Sick chookie, possible respiratory illness?

[ancatdubh]

I've had my first 'flock' of two bantam chickens for about 4 months now, and they'd be about 8 months old - so I'm still very much a newbie.

One of them starting looking a bit lethargic four days ago, and hadn't laid an egg in about 4 days before that (they usually lay every other day), with no abnormalities in her eggs previously. Since then she's been getting more lethargic, and not coming out of the coop in the morning until much later in the day.

On day two of the lethargy I inspected her, and I noticed she had some moderate scaly leg so gave her an epsom salt bath and applied vaseline, as I thought that this might be contributing. Quite a lot of built-up 'stuff' has come off her legs over the past few days, and during the last vaseline administration some of the larger chunks came off and there was some very minor bleeding which I applied Leucillin (antiseptic) to before the vaseline. Since then she's been favouring one leg when standing, so I believe her feet might be tender from the large chunks sloughing off, but I thought that as her legs healed and I treated her and the coop with mite dust she might start improving.

Yesterday I noticed one of her eyes had very minor bubbles, and this morning when I came to let them out of the coop, I noticed one of her eyes wouldn't open. It opened on its own after about half an hour, and was slightly inflamed and crusty, so at this stage I separated her from the other hen as now I am suspecting some sort of respiratory illness.

She drank water as normal this morning and still had quite an appetite, and on top of normal feed (layers pellets - which she won't really touch) I've been feeding her scrambled egg with mealworms and corn which she's been eating with no problem (about 1 egg scrambled per day). Her crop was empty when I checked before she started eating. Her poops are not watery, but they are mustard yellow with a normal small amount of urine salts and no foaming or signs of worms or blood, and do not smell different. She is also losing a few feathers here and there, and given the time of year (UK, autumn) might be going through a moult but I thought she might be too young?

Currently she is very lethargic and fluffed up under a bush with her eyes half closed, only getting up to forage for a few minutes before going back down. She looks very sick. I've tried all I can think of for now without stressing her out any more and am even hand feeding her a few times a day, so which way it goes might be up to her from here on in.

I'm hoping someone might be able to give some advice as to what is going on and how else to help her? Have you experienced anything similar, maybe even with any success? She's such a sweet little chicken and I'm really hoping she pulls through, but realistically I am preparing for the worst if it happens.

 

[azygous]

Yes, she's very sick. But we can't tell you why. I can tell you that she likely has an infection, though only what might be causing it. The yellow poop can point to a reproductive infection (egg yolk peritonitis) or possible liver failure. Do you detect any swelling in her abdomen? Liver disease produces swelling in front of the legs. Reproductive infection can produce swelling behind the legs and under the vent.

She may even be in an egg laying crisis where she has a stuck egg or collapsed egg inside her. Is she dribbling fluid from her vent? Is she producing any cecal poops? (the smelly, chocolate pudding poops) If these things relate, then she should have a calcium tablet immediately to help push out this obstruction.

At any rate, I suggest you try to locate a source for an oral antibiotic. You will probably need to see a vet to get your hands on one unless you already have one on hand. Amoxicillin 250mg is good all purpose med. Give her one dose a day or split it into two 125mg doses.

 

[ancatdubh]

Yes, she's very sick. But we can't tell you why. I can tell you that she likely has an infection, though only what might be causing it. The yellow poop can point to a reproductive infection (egg yolk peritonitis) or possible liver failure. Do you detect any swelling in her abdomen? Liver disease produces swelling in front of the legs. Reproductive infection can produce swelling behind the legs and under the vent.

She may even be in an egg laying crisis where she has a stuck egg or collapsed egg inside her. Is she dribbling fluid from her vent? Is she producing any cecal poops? (the smelly, chocolate pudding poops) If these things relate, then she should have a calcium tablet immediately to help push out this obstruction.

