Suddenly Sick hen.

[Wolfsbane]

So my little Rhode Island Red hen named Posie was laying in the corner of the coop all hunched over this morning, her eyes are closed and her breathing is shallow.
I have not been able to find any injuries on her but she can't seem to stand and won't eat or drink.
She sleeps on the bottom rung of the ladder only a few feet of the ground and was on the ground right under it.
I do have ducks who sleep below and I'm worried maybe she got trampled in the stampede out the door.
Any idea what I should do?

 

[Wolfsbane]

One of the ducks has been acting funny as well, she is just weak and moving slowly, another one of my ducks had the same thing a while back and died.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would bring Posie into a dog crate with her own food and water. Place a puppy pad or an old towel under her to monitor her droppings for diarrhea or blood. Get her to drink some water, and offer a bit of chopped egg or tuna to see if she will eat. Coccidiosis can cause withdrawal, hunching, no appetite, and runny poops. Corid used in the water for 5-7 days can help treat that. She may have been injured, but I would separate her in view of the rest of the flock, just to figure it out. Coccidiosis can be common if conditions are wet, but ducks and chickens get different strains of coccidiosis. How old are the ducks and the chickens?

 

[Wolfsbane]

Thank you, I shall try that. Although not sure if I can find Corrid here

The chickens are all about 2 years and I'm not sure about the ducks, they were all abandoned by somebody in the pond up the road and ended up with me.

 

[Wolfsbane]

I managed to get a little bit of water mixed with nutri-drench into her but I had to pry her beak open to do it, she won't open her eyes and I have a feeling she's not going to make the night (( there are no droppings and she hasn't moved, she's in the gym in our garage with the heat on since it's getting cold out and I want her to be as comfortable as possible.

 

[Sparrowsong98]

I managed to get a little bit of water mixed with nutri-drench into her but I had to pry her beak open to do it, she won't open her eyes and I have a feeling she's not going to make the night (( there are no droppings and she hasn't moved, she's in the gym in our garage with the heat on since it's getting cold out and I want her to be as comfortable as possible.

Check the droppings of other birds. If you see mucussy droppings, treat for cocidiosis. Birds are on the bottom of the food chain, so they will hide sickness as much as possible so that predators do not target them because they look weaker. I hate to say this, but a sick looking chicken is a very sick bird. Watch the rest of the flock carefully. Look for the slightest change ( the flock are or drank less than they normally do, a chicken looks fluffed up, it is standing off from the rest without moving for a while, dirty feathers with no signs of preening, etc.)
If a chicken is acting out of the ordinary snatch it up right away, diagnose it and treat.

 

[Wolfsbane]

Posie died last night watching the chickens carefully but sadly I am only home on weekends as I have school in another area all week. Apparently, Posie had been sitting on the bottom rung of the ladder which is not normal for her but my family didn't think anything of it
So far everyone else looks completely healthy and they are all acting normal.

 

[Eggcessive]

Really sorry that Posie died. Hopefully the rest will be okay. If you ever want to find out what one dies from (if you should lose another,) you can send a refrigerated body into your state vet or poultry lab to identify a cause of death. Here is a link on contact info that:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Sometimes people do their own necropsy at home which can occasionally identify an obvious problem, such as worms, egg binding, egg yolk peritonitis, fatty liver disease, and many others. Taking pictures can help others give opinions. There are also videos on how to do one. Here is a link about that:
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-perform-necropsy-autopsy-on.html