Sick hen, tail down (pic) please help if this looks familiar

[chic-a-boom]

My sweet Honey Buff Orp is sick. I noticed her holding her tail feathers down yesterday. I took her out of the coop & put her in a crate last night with a heat light. Today it was sunny & I made her a little run with the crate open. She stayed in the crate. I was able to give her droppers of water with the vitamin mix that I got when I got my chicks in the mail. Honey is almost two years old. Just molted a month or so ago. I had 5 hens, but one died in Nov. That one had it's tail feather down too when I noticed it was sick. The other 3 hens look fine. I frequently let the hens range in my yard and have been feeding them laying mash & homemade scratch. We've had a lot of rain, but their coop is dry. I give them weeds I've just picked, mostly dandelions, grass etc.

Have added a photo (hopefully it works). She was fine one day & like this the next. No sign of lice or mites. Good color. She is light, and not eating. I've been trying to entice her with worms, but she wasn't very interested. Last night she was moving her head around in circles. Yesterday she was moving in circles, like a dog chasing it's tail before I took her out of the coop. In the crate it seemed like she couldn't see Someone mentioned wry neck to my post last night, but from what I've found on that, it doesn't seem like that's what she has. Her neck is not stuck in any one position. A virus that affects the brain was also mentioned.

Please lmk if you have any ideas that might help.

 

[easttxchick]

Have you done a search on here for her symptoms?
It does sound neurological in nature. Could she have gotten into moldy food or poison or anything like that?
I wish I could help, but hopefully someone comes along with some good advice for you.
Hope she gets better soon.

 

[chic-a-boom]

Yah, I suspect something like that, but can't figure out what caused it. Am concerned though, since this is the second one dying in several months. I don't think there is anything in my yard that is poison, but I'm going to look into that more thoroughly. I have seen some strange mushrooms since we've had a lot of rain around here lately. I wonder if a hen would eat possibly poison mushrooms? Anyone have any experience with this?

I will continue looking through the forum for similar symptoms. All I've found on any of the sites is a list of chicken diseases and I've looked through some, but none that have matched. If there is a section on symptoms, please lmk where it is or how to find it.

Thanks for your help. The sad part about a backyard flock is that you get attached. Honey, is the sweetest of all my hens and it's so sad seeing her feeling so poorly.

 

[chic-a-boom]

If this works, I will add an pic of her now. This is a pic of Honey (on top of the wheatgrass) and the other hens in better times.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Here read this, hope it helps! http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[chic-a-boom]

Thanks

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Cocci?

A disease caused found in young stock, who are particularly vunerable at 3-8 weeks, but can affect any bird, of any age. All chickens carry some of these in their gut, but allowed to multiply can result in death.

Signs- White diarrhoea, sometimes with blood found in it, mopey birds, thirsty, sudden death, slow and poor growth, death normally occurs during the night.

Cause- A protozoan parasite, up to 34 different kinds. The eggs are passed out through droppings of an infected bird. The eggs then take residence on another hen in the small intestine, and multiply. High stress and a low immune system, causes rapid death of the stock.

Treatment- A medication called Baytox will usually clear it up, but you may still oose some birds. In some chick started crumbs you will find a coccidiostat, which helps prevent young birds from catching the disease in the future. Some people and major organisations use Paracox in water for the chicks at around a week old, and will be given for a further week.​

 

[mypicklebird]

Botulism? (limber neck) She looks weak, but if she has a floppy head and droopy tail/wings- it could be botulism. Any dead animals around or spoiled food that she could be eating fly maggots from? compost, or spoiled dairy/meat anywhere?

 

[chic-a-boom]

I suspect it is something like that. Something she ate in the yard. Will be searching or anything suspect. Could mushrooms make them sick? We've had a lot of rain and I'm seeing mushrooms I've never seen before in the yard. Am going to get rid of as many as I see just to be safe.

 

[Miss Lydia]

There are posionous mushrooms but don't know if chickens would eat them, They all look so healthy in the one picture, you've checked your food good no moldy food? like someone posted cocci? Molting is hard on them, maybe thats what brought this on, how is she laying? has she laid an egg since molting?