Sickly Chicken

[msprey2g4e]

Ok, so I have a hen a little over a year old. The other day I noticed her comb was a little dark and drooping, she also seemed a little less active than usual (she's our bully). The next day she seemed fine. However for about two weeks, she quit going up on the perch to roost and started sleeping in a corner. I would put her up and in the morning she was down but seemed to have a hard time flying down and wouldn't jump down like the rest. Eventually she stopped going up or down and I thought maybe she had hurt a leg or something. Well then yesterday she barely left the coop and today I found her just sitting inside the door to the coop and when offered a treat she went to run and fell down. I checked her out and see no injuries but she is very week, and wobbly and when I picked her up she was all bones. Not sure whats going on but she never lets me pick her up. She seems to be having a bit of trouble breathing as the sound she makes almost sounds guttural. I took her in and soaked her in a nice warm bath for about a half hour and put her in a separate pen with a heat lamp. I made her nice treat of oyster shells, raisins, scratch and feed and I fixed her some water with apple cider vineger and electrolytes. Any other suggestions, I don't want to lose her but have no idea whats wrong.

 

[jcoz]

Did you feel her crop? Even if she hasn't been eating it may feel squishy like a water balloon. Could be sour crop at that point. Just a thought.

 

[msprey2g4e]

she now cannot stand, I tried to get her to drink some of my electrolyte water but she cant stand but for like a second, pretty sure she wont make it through the day unless she drank some last night and it gives her a boost.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is her crop emptying?
How does her abdomen feel - like a balloon with fluid, hard/bloated?
When was the last time she laid an egg - have her eggs been normal?
Is she pooping - what does it look like?

She may be suffering from an internal laying/reproductive disorder like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, cancer, tumors or Salpingitis. Symptoms include lethargy, going off feed, swelling or fluid in the abdomen, penguin stance, lameness, difficulty breathing and sometimes runny poop that looks like it has egg in it.

When you soaked her, did you feel inside the vent to see if there was an egg? Do the best you can to get her hydrated, offer poultry vitamins in her water if you have them.

I'm sorry, I wish I had better answers for you.

 

[msprey2g4e]

pooping looks normal, abdomen is bloated and hard, checked for egg but didnt look like she had one, been a few days for laying, but thats normal for her. She can barely move, we gave her a penicillin injection and ive tried to put fluids in her but she can barely breathe so its hard to get her to drink. Noticed little brown bugs on her when I gave the shot, so I dusted her as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

abdomen is bloated and hard....She can barely move....but she can barely breathe so its hard to get her to drink.

I'm sorry to hear she is not doing well

IF the abdomen feels like it's full of water/fluid and you can see it (looks somewhat yellowish fluid through the skin), you may be able to drain her to give her some relief. If the hardness is from egg matter/masses, and you feel that she is suffering, then it may be kinder to put her down. It can be a hard decision to make. I put down one of mine this week with similar symptoms, I did take a peak inside afterward and found that she was full of egg matter - this was restricting her airflow, her crop and her intestines.
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx

 

[msprey2g4e]

well she was taking water with electrolytes from a dropper, she seemed a bit more alert, we ran to the local farm store to grab some more dust and bedding to do a thorough cleaning of the coop and come back to her passed away. We are going to empty the bedding out, spread some dust and spray the coop down. Then spray each of them before they go in for the night. Also going to make a couple extra dust baths outside and one small one inside and put DE in all of them. Thinking the whole thing was perasite related.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss

 

[jcoz]

I lost one in a similar way last year, I can sympathize with your sitiuation. It's tough to lose a pet, especially when you do all you can to help them. I'm sorry for your loss.