Sick Hen nothing I’ve seen before..

[ANiceKaren]

Hi everyone! I’m posting this for a friend who has a sick hen… I’m stumped! Hoping we can help her! Here is what’s going on:
She’s a young laying hen that won’t (or can’t) eat or drink. Her crop is empty. Sometimes she looks and acts completely normal. Other times she’s hunched over not moving or engaging. Her color is good and she has no discharge from the eye or nose, not sneezing/coughing/wheezing. She is drooling and occasionally breathing through her mouth instead of her nose. I do not know if she’s laid an egg in the last couple days but I have seen her poop and it looks completely normal. Flock-mates are all well.

 

[CCsGarden]

Can they force feed her? And syringe her some fluids? Sounds like she maybe getting something or low in pecking order. Once when I noticed one of my hens not eating and acting normal, I did nothing and within a week she was very very sick and died the next day. So I highly recommended bringing her inside and keeping her warm and helping her eat.
Can you feel in egg in her? What is her diet?

 

[ANiceKaren]

She seems to not be able to eat due to it getting stuck or something? She drools when she tries to eat

Can they force feed her? And syringe her some fluids? Sounds like she maybe getting something or low in pecking order. Once when I noticed one of my hens not eating and acting normal, I did nothing and within a week she was very very sick and died the next day. So I highly recommended bringing her inside and keeping her warm and helping her eat.
Can you feel in egg in her? What is her diet?

e to

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Have they looked down her throat to see if there is anything unusual like canker? Tell them the little hole at the back is for breathing, look down the sides instead, that's where food goes. See if her tongue looks normal, once someone's chicken swallowed a hair or a string and it wrapped around the base of the tongue and pulled it down almost out of sight. If necessary one of the Educators csn explain how to tube feed, she says it's very easy. Must get nutrients into the bird to keep it alive.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Open mouth breathing is a bad sign, she’s not getting enough air (heart, lungs, air sacs, sinuses, respiratory passages and upper GI tract are on the list). Add drooling and inability to swallow and sounds like something stuck or clogging mouth/throat/sinuses/pharynx/larynx. Do not force feed her until you know where the problem is and maybe what! First step is a good exam. Get an assistant and a good light. Have helper restrain bird and look inside the beak/mouth/down the throat. You’ll need to gently pry the beak open (pencil or stick in the corner might help) and angle he head so her beak is gaping open and you can look straight down (think baby robins gaping for worms here). If you see a foreign body, use a tweezers to gently remove it (if possible, round things are hard). If that’s okay palpate the outside of the neck, anything weird like a solid bulge that isn’t the crop? Also check nostrils, any air flow or drainage? You can dribble a little plain water into her mouth with a syringe after this and see if she can swallow it. Depending what you find or don’t it may help narrow the possibilities. At least she’s not a rabies suspect! As a warm blooded animal she could in theory carry it but most birds wouldn’t survive an attack from a rabid whatever so highly unlikely! Also why you never see rabid squirrels or bunnies!

 

[ANiceKaren]

Open mouth breathing is a bad sign, she’s not getting enough air (heart, lungs, air sacs, sinuses, respiratory passages and upper GI tract are on the list). Add drooling and inability to swallow and sounds like something stuck or clogging mouth/throat/sinuses/pharynx/larynx. Do not force feed her until you know where the problem is and maybe what! First step is a good exam. Get an assistant and a good light. Have helper restrain bird and look inside the beak/mouth/down the throat. You’ll need to gently pry the beak open (pencil or stick in the corner might help) and angle he head so her beak is gaping open and you can look straight down (think baby robins gaping for worms here). If you see a foreign body, use a tweezers to gently remove it (if possible, round things are hard). If that’s okay palpate the outside of the neck, anything weird like a solid bulge that isn’t the crop? Also check nostrils, any air flow or drainage? You can dribble a little plain water into her mouth with a syringe after this and see if she can swallow it. Depending what you find or don’t it may help narrow the possibilities. At least she’s not a rabies suspect! As a warm blooded animal she could in theory carry it but most birds wouldn’t survive an attack from a rabid whatever so highly unlikely! Also why you never see rabid squirrels or bunnies!

Thank you!!

 

[ANiceKaren]

Have they looked down her throat to see if there is anything unusual like canker? Tell them the little hole at the back is for breathing, look down the sides instead, that's where food goes. See if her tongue looks normal, once someone's chicken swallowed a hair or a string and it wrapped around the base of the tongue and pulled it down almost out of sight. If necessary one of the Educators csn explain how to tube feed, she says it's very easy. Must get nutrients into the bird to keep it alive.

Thank you so much!

 

[ANiceKaren]

Thank you so much!

Should her throat be a clear tunnel? Just past her tongue I see a mass that is covering probably 70% of her throat, maybe a tumor

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is a vet a possibility?

 

[ANiceKaren]

Should her throat be a clear tunnel? Just past her tongue I see a mass that is covering probably 70% of her throat, maybe a tumor

Should her throat be a clear tunnel? Just past her tongue I see a mass that is covering probably 70% of her throat, maybe a tumor

Is a vet a possibility?

Is a vet a possibility?

Probably not… she lives so far from one and not sure it’s something she can do. I fear this won’t end well.. maybe her husband uncomfortable stepping in to help stop the pain.. poor girl… I appreciate all your help though