Sickly chicken...not sure what to do? :(

[shalenegrisham]

Newbie here. I have a 3 year old Plymouth Rock among our small flock of 8 chickens we inherited about 7 months ago. She has been acting odd for 2 or 3 months now, but all of sudden seems very sick. Several months ago, we thought maybe she was egg bound and after being in quarantine, bath & a few other steps, she laid an egg the next day and seemed to be feeling fine. Not long after that she would often be off on her own, just sitting out in the yard somewhere in sort of random places and just hasn't seemed the same. About 6 days ago, we noticed she was limping and brought her aside to our quarantine area. She felt very light, a little warm underneath & seemed very lethargic. No sign of bumblefoot that I could see. She's been eating and drinking some, pooping, but hasn't laid an egg. This evening, we noticed her legs, claws and face are very very pale. Any suggestions for what to do? What might be wrong? She seems to have lost even more weight & seems so very thin. We also have 4 chicks, and none of the other chickens seem to be showing any of the same symptoms.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome to BYC

So sorry it is through an illness with your hen that you have joined us but hope you will stick around to socialise and learn after we have(hopefully) helped you fix your girl.....that said, she does sound very poorly so taking action asap will be critical.

Being very light (emaciated), as you describe, can be caused by a number of things:-
blindness/poor eyesight... being unable to see food and water to eat and drink
broodiness
bullying
crop problems
tumour/disease like Marek's
worms

She will not lay eggs once her body condition becomes too poor, so the lack of eggs will almost certainly be due to her being so thin.

Lameness can be caused by

Bacterial infection like botulism
Bumblefoot or other localised infection
Coccidiosis
Diseases like Marek's or MS
Injury
Internal laying

Being broody could cause her to isolate herself, possibly lie around in odd spots if she was being bullied from the nest boxes, lose condition, feel unusually warm and not lay eggs and comb go pale, but I would expect you to have noticed some other broody symptoms that would indicate that condition.... most notably pooping one huge stinky broody poop each day, especially if you have her confined.
I would expect you to notice some signs of blindness, like pecking at food or water and missing.
You would also probably have noticed bullying assuming you spend a bit of time with your flock.... I appreciate she may have been getting bullied recently because she is sick, but prior to that, how was her status. BRs are usually quite high in the pecking order.
Have you checked her crop? Does it feel large/full or small/empty? Check on a morning before she has had the opportunity to eat anything.
Marek's is a possibility but less common in older, mature birds but could account for the lameness as well as being light weight. Cancer is not uncommon in chickens, so this is a possibility.
Worms and other internal parasites(coccidia) can be tested by most vets on a fresh poop sample.

As regards the list for causes of lameness.....
Botulism would have almost certainly progressed and killed her by now.
Bumblefoot, you should see a black scab and swelling on the underside of a foot.
Coccidiosis can be checked via a poop sample.
Marek's as discussed above....is common to both lists, so not to be ruled out. A short video of the way she moves can sometimes help to indicate if the lameness is neurological (paralysis) or pain motivated
Injury would usually show with some bruising (green in chickens) or swelling and as above might be identified by conscious favouring of one leg rather than uncoordinated hobbling.
Internal laying would be obvious because she would feel heavy rather than light and have a bloated abdomen.

So, I would suggest ruling out whatever you can by visual examination and observation.

Assuming her crop is not the problem, supporting her with good nutrition (scambled eggs, tuna, cat food, liver, live yoghurt , fermented feed) as well as a good poultry vitamin supplement like Nutri Drench or Save a Chick or Rooster Booster. Giving her moist mushy food rather than dry food will be important to ensure that she doesn't become dehydrated. You may need to consider tube feeding her to gen enough nourishment into her system. There are You Tube Video tutorials on this and @casportpony has a good tutorial I believe or a vet should be able to show you how if you are not confident enough.

Getting a faecal test done by a vet (most should be able to perform the tests ven if they don't see chickens) or other laboratory (some labs offer a mail order service....in the UK they are called worm egg counts, but you would also want a check for coccidia and perhaps bacterial assessment)

If it is a crop problem then remove food and begin gentle massage and research to establish an appropriate treatment or come back to us with symptoms....ie hard or soft and squishy, bad breath or no smell etc.

Not sure if I have covered all the options but hopefully someone else will chip in with whatever I have missed.

As stated above a short video of how she moves/limps might give those of us who have experience of Marek's an indication of if that might be it and also a photo of her poop might be helpful.... poop can tell you a surprising amount, even though we can't smell it through the computer.... thank goodness!

Good luck

Barbara

 

[Wyorp Rock]

3 year old Plymouth Rock...acting odd for 2 or 3 months now...noticed she was limping...felt very light...very lethargic...She's been eating and drinking some, pooping, but hasn't laid an egg...She seems to have lost even more weight & seems so very thin.

Hi @shalenegrisham Welcome To BYC

When was the last time she laid an egg?
Is there any swelling, bloat or feeling of fluid in the abdomen?
What does her poop look like?
Is her crop emptying overnight?

I'm sorry your hen is not doing well.
Do you have vet care? Having a fecal sample tested to rule out worms and coccidiosis would be a good idea.

