Sick chicken & unsure what to do :-(

[Chickeeen]

Hi all,

My partner and I have been chicken owners for about 12 months now and have found this site very useful during that period. We originally purchased Pekalot from a egg farm which we are beginning to think might be the problem. Her presentation when we first purchased her was not good however she has become a very beautiful chicken with a very fluffy little bum She has been a very beautiful companion and has an amazing demeanor about her, so amazing that she has been able to accompany my partner to several school visits as a bit of a treat to the kids

Anyway about 1 month ago Pekalot appeared to be a little ill. At first we thought she was having an off day but her condition has been gradually getting worse. We thought she may have slight organ failure and a building up of fluid in her abdomen/bottom area but its so difficult to tell. Here are some of the facts:

- We were told that she was about 2 years old when we bought her so she would now be 3.
- She was still laying an egg a day (with the occasional missed day) for the first 5 months then she completely went off the lay in January this year when she regrew an astonishing amount of feathers. Since then she has only given us 1 very special egg
- She is no longer doing solid poo's, its basically liquid and has a yellowish or green colour to it.
- She is very lethargic and generally stands in 1 spot or lies down but still slowly moves around if there is food to be eaten. She goes to bed alot earlier than usual and has difficulty waling up the ramp to her bed. Balance also seems to be an issue.
- Tail is generally down.
- She has been losing a lot of weight and we have noticed her crown decrease in size. We can feel her bone just below her crop. Almost like she is withering away.
- She still eats but never seems to have anything in her crop.

Any thoughts on what the problem may be? Is it old age? Perhaps her harder and more demanding years of when she was a laying hen catching up with her?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Chris & Arriane

 

[chicknmania]

No, this is not old age. It IS an emergency, though. Anytime a chicken starts acting off, that's a sign that you should start immediate treatment. That's because they conceal symptoms of illness until they can't any longer. Her yellowish-green droppings are a sign that she is dehydrated. It could be a number of things, unfortunately. To me it sounds like Coccidiosis. This is a parasite.

If you have other chickens, you need to isolate her, put her in a pen where she can have some privacy but can hear the others. She MUST eat, and if she's not, you will need to tube feed her. If she is just eating poorly, tempt her. Try oatmeal, or yogurt, chopped fruit, anything she likes, on her regular food. Not a lot of treat food, just enough to get her to eat! Try moistening her food too a little, when they are sick, they like it moist. WE use Amprol to treat cocci, but if that is not available to you, go to your local feed store and ask what they have to treat Coccidiosis. Tell them the details of your hen. DONT wait!. If you need to tube feed her, I (or someone on here) can tell you how.
Good luck!