sleepy lifeless hens one with a black vent....??????

[striddy]

Dear BYC people,
I am urgently looking for help please. I have 5 chickens in total, on return from holiday i have found my two original chickens , both rhode island girls of about 3 years old, formerly in good health, are now terribly poorly. They are totally lethargic, sleepy, can't walk and are not eating. i am getting them to drink a little bit and have put some drops of chicken tonic in the water along with a little amoxinsol powder given to me by a professional chicken farmer. they look bunged up poo wise, but I dont know if they have been laying as they have been free range and of the 5 I normally get 3 eggs and I sometimes find clutches in the garden.
I found one very poorly last night who is still poorly now the other has worsened over the day. Both are now inside my house next to my aga stove as it is quite chilly here.
One had been attacked by flies and had maggots on her which was horrendous. Her croup appears to be a little enlarged and feels watery.The other has a black vent and has rather yellow feaces?
The 3 other chickens which were ex battery hens acquired about 3 months ago seem to be in great health but I have put a little antibiotic powder in their water just in case.

I'm really sorry to write such a long essay, but if anyone could advise me I would be so greatful. i have kept chickens for a couple of years but they have always been healthy so i'm not an expert. thank you Striddy x
Online

 

[miss_thenorth]

Still nothing eh? Maybe this will bump up the post again so someone sees it. in the meatime, go to search and look up lethargic hen, or black vent and select the emergencies section. I just did and got alot fo hits, but I realy don't have time right now to read through them all.

there are quite a few chicken experts on this forum.--maybe they haven't seen this post or are not online. The traffic on this forum is so quick, posts can get buried awfully quickly. I will check back later to see if you got responses.

hang in there!!!!

 

[LynneP]

Is there any possibility one or more of these hens was bitten by rats? They tend to attack the vent. You are probably going to have to bathe these girls one at a time and dry them thoroughly. Separating them was a good idea and will give you a chance to offer gentle care as you examine them.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Maybe vent gleet?

http://ultimatefowl.atwiki.com/page/Vent Gleet

 

[Judy]

I don't know what the black vent is about. I'd suggest you put her in a tub of warm soapy water and soak that vent for a while (just a little mild soap) to see what is under there and in case the yellow feces is egg yolk from a broken egg. If an egg has broken in her, you need to use a rubbery syringe or the spray nozzle on your sink or something and flush out her vent with COOL water to try to get the rest of the remnants out, especially if there is broken shell in there.

You need to get the maggots out of the other one's wound. A peroxide flush and a pair of tweezers is a good way to start.

I wish you had put your country in your profile; I take it you are not in the US. Here, there are products in the horse supplies that can be applied to a wound that had maggots to kill any left inside and prevent others from occurring. Also, here, they would both be good candidates for a round of injectable penicillin, but I don't know whether you can get that there or not.

Of course, a vet would be great, but we understand that is not an option for many, for various reasons.

Here is a "poo chart" in case it will be helpful to you in evaluating the poo.

Let us know what you did and how they are doing, please. We will try to help you any way we can.

 

[striddy]

So kind of you all to reply... sadly one of my girls has just died. Perhaps it was an egg that became stuck, although i don't understand why both my original girls have become ill together and the new ex battery hens appear fine.

The poor girl who had been attacked by the maggots is still alive- although I suspect that she may die overnight as she must have been ill to start with before the flies struck. I have, obviously,removed all the maggots and treated her with a disinfectant to cleanse the wounds. She is now clean.

I'm in England. it's sunday with a bank holiday tomorrow so the cost for a vet is really prohibitive. It is so sad they were so sweet together.

Is it possible that when we went on holiday their routine was changed in that they could only be let into their ark rather than roam freely as we couldnt protect them from foxes otherwise. Could that have been enough to upset my original girls?

I appreciate your time on this. Thank you so much, Astrid - UK

 

[Judy]

Presumably, the one with the maggots already had a wound, which flies then laid eggs in. So the question is, what caused the wound? Perhaps the confinement and others' pecking??? Maybe you can sort out the clues and come up with something.

I'm so sorry.