Sick chicken for months

[Crinkles]

Hello.

I have a one year old buff Orpington hen who has been sick for about 3 months. I’m hoping someone can help me with some advise, I love her very much...

3 months ago she was happy and healthy laying good eggs pretty much everyday when she suddenly stoped laying. Over the next couple weeks she laid 2 very soft eggs then stopped. After a while she got lethargic and then started losing feathers on her neck ( falling not plucking). Our other 4 chickens have remained healthy during this whole thing with no issues. No bullying. I inspected her for mites and she was clean. A gentle finger confirmed no egg bound in the cochlea. Her lethargy got worse and I took her to the vet. The vet said she didn’t know what was wrong with her but that it didn’t look good. It could be any of the things google told me for free. The only thing she could tell me was that she didn’t have mites or bugs and she wasn’t egg bound which I already knew. She sent me home with oxytetracycline in hopes it was an infection. Chicken did the round of meds and perked up a bit but not much. We put her back in with the flock and she just continued to not lay and be lethargic. Her feathers started growing back. That was a month ago. Now she is still lethargic, eating minimally, normal sometimes runny poops, no egg of any sort. She seems...dirty and sad. She developed a bad limp in her right foot overnight and upon inspection she might have the beginnings of leg mites. She has a couple scales rising and crusty. No bumble.

I feel overwhelmed and can’t seem to make her better. Nothing is making sense with what the vet said. We’ve done baths/soaks and now she is getting foot baths and Vaseline daily for the mites, if she even has them. She is separated from the flock. I don’t know what else to do.

Any help is appreciated

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you think that her stopping laying and losing feathers was perhaps her molting? It can be common to be a little lethargic, distant, and have a poor appetite during a molt. They also stop laying. Can you tell us if her tail position is up most the time or down? Do you have any pictures of an abnormal dropping? Is she eating and drinking, and what do you feed her? Also pics of the legs could be helpful. With scaly leg mites, they usually only need to be treated once or twice a week with vaseline or other oils.

 

[Crinkles]

Do you think that her stopping laying and losing feathers was perhaps her molting? It can be common to be a little lethargic, distant, and have a poor appetite during a molt. They also stop laying. Can you tell us if her tail position is up most the time or down? Do you have any pictures of an abnormal dropping? Is she eating and drinking, and what do you feed her? Also pics of the legs could be helpful. With scaly leg mites, they usually only need to be treated once or twice a week with vaseline or other oils.

Hi thanks for the reply. Her tail is positioned down. She is eating and drinking a bit, her layer pellets and meal worms sometimes. We had concidered that it was a molt but she has been very lethargic and it was only really her neck area. I will try and get some pics. Thanks again

 

[Crinkles]

 

[Eggcessive]

That dropping looks like some that I have seen with reproductive infections or ascites, because of the yellow urates. Since she stopped laying after laying two soft eggs, she could have a reproductive disorder, such as salpingitis or egg yolk peritonitis. The lowered tail position is another symptom. Ascites or water belly is a liver issue that is sometimes associated with EYP, cancer, or heart failure, but is very common. Does she have any enlargement of her lower belly between the legs? I would try to get her eating and drinking by offering her usual balanced chicken feed, some scrambled egg or bits of tuna, and clean water.