank you to everyone for your advice and suggestions. I'm beginning to think it is worms and external parasites. I've given her a "physical" i guess you could call it. There are no signs of injury, external wounds, scales, or anything of the sort. Her wings seem to be okay. No impacted crop, no swollen abdomen. All empty. The most notable characteristic about her is how thin she is - amazingly thin. Also she has tons of little white bugs that are in her feathers. They look like they are nesting in the base of the barbs and not at the base of the feather. Plus they are crawling around the top of the feathers, her eyes and beak. I have not swabbed her throat yet. She is quite stressed currently and is a very jittery bird. I will try that this afternoon.

Funnily enough I went to the Tractor Supply day before yesterday searching for medicine. Most of them looked at me as if I were crazy for wanting to save a chicken. I did find a very nice lady who tried to help and she came to the same conclusion that is was worms, but had no idea what I should give my hen.

After I got home from the Tractor supply, day before yesterday, I gave the hen some watered down Wazine (sp?). What else can I give her to get rid of these internal worms? the Wazine says it works on roundworms. Also, I've been giving her Duvet vitamins and electrolytes. I also put Diatomaceous earth in her feathers and bedding. I think that's primarily for prevention though. This has not ridden her of those little white bugs. How do I solve this problem after I have an infestation? What can I do to get rid of these?

She really sparked up yesterday and was walking around with eyes open. She was eating and drinking - although not at her best as she is still wobbly. However, this morning she's back to being like she was day before yesterday. I'm dripping the Duvet vitamins back into her beak. Her eyes vary from being closed to open again. She has not eaten anything today. Once again, thank you so much for all of your help. It is so appreciated!

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html
I believe you are working with a lice infestation due to the color of the bugs.. Loss of weight is a large red flag to consider worms.

Since lice on poultry are not the blood-sucking variety, medications that enter the bloodstream are not useful. You will need to retreat every 2 weeks (and I'd do it every week if it were me) until gone. The nits will not come off unless you cut the feathers off, or use coconut oil on them to dissolve the nits.

If you will notice, this article I mention here recommends Sevin dust because it is an older article. I believe that it is not approved anymore for poultry (a shame, since it works SO well), so here is an 2012 copyright page for you:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140
Permethrin is available at the feed store in a poultry dust shaker can.

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf
here's another article

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/125346/research-on-worming-chickens-with-albendazole
Valbazen = albendazole

This is an off-label use of a wormer, as the only wormer currently approved for poultry is Wazine. (You MUST toss the eggs with wormers for a couple of weeks, I have learned on BYC.) Wazine isn't approved for layers, either.

You need to retreat with wormers, to get the juvenile ones that grow up through the previous worming. You can search BYC for "wormers retreat." Wazine only treats roundworms and make sure you follow the directions on the label carefully.

In other words, using a medication off-label for your pet chicken is a judgement call and it must be researched by you. Valbazen has saved the lives of my chickens before, I can attest.