Sick Chicken.Help

[Wens]

I will introduce myself later,as at the moment I am after advice quickly.
I have one hen had her for about 7 months.(common brown hen)She was a stray found at my husbands works.No farms or houses near by.Not sure how old she is but when we first got her she had no spurs,now she has little buds.After 2 months of having her she started to lay regularly everyday,skipping one day every so often as they do.
Last Friday she did not lay I assumed this was her day to skip,as leading up to Friday she would lay later and later every day which is what she does when she is leading up to her skip day. Come Saturday she did not lay,she was eating less than normal but I put this down to the hot weather.Sunday she was eating even less still drinking and she was laying down a lot with her eyes closed on and off and staying in her coop a lot.Clearly I could see she was not her normal self,no clucking noises,not walking a round doing what chickens should do etc.So Monday we took her to the vets.The vet said he could not feel an egg so did not think she was egg bound.He said she also did not have a lot of muscle tone.Said there is no way to tell how old a chicken is so he didn't know if he was dealing with an old chicken or young chicken.
He said she could have been sick for a while as chickens are good at hiding there illnesses.But up until Saturday she appeared to me as her normal self happy and making her what I call happy noises,eating although she was eating a little less each day leading up to Sunday,but I thought this was because it had been very hot the last few days.Apart from the eating her behaviour was normal in every other way.He said it is very hard to say what's wrong with her.He briefly mentioned the possibility of Egg Yolk Peritonitis.
The long and short of it is the vet has no idea what is wrong with her.He has given us 5 days of antibiotics Clavaseptin palatable tablets (Amoxicillin)250mg one tablet twice a day.The vet said if no improvement after antibiotics we may have to have her put to sleep.Now she has been on these antibiotics since Monday,she seems a little better.She is standing up a little more and looking a round and pruning her feathers for longer,but mostly she is laying down either with her eyes closing on and off or Just laying there looking a round.Mostly staying in her coop.She is eating layers mash,pasta,tomatoes and still drinking ok.Does not seem interested in her pellets or mixed corn.Today I have bought some Apple cider for her and put this in her water as I have read this is good for them. Oh and we did ask the vet if we should get another chicken for her but he seemed against the idea just saying they can fight etc.
I have tried to give as much information as I can any advice would be very much appreciated as I am new to this never had chickens before.But as I said we rescued her.other wise she would have been killed by the foxes where she was and she has become a much loved family pet. Thank you in advance.
Regards
Wens

 

[cow whisperer]

If you could share a pic of her when you first got her and a pic now that would be helpful.

 

[Wens]

First pic is of her when she first appeared.Sorry not very good.
All other pics are how she is today. Thanks.

 

[cow whisperer]

I know one thing she isn't a common brown hen. She is a Red Star. Maybe someone else can verify that but that's my guess.
In the first pic she looks very sick ( when she showed up) and seeing how I myself am just getting aquainted with chickens I'm not able to say what's wrong. Maybe she's just old!!
Did you just change her food? She's a beauty though.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes it can take some time to figure out what is ailing them. They can really be affected by hot weather if they are a little older, and lots of shade and cool water may help. They can stop laying in hot weather. Her feet look a little puffy in the pictures, and she has some scaly leg mites. I would give her a leg soak in warm soapy water once a week, using an old toothbrush to gently loosen the scales. Dry her off and use some oil to rub on her legs and under those loose scales. Castor oil works well and is not too messy, but you may also use vegetable or olive oil, vaseline, or similar. Do this weekly until she starts to grow new skin. Hens can suffer from different reproductive disorders, moreso when they are a couple of years old. Crop problems are common, so you can feel of her crop to see if it is gradually filling up during the day, then empty by next morning. If it gets hard, or puffy like a balloon in early morning then something is wrong--impacted crop or sour crop. Look her over for lice and mites on her skin around her vent--they are tiny and move fast. Hopefully she is just hot and taking a break. Molting occurs once a year when they lose feathers and regrow new ones, along with stopping laying eggs.

