Sick hen - lethargic, puffy chest, not eating

[Wizbop]

One of my hens is sick. I noticed it this afternoon. She's not eating, but is drinking water. She's off and on been a "jelly egg layer" and it has increased in frequency in the past week and a half. She's always layed really big eggs. I don't think I've got a "real" egg from her in the past couple of weeks. Well, today, she is lethargic, lets me pick her up and makes no noise. She has what looks like egg white poo (clear, thick). Then she'll have diarrhea (brown, gross). Her eyes are shut sometimes and she's not walking around at all, not making her normal chicken noises and not fussing when being touched. The only other physical abnormality is that her chest is very puffy and feels like a balloon. I called the vet (not knowing WTH else to do) and they of course told me to bring her in. Yeah right. We have two other chickens which are acting fine.
Does this sound like anything anyone has ever heard of before?
Is there anything I can do?
Should I separate her so as to not potentially infect the others?
And, I know this may sound stupid to some, but what if she dies? What do you do with a dead chicken?
Please help. Oh, my girls are only one year old.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi and sorry no one has answered you post yet. Sounds like she maybe egg bound. this link might help you to understand it better. and if she was to die which i hope doesn't happen you just bury just like you would a dog or cat. I'd keep her separate in the house if possible so you can watch her to see how she is doing. All the best. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=319048

 

[Wizbop]

Thanks for replying. She didn't make it. It was a sour crop. I checked her vent first and there was no egg and no trace of egg shell, either. I think that because she had been laying soft jelly eggs, when she had layed them in the coop, she was intrigued by the yellow and was beginning to eat it (gross) and the shavings soured her crop. I held her upside down last night and got some of it out. This appeared to make her feel better. But apparently she was really, really sick. We found her in the coop dead this morning and my sweet hubby buried her this morning. My daughter asked me this morning if I thought she'd drop us eggs down from heaven.

I'm kinda sad to have lost one of our first chickens. I hope I did all that I could to help her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry you lost her, but you know they have such a good way of hiding sickness from us till they are sometimes beyond help that there is really not much we can do, It's always sad and hurts but you know what to look for now and will be better able to handle it. We've all been where you are today and we're all still learning. God Bless and hope you and your daughter will draw comfort from those you have left.

 

[Wizbop]

Thanks Trish. And hello neighbor. I'm in NC, too. I think we're going to have to fill Pearl's shoes very soon. I want three hens and will be anxious to get another one soon. But we do miss her. She was a pretty girl and was a very social chicken. It's kinda sad that she was only a year old. But, I think we're at peace with it. Something just wasn't right there with her. She kept on laying those soft eggs. I really do think that this was nature's way of taking care of her. Thanks for the positive feedback and encouragement.

 

[earthmama24]

I'm so sorry you lost your girl. I lost my first and only (from illness, so far) a few months back and it was very sad. If I could share just one thing I learned, when you fill that void that Pearl has left, please, please, please do not get a grown chicken! I would strongly advise getting a day old chick only. We had 4 of our chickens kidnapped by what we believe to be a opossum last year and decided we needed to replace them. I had no idea what infectious coryza was at the time and bought some pullets that were fixing to start laying from someone. Kept them separate for a couple weeks but as soon as I let them in together, one of them began showing signs of coryza. It moved through my whole flock and we ended up losing one of our best layers. Moral of the story, do not mix different aged chickens. If you have older chickens, only get day-olds or get them from a source you trust with your chickens' lives.

Best wishes...

 

[Wizbop]

Quote:
But then, don't I have to get more than one? And how will my girls (about a year old) do w/ younger gals? I heard they won't mix well.

 

[earthmama24]

I understand what you are saying, it would be hard to have 1 baby. However, one of the chief causes of coryza is mixing different age groups. If you buy an older chicken, be sure of who you are buying from. Also, I doubt they will get along regardless of age. My chickens have never intermingled with new ones that are brought in. We had the same situation with ducks and the one little duck was never accepted by the group and was always alone. Ideally, you would get a couple new chickens so the new one would have at least one companion. Just my thoughts. Hope it all works out for you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I agree with earthmama, hi neighbor

if there is a way to put them side by side where they can see each other but not touch that would be ideal that way they get use to seeing each other everyday and eventually you can let them out together to free range and see how it goes. It might take a week before you could try. If you decide to go with chicks yes for sure get more than one. and then when they get old enough do the above. I have a friend who had 3 Brahma hens she wanted to find a home for they are LF and she wanted to have only her bantams, so since I already had 3 Brahmas I said I would take them, I know her and that she has a healthy flock so what I did was put the 3 girls in a very large metal dog crate and put them in my feed house, opened the door up during the day so everyone could come in and visit, then in a week I let them out, no problems at all they just joined the flock. so hopefully that will happen with yours.