For older hens reproductive and internal laying disorders can be common. Peritonitis, Ascites, cancer and tumors can Symptoms include lethargy, going off feed, swelling or fluid in the abdomen, having penguin stance (walking like a duck), lameness, difficulty breathing and sometimes runny poop that looks like it has egg in it. If she is suffering from any of these conditions there is not a lot that can be done, but give supportive care. If she has fluids built up in the abdomen, sometimes it can be drained to give relief for a short period of time.

Check her to make sure her crop is functioning properly -it should have food in it when she goes to bed and the crop should be empty by morning.

Do the best you can to get her hydrated. Offer some poultry vitamins in her water, then see if she will eat for you.

Keep us posted.

 

[shalenegrisham]

I very much appreciate your replies with so much information and suggestions! Here's a picture of her. I'm trying to get a video uploaded but keep getting an error that the file is too large.
I cannot tell where her crop is. I'll try again in a little while. After reading both of your replies, I was leaning towards the possibility of worms and was going to take a sample in to a nearby vet who can test it (husband said no to having vet examine her), but there wasn't enough poop to get among the shavings. I put her out in a larger pen today & went to our local farm store. They looked at a video I had taken this morning & noted some scaling on her legs but thought she didn't look wormy & said we don't tend to have much of a problem with that in our area. He gave me some supplement/antibiotic to add to her water. We are continuing with soft food, but she hasn't seemed to want to eat much at all today. I also noticed where her chest bone is, there's a red sore on her skin. You can see in the picture the difference in color of her comb and legs/feet compared to her friend. She keeps sitting way low on her chest with her back feathers up high.
I'm not sure when she last laid, other than for sure not in the last week. Our hens are all together, and I'm not sure who lays what. I'm also attaching some photos of her poop from today. It as a greenish tint and very runny.
If we give her a dewormer and she doesn't have worms, could the dewormer be too taxing on her body? If she's not improving by Monday morning, I'll probably go ahead and take a stool sample in for testing. I don't think she has any fluid build up. She just feels so bony. I've been trying to give her water with a dropper and think she's drinking some from her water container too. Guess I'll just have to continue over the weekend and continue hoping she pulls through.
I'm certainly open to any other suggestions you may offer!

 

[shalenegrisham]

the other poop pic

 

[Wyorp Rock]

He gave me some supplement/antibiotic to add to her water.

What type of antibiotic did the feed store give you?

De-worming can be hard on the system, but if you suspect worms, it may not be a bad idea to consider it. Having a fecal float is always the best route to go if possible, so you don't needlessly treat. Valbazen or Fenbendazole can take care of most worms.

 

[rebrascora]

Antibiotics and wormers can both be hard on the system, so best not used unless necessary.
Her crop is a pouch on the right side of her chest at the front just where the neck joins her body where the food they eat is stored and slowly released into their digestive system.

If you feel your other chickens at night on the roost (saves trying to catch them through the day and will be full at night and therefore easy to locate), you will feel it hard and full. Then check your sick girl. I'm leaning towards her being impacted as that green poop looks grassy rather than the bright green you see when their system is shutting down....but a closer up photo might help confirm. Has she had access to any long grass or grass cuttings? If the crop gets blocked with grass or other fibrous material, food cannot pass through and the bird essentially starves and dehydrates even though food is readily available. I think you may find her crop is not hard but squishy with a mass of soggy fibrous grass/straw. I would recommend you isolate her into a dog cage on bare ground with no bedding, start massaging her crop and only give access to water or a very runny feed made with some of her regular feed and water with a vitamin supplement added. Regular massage of her crop 4x a day will hopefully help to break it up if I am right, but failing that some people have had success with dulcolax. She will be getting very weak and you really need to be proactive now to try to save her..... I really can't emphasize enough that she is most likely going to die without intervention.....once the body condition gets too low, their organs shut down. Feathers hide a lot of the problem and just looking at a bird does not enable you to tell that they are skinny and starving. If she feels light and bony you have a serious issue.

I may be wrong and it may not be an impacted crop but you need to check that and rule it out....it is probably the easiest of the ailments I listed to resolve yourself if you catch it quickly enough. The diagram above shows you where the crop is. She may well enjoy you massaging it, so don't be frightened that you will hurt her.

 

[shalenegrisham]

I thought I would post a little update. She's still alive. I ended up taking her to the vet who was actually a little stumped because overall she looked pretty good, aside from her weight being so low. He said her crop seemed fine, abdomen wasn't soft so not likely egg peritonitis (although based on another post everything else seems to fit this), no worms or parasites present in stool sample, eyes looked good, and respiratory system looked fine. The only symptoms were a low fever and very low weight (only 2.2 pounds). He even did an x-ray free of charge to make sure she had not ingested some metal or other item. He put her on a general antibiotic and showed me how to tube feed her by inserting the tube along the side to avoid her wind pipe. She seemed to perk up some later that first day and seems to be doing a little better. 4 full days later, her weight is up to 2.38 pounds. It's not much of an increase, but at least it is some. I hope she continues to improve and have really learned a lot through this all.
Thank you all again for all your advice and suggestions!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the update. I'm glad you were able to seek vet care.
I hope she continues to improve.