At any rate, I suggest you try to locate a source for an oral antibiotic. You will probably need to see a vet to get your hands on one unless you already have one on hand. Amoxicillin 250mg is good all purpose med. Give her one dose a day or split it into two 125mg doses.

Thank you for your reply! I haven’t checked for liver issues, I will pick her up and have a look when they go to bed so she’s less stressed.

I did suspect on the first day she might be egg bound. I sat her in an epsom bath for half an hour and felt her abdomen and below the vent for any stuck eggs, and couldn’t detect anything. I didn’t try again because I figured she might just be starting to moult and slow down her eggs since the days are getting short and cold here now. Just in case I added a calcium supplement to her water, and have been crushing up egg shell and mixing into her daily scrambled egg.

to be honest, all her poops look a bit like cecal poops at the moment, and range from light brown (chocolate) to mustard yellow, and usually come out first thing in the morning when I let her out to feed. But I haven’t noticed any particular smell, but I will pay more attention to what she produces when I next go out to check her.

ive tried calling my usual vet who says they don’t specialise in ‘farm animals’ so suggested an exotic animal vet some miles away. They won’t prescribe her anything without seeing her and wouldn’t suggest any OTC alternatives, so weren’t much help tbh. I live in a small city, but it’s in a very rural county so I’m surprised they couldn’t be of more help. I’m going to swing by a local pet supply store this afternoon to see if they have anything OTC.

Otherwise, I’m just going to keep an eye on her, keep her separated and eating, and hope for the best.

 

[azygous]

Regular calcium supplements given in the water or egg shells are not high enough in calcium to be of much help in an egg crisis. You need something over 500 or 600mg and calcium citrate is the fastest acting.

It's not always a whole intact egg that gets stuck, especially winding down to fall laying recess when low light decreases vitamin D uptake which can result in poor shell quality. These thin shells can collapse and get stuck. Or an egg may lack a shell, and these are much more difficult for a hen to get out, and they can get stuck. You wouldn't be able to feel either.

The high dose calcium encourages contractions and can help push the egg out. Buy a calcium citrate people supplement with vitamin D in it. Ask at pet stores for pigeon antibiotics or fish antibiotics. This is how we get around the problem of obtaining regular antibiotics. These meds work just splendidly for chickens and can be gotten over the counter or on the internet. Ask for "fish mox"250mg.

 

[ancatdubh]

Just as an update: she looked pretty certain to pass last night- she could barely keep her eyes open or stay on her perch when I put them to bed. I woke up this morning to find her already out of the coop (she wouldn’t come out of the coop on her own previously), tail up and with a considerable appetite. She’s been very mobile all day and much less lethargic. I’ve given her some nutridrops and crushed up a calcium + vitamin D tablet into her food. Non-watery dark khaki-brown poops with normal amount of urine salts. I also noticed her grooming loose feathers off herself, so maybe it was a bit of a moult? No eggs yet but I hope this means we’re out of the woods.

I noticed the other hen sneezing this morning so I may not have separated them soon enough if it was indeed a respiratory illness, but that hen is acting normal and is currently laying an egg as we speak. Will monitor this one over the next few days and make sure she’s getting proper nutrition, and rejoin them together. Going to spend the weekend disinfecting and powdering the coop, and replacing their bedding. I’ve certainly been forced to quickly learn a lot about troubleshooting chicken illness over the past week!

 

[azygous]

Often what happens with an egg obstruction is that it passes without notice after calcium is administered. The "proof " is behavior returning to normal.

Don't hesitate to pop a calcium tablet into the beak of any hen who presents with those symptoms again. It's not necessary to dissolve or crush a calcium tablet, and really more advisable, to give the tablet undiluted so it acts as fast as possible.

I preach that every run should have a bottle of calcium citrate tablets handy for any such hen. When I encounter a hen fluffed up and not feeling well or one that has spent a couple hours on the nest without laying an egg, I immediately stick a tablet into her beak. Rarely does this not work to restore the hen to her old self within a very short time.