Sick Chicken Not Doing Well Help Appreciated

[SleepyChicken]

Hello. So about a week ago one of our chickens, Clucky, became ill. She was the last chicken to go into the coop for the night and went to sleep beside a nest and not on the roosting post which is abnormal for her. The next day it was clear that she was sick because she was just standing/ sitting facing the wall, not really eating or drinking. It was that night or the next night that we noticed another one of our chickens, Snowball, was looking droopy. She was still walking around and eating and drinking unlike Clucky who at this point was just laying in the same spot. We knew now that is was likely contagious and that we needed to move them out of the coop. However, we didn't think it much mattered for Clucky because it seemed she had gotten worse and probably wouldn't make it overnight. We couldn't get the dog cage down out of the top of the building till the next day so moving them had to wait. When we went to feed them the next day to our surprise while Clucky was still miraculously living, Snowball was dead. That was shocking not only because had Snowball still been eating and drinking and acting somewhat normal but she is considerably younger than Clucky. Snowball is 2-3 years old while Clucky is 5-6. We moved Clucky into the dog cage and she has now been down in the basement 4-5 days. She seemed mabye slightly perkier the morning after we moved her down to the basement but that has faded. We started by giving her some vinegar water since it is supposed to be anti-bacterial but she doesn't eat/drink by herself, or at least very much, unless we help her. She sleeps a lot and can hardly stay awake sometimes when we do try to get her to drink/eat. She also can't/won't stand up. We started about 2 days ago giving her liquid vitamins and putting electrolytes in her water to try to help perk her up/ fight off whatever disease. Her digestive track is working since she does poop out what we give her. I apologize for this being a long thread but if you could give me any advice on what this is, how to treat it, if anything can be done, I would much appreciate it. Quite frankly this is the longest we have had a chicken be sick without dying. (The missing feathers are just from where they peck at each other and no she's not dead although it looks like it. She's just sick and sleeping).

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. She appears to be molting, which can be a stressful time for a chicken. Most of the ones that I have who have died, have been during a molt or during extremely cold weather.
It is not necessarily something contagious, but it could be. Can you feel of her crop in her upper right chest to feel if it is empty and flat, full and fard, or puffy/boggy? Crop problems and reproductive disorders are very common reasons for illness. Look her over for lice or mites on the skin, especially under her vent area. What do her poops look like—any blood, mucus, or strange color? Can you offer some electrolytes with vitamins or Poultry NutriDrench? Gatorade or Pedialyte will also work. Also try some scrambled chopped egg, wet chicken feed if she will drink first. The best way to know what killed your first chicken is to save the body in the refrigerator, and send it to your state vet for a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets to contact yours:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[SleepyChicken]

Sorry for your loss. She appears to be molting, which can be a stressful time for a chicken. Most of the ones that I have who have died, have been during a molt or during extremely cold weather.
It is not necessarily something contagious, but it could be. Can you feel of her crop in her upper right chest to feel if it is empty and flat, full and fard, or puffy/boggy? Crop problems and reproductive disorders are very common reasons for illness. Look her over for lice or mites on the skin, especially under her vent area. What do her poops look like—any blood, mucus, or strange color? Can you offer some electrolytes with vitamins or Poultry NutriDrench? Gatorade or Pedialyte will also work. Also try some scrambled chopped egg, wet chicken feed if she will drink first. The best way to know what killed your first chicken is to save the body in the refrigerator, and send it to your state vet for a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets to contact yours:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Thank you for your reply. I don't believe that it is molting because I am not sure if it would cause this many issues. The missing feathers are likely from where they peck and pull each others feathers out from stress when we can't let them out for a couple of months in the summer because they eat the garden. Her poops are regular, nothing strange like blood or mucus. We will check her crop and for mites when we go to check on her next. We will also continue with the electrolytes and liquid vitamins and perhaps follow some of the ideas you listed. Thanks for much

 

[annaBsChick]

Have you tried using the chicken symptom checker tool? It might help you narrow down the possibilities of what is going on...http://www.poultrydvm.com/views/symptoms.php

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.

What size is your coop?

Have you brought any new to youbirds home in the last couple of months?

What exactly do you feed them?

Last one....where about are you located?

 

[SleepyChicken]

Welcome to BYC.

What size is your coop?

Have you brought any new to youbirds home in the last couple of months?

What exactly do you feed them?

Last one....where about are you located?

Have you tried using the chicken symptom checker tool? It might help you narrow down the possibilities of what is going on...http://www.poultrydvm.com/views/symptoms.php

No I have not. I have never even heard of that website honestly. Will give it a try though thank you so much .

 

[Eggcessive]

Has she gone through her first yearly molt yet? Since she has lost feathers over the summer from pecking, I would offer some extra protein, possibly Flock Raiser 20% with some treats of scrambled egg or tuna. Be sure and provide some crushed oyster shell on the side for laying strong egg shells. Does she lay eggs normally?

I would check the feed in case some of it has developed mold, and look around for anything she could have eaten which may have been poisonous or dead. If you could manage to take some droppings in to your regular vet, they could test them for worms or coccidiosis.