Sick bird, fluffed up?

[Abbkayx]

Hi!

My girl nugget here, isn't feeling so hot. She's been sort of "slow" for the last 2 weeks or so. She's about 3 years old, and a RIR - so I know lifespan may be shorter. Fairly pale comb. Still eating, excited for treats, etc. But when she's not eating she's off with the crew just 'sleeping'... I know that's not really the case though. So here's what I've done so far.
She's still eating and pooping. Poop looks normal, smaller amounts though. I brought her, gave her a good epsom soak and calcium in case of egg bound. However she is so thin I don't think that's the case, I felt down her whole abdomen and no eggs. Crop is smaller than normal, not soft but not super hard either. Feels sort of like those stress balls with little beads in. In case of impacted crop I gave her some oil and did a soft crop massage. Gave vitamins and electrolytes. I'm not sure if she is laying but I should know tomorrow since she's quarantined inside for the night. She has no signs of respiratory distress - no sneezing, coughing, discharge.

Symptoms: fluffed up / sleepy, clicking her beak, a little slower than the rest of the birds, pale comb, very thin body.


anyone have any other ideas to help my girl? I attached a video that at the end shows what she does a lot. It's like she swallows and then closes her eyes. Pic is what she looks like when she's just sitting.

 

[dennisma1]

Sorry Nugget is not well...they do like to hide it when they are sick. Have you given her antibiotics? If it were me I'd separate her so you can keep an eye on her eating and poop. Does she free range? I assume she isn't molting ?

 

[Abbkayx]

Sorry Nugget is not well...they do like to hide it when they are sick. Have you given her antibiotics? If it were me I'd separate her so you can keep an eye on her eating and poop. Does she free range? I assume she isn't molting ?

No antibiotics yet. She is in the middle of a molt, almost out of it I believe. She's separated out in my spare bathroom for now so I can monitor her. She does free range, but less so lately. The hawks come out like crazy this time of year but they do have a large run.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Crop is smaller than normal, not soft but not super hard either. Feels sort of like those stress balls with little beads in. In case of impacted crop I gave her some oil and did a soft crop massage. Gave vitamins and electrolytes.

Symptoms: fluffed up / sleepy, clicking her beak, a little slower than the rest of the birds, pale comb, very thin body.

Can you get some photos of her overnight droppings if possible?

Were you moving her during the video (massaging the crop) or was that her own movements?

I would make sure her crop is completely empty/flat overnight. Check first thing before she eats/drinks.
Have a look inside her beak just to make sure there's no yellow/white pasty material or canker.

A crop issue is the first thing I think of when I see her actions, but I'm a bit puzzled why she's closing her eyes like that - it's almost like it's hard for her to swallow.

Here's good info that I follow when treating crop issues.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

She's molting, so not feeling all that great, but she's eating/drinking ok.
If possible, take a poop sample to your vet to see if worms are part of her problem.

If that's not possible, then treating the crop (unless you find something majorly different when looking inside her beak) and deworming is where I would start.

She's 3 so she may be trying to resume laying after molt...or may be having some reproductive difficulties. I've found that most of my 3+ year olds don't resume laying until after Winter Solstice which is in December, this is when days start to get longer again, so January is when they usually start back.

Let us know what you find out in the morning.

 

[Abbkayx]

Can you get some photos of her overnight droppings if possible?

Were you moving her during the video (massaging the crop) or was that her own movements?

I would make sure her crop is completely empty/flat overnight. Check first thing before she eats/drinks.
Have a look inside her beak just to make sure there's no yellow/white pasty material or canker.

A crop issue is the first thing I think of when I see her actions, but I'm a bit puzzled why she's closing her eyes like that - it's almost like it's hard for her to swallow.

Here's good info that I follow when treating crop issues.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

She's molting, so not feeling all that great, but she's eating/drinking ok.
If possible, take a poop sample to your vet to see if worms are part of her problem.

If that's not possible, then treating the crop (unless you find something majorly different when looking inside her beak) and deworming is where I would start.

She's 3 so she may be trying to resume laying after molt...or may be having some reproductive difficulties. I've found that most of my 3+ year olds don't resume laying until after Winter Solstice which is in December, this is when days start to get longer again, so January is when they usually start back.

Let us know what you find out in the morning.

Thanks so much!

I was massaging her crop a bit in the video. I did have a look inside her mouth, nothing unusual there but now that you say white, it may have been a bit more pale inside than typical. I will definitely checkout the droppings in the morning. They looked fine tonight, but still quite "small" compared to some droppings lol.

 

[Abbkayx]

Here is her droppings as of right now - 12:17 AM EST

 

[Abbkayx]

And this morning

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The poop doesn't look too bad, but there's a lot of urates which could indicate dehydration.
Somewhat mucousy as well.
Since she's not feeling good, I would consider deworming and treating for Coccidiosis if getting a fecal float is not an option.

Since she's molting, Valbazen would be the dewormer of choice since Fenbendazole (Safeguard) can affect feather quality in molting birds.
Valbazen dosing is .08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Corid for Coccidiosis comes in powder or liquid, these can be found in the cattle section of TSC. Liquid Corid dose is 2 tsp and the Powder Corid dose is 1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Give 5-7 days a the only source of fluids/drinking water.

Was her crop empty/flat this morning?

 

[Abbkayx]

The poop doesn't look too bad, but there's a lot of urates which could indicate dehydration.
Somewhat mucousy as well.
Since she's not feeling good, I would consider deworming and treating for Coccidiosis if getting a fecal float is not an option.

Since she's molting, Valbazen would be the dewormer of choice since Fenbendazole (Safeguard) can affect feather quality in molting birds.
Valbazen dosing is .08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Corid for Coccidiosis comes in powder or liquid, these can be found in the cattle section of TSC. Liquid Corid dose is 2 tsp and the Powder Corid dose is 1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Give 5-7 days a the only source of fluids/drinking water.

Was her crop empty/flat this morning?

Mostly empty, yes. Seems she's not really wanting to eat or drink though. The crop was very small yesterday after a day of free ranging in comparison to normal. I have Corid on hand. Can I do both deworming and Corid simultaneously? And assuming I should treat the rest of the flock as well to be safe?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes, you can do both at the same time.

If the crop was not completely empty, then I would treat for that as well. The way she swallows, it seems like possibly she's having some issues there.
At the very least, I would start with coconut oil twice a day as described in the article below. Give her crop a bit of massage and see what it's like in the a.m. again.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/