 

[cow whisperer]

Am I correct- is she a Red Star?

 

[Wens]

I know one thing she isn't a common brown hen. She is a Red Star. Maybe someone else can verify that but that's my guess.
In the first pic she looks very sick ( when she showed up) and seeing how I myself am just getting aquainted with chickens I'm not able to say what's wrong. Maybe she's just old!!
Did you just change her food? She's a beauty though.

Thank you for your reply. Yes I've been looking at pics and I too now think she is a Red Star. ( I just assumed she was a common brown chicken as that's what my husbands work mates had said where she appeared) will have to put them right on that.
Yes she was very poorly when we first got her very under weight etc.She has come a long way since we got her.No I haven't changed her food.I have been treating her for scaly leg mites. She seems to have perked up today,so I am hoping she will get over this.I will let you know.

 

[Wens]

Sometimes it can take some time to figure out what is ailing them. They can really be affected by hot weather if they are a little older, and lots of shade and cool water may help. They can stop laying in hot weather. Her feet look a little puffy in the pictures, and she has some scaly leg mites. I would give her a leg soak in warm soapy water once a week, using an old toothbrush to gently loosen the scales. Dry her off and use some oil to rub on her legs and under those loose scales. Castor oil works well and is not too messy, but you may also use vegetable or olive oil, vaseline, or similar. Do this weekly until she starts to grow new skin. Hens can suffer from different reproductive disorders, moreso when they are a couple of years old. Crop problems are common, so you can feel of her crop to see if it is gradually filling up during the day, then empty by next morning. If it gets hard, or puffy like a balloon in early morning then something is wrong--impacted crop or sour crop. Look her over for lice and mites on her skin around her vent--they are tiny and move fast. Hopefully she is just hot and taking a break. Molting occurs once a year when they lose feathers and regrow new ones, along with stopping laying eggs.

Thank you for your reply.Yes I should have mentioned I am treating her for scaly leg mites etc. Vet and myself checked her crop and it's ok. Thank you for the advice I will start giving her leg soaks tomorrow and continue with scaly leg mite treatment as well.
She does seem to have perked up today she is eating more.Hoping antibiotics will do trick.

 

[cow whisperer]

Thank you!

 

[Wens]

Hello Just an update on my chicken Grandma.We called her Grandma as when we first got her people said she was old,but now others have said she is young as she didn't have any spurs when we first got her,she has small spurs now.How true this is I don't know,we really have no idea how old she is. Anyway she has been on antibiotics now since Monday Amoxicillin 250mg twice a day. I would say there has been a very very slight improvement,she is eating small amounts of Layers mash,tomatoes,pasta and bread mixed with water.She will not eat her pellets,mixed corn.I have introduce apple cider to her drinking water.She is standing a little more rather than always laying down.I have tried tempting her with different foods gabbage,leek,yogurt etc.In the mornings I put her out in run,I do have to coax her out and she does stay out for a couple of hours before going into her coop.She mainly lays right in front of her coop facing it almost touching it with her beak something she never done before. I have also noticed sometimes in her coop she is facing the side wall again her beak almost touching the wall as she is that close to it.Dont know if this means anything but thought it worth mentioning as I am desperate to help her get better,to me it looks like a depressed chicken but not knowing much about chickens I really don't know.When I let her out of pen to free run she walks a few steps stands a while may have a little peck at grass but not eating it than lays down.But as I mentioned before she is not making any noises apart from a faint kind of a little like a purr.Her comb is also not as bright as it was,which tells me she is unwell.If she is an old hen and this is due to old age surly it would have come on slowly not over 4 days and wouldn't she still be doing the normal hen behaviour,scratching at the ground,clucking away etc? I know it can take time to get to find out what is going on but we have an appointment later tonight with a different vet who although is not experienced as such with chickens she is the one who normally sees the chickens.The vet we saw before did not seem to know very much about chickens more used to dogs and cats.Any advice in the mean time would be much appreciated.Thank you.