SICK CHICKEN, Please help!!!!!

[twocrickets]

Hi I have a sick chicken. She is a 2 yr old barred rock. SHe has a large feathered covered internal bump above her right eye, she occasionally vomits and looks like she is trying to swallow something, she has runny yellow poop. SHe is listless and doesnt leave the coop anymore. Tonight she isnt rooseting with the others, it seems like she has been outcasted...Please help, she is my favorite!!! She looks so old and tired! Any ideas? Please help!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Quarantine right away. If it were mine I would kill it, but I'm sure you don't want to go that route so maybe someone else could give you a clue as to what you are dealing with.

 

[twocrickets]

This morning the same barred rock I put in isolation. She now has runny green poop, but hasn't left the chicken coop in days (so not from grass) It looks normal except for the runniness. She doesnt seem to be drinking alot, but is drinking and her diet is now egg yolk, oats, yogurt, probiotic, vitamins and apples with a little bit of honey. Can anyone think of what would make my chicken so listless? She still has that bump...do you think it could be from a mosquito? There aren't any vets around here that work or have knowlege on expendable chickens. She isn;t expendable to me though, so any thoughts? Worms? Bad food? Help!

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Maybe she ate something she shouldn't have... Or possibly had a reaction to something that bit her? If the lump is a bite, that may be it... Spider, Bee, Mosquito... all those could cause a reaction. Make sure she's got lots of water. Keep an eye on the lump. It sounds like you're doing all you can without a vet... I've heard that putting Gatorade in animal water does the same thing for pets as people. It replaces electrolytes and helps with diarrhea.

 

[Imp]

It's hard to tell with chickens. I'm not very good with chicken disease, but I can hook you up with some links that might give you an idea.

http://www.welphatchery.com/poultry_health.asp

http://www.colchesterpoultryclub.com/health.htm

I think you got a good start with caring for her. I think if you know that the chicken is sick it is better to do anything rather than nothing.
I wish you well & luck.

Imp

 

[twocrickets]

Thank you guys! I will try the gatorade and keep the water going. I always feel like creatures are on the fast track for death whenever I isolate them. If you think of anything else, please let me know..Shadows is my kids and my favortite pet chicken and we would really hate to lose her..I will keep posting..if nothing else, maybe our info will help another if not me

 

[krobin04]

I am wondering if it could be a spider bite or something- I am wondering with my own hen, too, could she have tried to eat a bug that didn't want to be eatten?

 

[laturcotte1]

check make sure the lump isn't a tick.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Is the lump something that just showed up overnight or something that has been growing.

Vomiting with any head type injury/swelling problem is typically a bad sign and is very often connected to pressure on the brain.

Possible it is an abcess due to infection or an infected sinus. In the case of an abcess it should be possible to drain it and treat with antibiotics.

Posible it is related to injury or insect bite but in that case the swelling should be fairly quick to resolve over a couple days.

The other possibility I think might have to be considdered is that it is a tumor, possibly a secondary tumor linked to avain leukosis. In that case there is really nothing I know of that would offer any sensable treatment.

In any case should things not resolve or you decide to cull it might be a case worth a necropsy just so you can be sure you are not dealing with any nasty illness in your flock.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

If the lump has been slow developing or there for a longer time more than a week I personally would rule out it being just a bite or injury.

If an attempt was made to lance the lump with large hypodermic needle and there was a yellow puss discharge I would go the infection treatment route. If the lump produced only blood and little fluid I would start to resign myself to it being a tumor.

A pic would help, Sorry, but I personally would not invest too much into vet treatment services for such a case. Chickens that are a couple years old and come down sick often don't bounce back to health as we would like and vet bills will add up to quickly surpass the cost of a hundred new chicks.