Sick hen - is there a chance of recovery?

[SIMZ]

Hi everyone!

We have a 2 year old Easter Egger that is standing around with her neck hunkered down. I kept finding her in a nest box yesterday, but no egg. She's recently started laying again after molting and a break. Today she was just standing around looking sick, so I brought her in.
* Looks sick and just sitting (hunkered down) in cage
* Doesn't feel hard like an egg is stuck
* Little bit of gunk around one eye - not much
* Whitish discharge gunked on vent feathers - vent seems fine
* Poop is runny white with a few chunks of green (gross, sorry!)
* She ate quite a bit of scrambled egg mixed with diluted Nutri-drench when I brought her in to examine her. Otherwise, isn't eating or drinking in her cage.

About 3-4 weeks ago we culled a 2 year old Golden Comet with what I thought was a broken egg and prolapse. I thought it was just a fluke - we've never had that happen before - but now I wonder if it's related. She had a lot of similar discharge.

I'm fine working with sick chickens when I see the cause (egg binding, parasites, etc.), but I'm leery about perpetuating disease in my flock. Any ideas on what this might be and if she can recover?

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would think about worming her with Valbazen or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer once and repeating it in 10 days. It is possible that she could have an overload of coccidia which you could find out with a vet looking at a sample of her droppings. Corid (amprollium) is the treatment for coccidiosis. She may also be suffering from internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis. The symptoms she has could be a lot of things. It's always a good idea to feel of the breast bone for weight loss, check the crop for impaction and to see that it empties overnight, to look at the skin under the vent, under wings, and around neck for lice or mites.

 

[SIMZ]

I would think about worming her with Valbazen or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer once and repeating it in 10 days. It is possible that she could have an overload of coccidia which you could find out with a vet looking at a sample of her droppings. Corid (amprollium) is the treatment for coccidiosis. She may also be suffering from internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis. The symptoms she has could be a lot of things. It's always a good idea to feel of the breast bone for weight loss, check the crop for impaction and to see that it empties overnight, to look at the skin under the vent, under wings, and around neck for lice or mites.

Thank you! No signs of lice or mites. Worms could be a problem - she's on spring/fall worming schedule, and it is time for the next worming. She has a full, hard crop now and I see she's been eating. I'm going out of town tomorrow, so my husband will be taking care of her until Saturday evening. I think I can convince him to feed her scrambled eggs and give her some diluted Nutri-drench a few times each day.

I have Corid. I'm a little leery about just throwing things at her all at once, though. Maybe I'll see if she's doing any better or worse when I get home and keep an eye on her droppings until then. Although, if it is Cocci she could very well be dead by then. Ugh. I did a thorough exam again and don't feel anything like an egg anywhere.

 

[SIMZ]

She's doing much better. She's been getting some drops of diluted Nutri-drench a few times a day, good food, and an occasional scrambled egg. She's standing now and her neck is no longer scrunched up. She is still holding her tail down, but her eyes are clear. In general, she just looks like she feels a lot better. Poop is much more normal now, too.

SO - I went ahead and wormed her. I'll see how she's doing tomorrow. If the same as now I think I'll put her back in the coop tomorrow night.

 

[SIMZ]

Update: She's back out in the main coop. She's seems back to normal and is enjoying the amazing spring day we're having. I hope that's how it stays!

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update. It's good that she is doing better, and I enjoyed this greart day as well.