Sick Chicken Help Needed

[petitemusings]

My only remaining chicken, an approximately 6-7 year old Rhode Island Red is not well. She’s been very healthy up until the other day when I noticed she’s got dark green watery poop that smells like sewage. She had a lot of mess around her butt and I soaked her in a warm bath to clean her up and now have her in the house. Her comb and waddle are both very pale. She’s drinking water and eating some but the runny poop won’t stop. I’ve called the vet and they have no openings and basically said I’m on my own and to keep her indoors, comfortable and feed her her favorite treats as they think she’s on her way out. Not sure if she’s too old for cocc’s or if she may have worms or something else? She was still laying in the warmer months and now nothing and it doesn’t appear that she’s egg bound.

I ordered some corid liquid but it won’t be here until Wednesday and today purchased some poultry dewormer 5x incase it’s worms. When looking up the directions it says not to administer if chicken is sick.

Does anyone here have any recommendations on how to proceed

 

[Tonyroo]

The dark colored stinky poop is a cecal poop all chickens experience it.

Has she molted already?
Has she been dewormed at all in her life?
What is she eating?

 

[ChickNanny13]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @Kiki

Not much help here but from the green color, seems like she's not getting enough nutrition. The watery is possible she's drinking more than eating. What are you feeding? IF it's a crumble/pellet type, soak in water to make like a mash, she may eat more. Try some boiled egg yolk or scrambled egg also. She is older, RIR are production layers so maybe it's age?

 

[FloppyGirl]

Could you add pumpkin seeds or garlic to her feed until you're able to get her to the vet? I periodically add these to my girls feed and have never dealt with worms.

 

[Kiki]

Could you add pumpkin seeds or garlic to her feed until you're able to get her to the vet? I periodically add these to my girls feed and have never dealt with worms.

No. Do NOT offer either of these, especially garlic.

 

[Kiki]

My only remaining chicken, an approximately 6-7 year old Rhode Island Red is not well. She’s been very healthy up until the other day when I noticed she’s got dark green watery poop that smells like sewage. She had a lot of mess around her butt and I soaked her in a warm bath to clean her up and now have her in the house. Her comb and waddle are both very pale. She’s drinking water and eating some but the runny poop won’t stop. I’ve called the vet and they have no openings and basically said I’m on my own and to keep her indoors, comfortable and feed her her favorite treats as they think she’s on her way out. Not sure if she’s too old for cocc’s or if she may have worms or something else? She was still laying in the warmer months and now nothing and it doesn’t appear that she’s egg bound.

I ordered some corid liquid but it won’t be here until Wednesday and today purchased some poultry dewormer 5x incase it’s worms. When looking up the directions it says not to administer if chicken is sick.

Does anyone here have any recommendations on how to proceed

I'm sorry.
It doesn't sound like she's in good shape and at this age It could be numerous things that are wrong with her and would be a total guessing game. At this age it's highly unlikely that she's suffering from coccidiosis.

I would suggest doing what the vet already told you.

 

[petitemusings]

The dark colored stinky poop is a cecal poop all chickens experience it.

Has she molted already?
Has she been dewormed at all in her life?
What is she eating?

She did molt about 2 months ago-ish? I have not dewormed her at all. She’s eats regular purina organic layer feed but I’ve just switched her to some seed and grain treats to confirm she’s eating now that she’s in the house.

I wasn’t sure if she’s maybe depressed/stressed with being the only chicken left and it’s also getting much colder outside.

 

[petitemusings]

No. Do NOT offer either of these, especially garlic.

The treats I’m giving her has pumpkin seeds. Is there a reason to avoid this?

 

[petitemusings]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @Kiki

Not much help here but from the green color, seems like she's not getting enough nutrition. The watery is possible she's drinking more than eating. What are you feeding? IF it's a crumble/pellet type, soak in water to make like a mash, she may eat more. Try some boiled egg yolk or scrambled egg also. She is older, RIR are production layers so maybe it's age?

She’s eating purina organic layer pellets. And switched to some treat mix yesterday. I’ll try the mash and eggs and see how that goes. She does free roam the property and tends to forage a lot.

 

[azygous]

I like to start at the top of a chicken and rule things out. Look her head over, check eyes nares and ears for watery discharge or crusty gunk. Are her eyes wide and bright or dull and listless? Pull the ear flaps back and be sure it's clean in the ear holes. Note if there seems to be any swelling.

Pry her beak open and look into her throat. Anything other than smooth pink tissue? Is the tongue all one color, any white patches? Any bad odor?

Crop. This is the most common source of trouble in an older chicken as their system begins to have aging "glitches". Is the crop full, hard, lumpy, spongy? This is most important - check her crop in the morning before you feed her. It should be empty and flat. If not, Houston, we have a problem.

Next, check her abdomen. Is she full and swollen in front of the legs? Is she hard and swollen behind her legs below her vent? Is her vent pulsating? With a gloved hand or with a rag, push gently against the vent. Does this cause her to squat and push against your hand?

Check her skin under her feathers from the neck to her feet for any swelling or any surprise wounds that might be infected.

Her stance and walk is important. When she's standing, is she hunched into her shoulders with her tail low and flat? Is she off balance when you stand her up. Try to get her to take a few steps. Is she stumbling or does she appear to have weakness in her legs? How is her balance?

Is she currently molting? Has her appetite been off lately?

Try to let us know if you find any anomalies when you use this list to examine her. There could be some important clues that can help us recommend treatment to get her feeling better.