Sick hen, what could be wrong?

[70monte]

One of my two year old RIR's acts sick. She is very lethargic, stands around with her eyes half closed, is all puffed up, and has runny clear looking poop that is pretty strong smelling. I would say she has been this way for a little over a week. She does eat but not very much and just doesn't seem interested in much. I wormed all of the chickens a few days ago. She has been roosting at night but tonight she was in one of the the nest boxes. What else can I do? Thanks.

Wayne

 

[Jane Jill Jack]

Does she have sour crop? No chemicals could be around?

 

[70monte]

No chemicals around and her crop feels soft. I just went out to the coop and she was standing on the floor under the nest boxes. I noticed her wings were kind of drooping. She doesn't look good.

Wayne

 

[easttxchick]

Is she of laying age yet? If so, has she been laying regularly?

 

[NottinghamChicks]

First off I would get her out of the cold until she is well enough to go back with the others and give her an all over exam. Determine her weight, crop status, egg cycle, etc. Depending on if her crop is not functioning or if she is eggbound, go from there with the appropriate help. I just had one similar without the smelly poo in the basement for a week but could never make a definitive diagnosis. She did get a bit better so I put her back out. She went downhill in just two days and I had to cull her. She is my Avatar, and as the rule goes, she was my favorite.

Good luck!!

 

[GreenGoddess]

I agree to definitely get her out of the cold... The next thing you want to do is make sure she has plenty of fresh clean water and food and give her some poly-vy-sol vitamins without iron... I don't know how many chickens you own but sometimes the lower in the pecking order does not get enough to eat and will start having vitamin deficiencies.. I found this out the hard way.. Vitamin deficiencies will present as major illnesses at times (Vitamin A will look like Coryoza but without the smell) so if you can rule that problem out, then you won't need to go into treating an infection that may not exist... Definitely give her a good once over also as previously suggested... Make sure she is free of mites/lice (anemia will kill a chicken quick!).. Make sure her mouth/throat/nares/eyes are clear.. Listen to her breathing.. Does she sound raspy at all? Give her at least a week on the vitamins.. If she seems to get better then most likely she is just not eating very well because others higher in the pecking order are pushing her away from the food... If she still continues to deteriorate during that week, keep giving the vitamins but at least you will know there is something else wrong...

Goddess

 

[70monte]

She is two years old so she has been laying but I don't know if she is currently laying. I work and am not home enough to watch her. I only have six chickens, a rooster and five hens. The other hens don't seem to mess with her much so I'm not sure where she is on the pecking order.

 

[70monte]

Well, I went outside and brought her in to clean her up and see if I could see anything. It looked like she had something protruding from her. I pulled on it and it looked like the remains of an egg shell. I pulled out everything I could get a hold of and then put a glove on and put my finger inside to see if I could feel or get anything else out. I didn't find anything but I wasn't really sure what I was doing.

I cleaned her up and then I blowed dried her feathers and then decided to put her in a cat carrier for the night. She drank quite a bit of water so that was a good sign.

My girlfriend was not too happy about the smell because she smelled pretty bad from everything stuck to her hind end. I guess I will see how she is in the morning.

Wayne

 

[Jane Jill Jack]

She should get better. Give the hens calcium for harder eggs.

 

[NottinghamChicks]

Good luck Wayne. Sounds like you just need to let her rest insode and wait until she passes new egg. Give her electrolyites, and if she is eating give her the extra calcium like JJJ said in their post. Keep an eye on how much she eats and be sure she is pooing. When her food/water/pooing/activity level get back to normal she should be able to go back out with the flock.