Sick Leghorn- Comb down, looking shriveled

[MommaKnows]

I noticed one of my girls looking rather down today, and I don't know what to make of it. She is one of our two dominant hens, always first when I scatter wheat, follows me around, etc. This morning she was moving slowly, her tail is down/not standing all the way up, her comb is really dark red (turning purple?) and looks like it is... shriveling? She isn't herself. I'll include a couple of photos and see if anyone can tell me what it could be. We have three hens total, two Leghorns and an Americauna. I'd hate to lose any of them!

 

[MommaKnows]

Bump. Help!
7:30pm I just went out and to check on her. I found her sitting in the nest box (as she often does in the evenings, I have no idea why). It occurred to me that lately I've been finding chicken poop in the nest box, which I never have before. Her rear is caked with poop so I suspect she's the one who has been doing it. I've also found, on several occasions lately, egg yolk in the coop. Once I found shell fragments, but other times I found yolk but no shells, under the roost bar. When ever I have found yolk I always check my hens rear ends to see if anyone has yolk on them but they never do.

Tonight I picked up one of my other hens and felt her belly and crop, and then felt Queenie's. Queenie's crop is full and kind of hard, and her belly is a bit bloated and squishy, almost like it's full of water. I've been reading a lot of threads on sick hens and this makes me very concerned. Can anyone please shed some light? Help?!

 

[ilikechickens13]

How is she doing now???

 

[MommaKnows]

Her comb came back up a bit, but hasn't really changed much. She is eating and socializing just fine. I don't know what's up there. She is starting to molt though, so maybe that's what was wrong? She looks disheveled now and is leaving wads of feathers all over the chicken yard, the coop, and our yard and patio.

 

[MommaKnows]

So she's looking worse today. Her comb is all the way down, she's acting sickly. Although still eating, she laid down to eat a cucumber I put in their run. I've never seen one lay down when there's competition for treats. Her rear is all covered with poop, so I'm going to wash her off in a dishpan and see what that does. There are flies that won't leave her alone, which concerns me. Her belly is squishy too.

 

[iheartnh]

Awww.....poor girl. I hope someone has some suggestions for you!

 

[ilikechickens13]

I'm sorry to hear that