Sick hen not Eatting or drinking possible infection

[MumsyMaddy]

Our friend brought over a hen for us to try and help as he works during the day so since I work from home I could give her more attention. she is a cinnamon queen close to two years old. She was very lethargic and her comb was a light pink. She can open her eyes but chooses to keep both closed and only wishes to lay around. I quarantined her from my hens and she’s currently in our house. At first we were worried she had heat exhaustion but she is showing signs of maybe a respiratory infection. She will extend her neck like she is going to take a deep breath keeping her mouth opened like she’s almost gasping. We have hear her get raspy breathing off and on and keeps her head tilted to the right. Her legs are cool to the touch and during inspecting her this morning she hasn’t gotten any better and seems to have lice as well. He said he had another chicken pass after acting the same way and another is now sick. I want to help this poor girl if I can. We are going to try and give her a dust bath with diatomaceous earth to help with the lice tonight. She’s not over run with them so that’s a good thing. She’s is growling when she is touched. Only wants to sleep but she can walk. We have been giving her water through an eye dropper a little at a time and have mixed her food with water to make a soft mush. If we put the food in her mouth she will eat but she won’t go for water or food on her own. She does have feather loss around her face and neck. And her neck does have a foul smell I’ve looked around her neck and there are no wounds. I noticed she has a runny nose and I’m not sure if it’s the food but she has a build up around her mouth. Any suggestions would be wonderful. I don’t want to give up on her but I also don’t want her to suffer.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is the yellow drainage around her beak and nostril mucus from her nasal passages? Does it stink? Can you look into her beak for any yellow matter? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, squishy, dough-like or firm? Can you check her crop again early in the morning before she eats or drinks? More pictures of her might be helpful. Does she cough or sneeze or gasp? Lice are better treated with Permethrin garden dust applied with a sock to skin, or ready to use spray, and repeated in 10 days. Elector PSP is also a good product for lice. Is her neck stuck to one side as in wry neck? Wry neck is treated with vitamins E and thiamine, plus a small amount of cooked egg yolk. I cannot stress enough to you that having her may introduce a serious respiratory disease or something else. Lice are easily spread to your flock. Coryza smells very bad, sour crop does as well, and canker inside the beak smells rotten too.

 

[MumsyMaddy]

Is the yellow drainage around her beak and nostril mucus from her nasal passages? Does it stink? Can you look into her beak for any yellow matter? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, squishy, dough-like or firm? Can you check her crop again early in the morning before she eats or drinks? More pictures of her might be helpful. Does she cough or sneeze or gasp? Lice are better treated with Permethrin garden dust applied with a sock to skin, or ready to use spray, and repeated in 10 days. Elector PSP is also a good product for lice. Is her neck stuck to one side as in wry neck? Wry neck is treated with vitamins E and thiamine, plus a small amount of cooked egg yolk. I cannot stress enough to you that having her may introduce a serious respiratory disease or something else. Lice are easily spread to your flock. Coryza smells very bad, sour crop does as well, and canker inside the beak smells rotten too.

She has had drainage from her nose I haven’t noticed it from her mouth. We just got her last night and have kept her from our hens so they will be fine. I never allow new hens her our flock with out a 30 quarantine. I think the reason her neck smells is from the drainage I notice when we got her that her neck was crusty and smelled pretty foul. Her crop is squishy but I’ll double check in the morning before we feed and water her. I am getting fluids in her she just won’t eat or drink on her own. She will gasp but I haven’t heard her cough or sneeze just drainage from the nose and the occasional snot bubble. I’ll try what you suggest for lice we have always made a dust pile with sand and DE and never had a problem but I also have never had lice on hens before we have gotten lucky. Her neck isn’t stuck she can move it back and forth and will also extend her head all the way up. When she stands or lays it flops to the right side. Inside her beak looks fine other than the buildup around her beak. I’m going to take a warm wash cloth and wash around her neck to see if that helps with the smell and possibly give me an idea if it’s drainage or something else.

 

[MumsyMaddy]

Her throat is nice and clear from what I can see. Nothing in her eyes as well. Just a yellow build up around her nose and beak.

 

[Eggcessive]

The yellow buildup could be coryza. Does either eyelid have swelling or drainage from the eye? Can you ask the owner if they have ever treated or lost a bird to respiratory disease?

 

[MumsyMaddy]

As of the moment there is no drainage or swelling around the eyes they look nice and clear when she opens her eyes they look normal. We talked to the owner. He was afraid that they had a heat related illness. It’s been extremely hot where we are and the humidity is also pretty high. I just wanted to double check. I’ve been looking at all the other signs and everything looks fine other than the small amount of yellow buildup and her reaction of not wanting to eat. I don’t know if it could be a heat related illness he’s never had a bird lost to a respiratory illness, but he did just lose a hen a day ago who was exhibiting in the same symptoms and he has another one that’s sick as well. Unfortunately, the three that are sick and the one that had passed away he got from the same person and I’m wondering if they were sick from the owner he had purchased them from.

 

[MumsyMaddy]

I do know that he had said he rescued them from a farm that had used them for mass producing of eggs so I’m worried that she has a sickness and it’s something that we may not be able to cure. I just wanna give this girl the best chance she’s got if she has one.

 

[Eggcessive]

The best thing to do is to get the bird tested for coryza I would think. It only takes a day or two after being exposed for healthy birds to become sick. Sulfa antibiotics (bactrim, trimeth sulfa, sulfadimethoxine) may help treat symptoms, but the disease is chronicgetting better then worse, and the survivors will make carriers of the whole flock. Most state vet labs will do a necropsy and testing if you take or send the bird in. What state are you in? Here is a lab that will send you testing swabs to collect from the chicken and send it back to the lab for testing:
https://www.zoologix.com/
Here is a list of state vets to contact if you want a necropsy or testing:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...L5h4Xt137GBu32pWJZSRUY5DYhQyVrd4ODmF-Ab8otocc