Sick hen, waded through topics, can't distinguish

[wendyjoscc]

Hi BYC,

Tina is a BR hen, 1 1/2 yrs old, suffered Infectious Coryza 3 months ago, recovered after giving antibiotics. She is one of six hens, no roos. We live in AZ, it is HOT here, but they all free range in my large shaded backyard, three water stations in the yard are changed daily. They are fed commercial lay crumbles at all times, and have access to layer mash in the mornings. All other birds are fine at this time, except for Tina.

Now, for Tina:
Yesterday she was limping a bit, but eating/drinking fine. This morning she was down, could stumble a bit. I pulled her inside, gave her access to crumble and water. Did some research at work, stopped at the feed store and picked up some electrolytes, Walgreens and got Ploy-Vi-Sol no iron. Tonight I wet some crumbles, made up the chicken-gatorade, mixed in some cooked egg and fed. She is lethargic, sleepy. My question is this, she also smells like she did when she had the coryza. I have looked at the topics on Mareks, dropsy, heat stroke etc. She has similar symptoms to them all, except no runny nose, or foamy eyes. There has been no trauma, haven't seen any poop yet, The hen house is wood, with bermuda bedding. Thoughts?

 

[patyrdz]

Maybe she has sour crop or she is egg bound? I hope you can find out what it is soon! Sorry I can't say for sure but those are the only things I can think of! Good luck!

 

[Judy]

Here's a site on coryza that maybe you haven't seen:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza

She could have another infection as well. But from what I have read, the smell is distinctive for coryza. Makes me suspect she still has it. It certainly could have recurred from the stress of this heat, if your climate is anything like mine.

I would provide a probiotic, maybe plain live culture yogurt. Maybe you can figure out something more definitive.

 

[phoenixmama]

Where in AZ are you? Could she have been stung by a scorpion? My Cuckoo Maran is especially sensitive to their stings. This last time she was stung, she was exhibiting the exact same symptoms that you describe. In fact, some of the other BYCers helped me out and I thought she might actually have Coryza. After a few days though, she came around and is fine again. She got really bad for a few days, almost totally paralyzed. By the third day, she was doing just what you described...limping, stumbling, eating and drinking okay, but would just lay around.

I first thought it was Coryza with mine because she was all mucusy and it smelled funny. Although, I think the problem at the time was that she couldn't hold her head up. After I propped her up, the mucus cleared. After a few days, when she could start cleaning herself up...the smell went away. And then she started pooping like crazy!

 

[wendyjoscc]

Update on Tina,
Not much has changed, she is still lying on her side. I checked her crop, seemed empty, not bulging or puffy. I checked between her legs and under her vent for being egg bound, but couldn't feel anthing out of place. I gave her some more electrolytes, fixed her a nice breakfast of oatmeal made with the electrolytes, scrambled egg, and some mashed crumble. This morning she has pooped twice, both times mostly watery, green with a little white, first one smelled really bad, and got on her feathers. I decided to give her a bath to clean her up a bit, maybe cool her off a bit. First off, she does not like to be bathed. Second, if Mareks makes them paralyzed, we can rule that out. She was flapping and trying to hop, almost wrung her neck myself trying to hold on to her. Don't know who got wetter, but eventually got her dried off, calmed down. Gave her some more liquids. I don't know about the scorpions, we live in the middle of town (52nd St and Thomas for those Phoenicians!) I have never seen a scorpion around, lots of lizards and geckos though. At any rate, how long does it take for them to bounce back if it is the heat?

 

[chikenlady]

My hen is acting the same way. She appears to be limping and will sit down and rest...sometimes leaning to her side. At times she is panting and her vent is moving in and out constantly.

She is still eating and drinking normally and seems to be very alert. I hope someone who has seen this in their own chickens will help with an answer!

 

[dlhunicorn]

Quote:
might be eggbound... do the bath and put in quiet temp stable place out of the heat. Crush a TUM and give that to her (be creative... make pellets of cooked oatmeal with the crushed YUM mixed in or such) the TUM is emergency substitute for the calcium gluconate the vet would normally give when reproductive /eggbinding is suspected.