Slowly losing hens. Anemia?

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing?

Getting a fecal float is a good idea.

When you examined her, how did her abdomen feel - soft, hard, squishy, bloated, fluid filled, etc.? The poop does not look normal.

With chickens it's very hard to know with them, but since she is wasting (losing weight) and has not laid an egg in over a year - this would make me think she has a reproductive or internal laying disorder like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, cancer or tumors.

If you happen to lose her, a necropsy would be a good idea - this will give you some answers. Give your GA state lab a call - I think necrospy is free for private residents in GA, but they can tell you what they do https://www.gapoultrylab.org/
Some people don't want to send a bird in for various reasons, so if you are inclined - you can also perform an informal necropsy yourself - look in the abdomen, at the intestines, oviduct and internal organs for anything out of the ordinary. All the girls that I have opened, had some type of reproductive problem that was obvious once I started - sad, but was a bit of comfort to know there was nothing more I could have done for them.

 

[bamachick86]

We made the tough decision to put her down yesterday. She was no longer still “with us” mentally, and she couldn’t stand up anymore, wouldn’t take water and showed absolutely zero interest in some treats I took to her. I hate making that choice but I knew she wasn’t going to pull through and I hated to see her suffer and just slowly waste away like she was.

When I felt her she just felt really bony. No squishiness or bloating. Like she had just completely wasted away and there wasn’t much left to her. Like you said, given the fact that she stopped laying at a seemingly young age (though she definitely wasn’t in her prime), I wondered about an egg-laying or other reproductive issue. It’s just weird that she’s the second one we’ve lost with symptoms like that, and now I’ve got a young hen who’s lost color and feels like she’s lost weight. Thankfully she’s still roosting, scratching around, eating and drinking.

Getting a necropsy should be easy from what I’ve heard, but I’ve called the University of Georgia who has a great vet/agriculture program and they’ve just been difficult. I’d have to get a referral from my vet who will have to have had the chicken as a patient, they said. It just hasn’t seemed worth the hassle, as much as I love my girls. And being almost 7 months pregnant I definitely don’t have the stomach to try a necropsy myself, though I’ve considered it in the past. I need to do some more digging into this because it really shouldn’t be so hard.

I’ve got my other girl isolated at the moment and I know a lot of people will think this is irresponsible since I don’t have a diagnosis, but I started her on some doxycycline to see if it does anything. I avoid meds typically but honestly my vet would also just take a stab in the dark and put her on an antibiotic anyway.

I really appreciate the feedback. I just hope this doesn’t become a pattern, then I definitely will have to take some more measures to get to the bottom of it.

How is she doing?

Getting a fecal float is a good idea.

When you examined her, how did her abdomen feel - soft, hard, squishy, bloated, fluid filled, etc.? The poop does not look normal.

With chickens it's very hard to know with them, but since she is wasting (losing weight) and has not laid an egg in over a year - this would make me think she has a reproductive or internal laying disorder like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, cancer or tumors.

If you happen to lose her, a necropsy would be a good idea - this will give you some answers. Give your GA state lab a call - I think necrospy is free for private residents in GA, but they can tell you what they do https://www.gapoultrylab.org/
Some people don't want to send a bird in for various reasons, so if you are inclined - you can also perform an informal necropsy yourself - look in the abdomen, at the intestines, oviduct and internal organs for anything out of the ordinary. All the girls that I have opened, had some type of reproductive problem that was obvious once I started - sad, but was a bit of comfort to know there was nothing more I could have done for them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We made the tough decision to put her down yesterday. She was no longer still “with us” mentally, and she couldn’t stand up anymore, wouldn’t take water and showed absolutely zero interest in some treats I took to her. I hate making that choice but I knew she wasn’t going to pull through and I hated to see her suffer and just slowly waste away like she was.

When I felt her she just felt really bony. No squishiness or bloating. Like she had just completely wasted away and there wasn’t much left to her. Like you said, given the fact that she stopped laying at a seemingly young age (though she definitely wasn’t in her prime), I wondered about an egg-laying or other reproductive issue. It’s just weird that she’s the second one we’ve lost with symptoms like that, and now I’ve got a young hen who’s lost color and feels like she’s lost weight. Thankfully she’s still roosting, scratching around, eating and drinking.

Getting a necropsy should be easy from what I’ve heard, but I’ve called the University of Georgia who has a great vet/agriculture program and they’ve just been difficult. I’d have to get a referral from my vet who will have to have had the chicken as a patient, they said. It just hasn’t seemed worth the hassle, as much as I love my girls. And being almost 7 months pregnant I definitely don’t have the stomach to try a necropsy myself, though I’ve considered it in the past. I need to do some more digging into this because it really shouldn’t be so hard.

I’ve got my other girl isolated at the moment and I know a lot of people will think this is irresponsible since I don’t have a diagnosis, but I started her on some doxycycline to see if it does anything. I avoid meds typically but honestly my vet would also just take a stab in the dark and put her on an antibiotic anyway.

I really appreciate the feedback. I just hope this doesn’t become a pattern, then I definitely will have to take some more measures to get to the bottom of it.

I'm so sorry you lost her

That stinks that you are having difficulty with getting a necropsy. I've heard GA has an excellent program. There are 3 "labs" listed in the info I have - maybe they are separate programs? I just assumed they would be the same since NC has 4labs, but all are networked together Anyway, this is the list I have https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

If you have a good relationship with a vet that sees another pet of yours, you may be able to come to some type of an agreement about sending a bird in for you. Maybe even the vet could do a quick look? You never know. I understand completely not wanting to examine her at this time - after your new baby arrives and things settle, if you ever need to - maybe you can give it a try. It's really not too bad, even though you cared for them, they are gone - once the skin is opened it really looks pretty much like chicken you buy at the store (except for innards).

I'm sorry you have another one that is not doing well. If there is anyway you can get a fresh poop sample to the vet for testing that would be a good idea. Giving the antibiotics sometimes is really a last ditch effort- if she improves, then most likely she's got some type of infection - as to what, who knows. Now...reproductive problems can hit at any age, so it could be that you have another with just that - but it's hard to know. This is very interesting (to me at least) Cynthia does a good job explaining so, you may want to watch the video
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ions-my-youtube-video-graphic-photos.1201052/

Again, I'm sorry for your loss, please keep us posted on how this girl does.