This Chicken Mom is Stressed Out! Sick Chicken, and fearful more are sick too!

[BrazosChick]

My one year old Buff Orpington has been inside the house with us the past two days/nights. Her comb was the palest I had ever seen a live chicken's look. She was eating okay, and drinking, and then just stopped, and was laying down in the coop run. Two weeks earlier, the same symptoms were being exhibited by my Speckled Sussex. I somehow nursed her back to health. Our 13-20 egg per day flock started laying 6-10. It is hot here, and we had weeks of rain before that, and we had seen a great deal of head shaking and sneezing. The Sussex was stretching her neck and opening her mouth very strangely. It had been 6 months since we de-wormed them with Safeguard, so we got out the spreadsheet, syringe, and new bottles of Safeguard, and precariously de-wormed all 23 adult, laying hens, and 4 pullets. Last Friday was our "day 5", and we have not seen any improvement from any of the girls. My BO seems worse than any of the others. One of her waddles (left side) is very light in color, and very swollen, and looks like there is a little lesion on it. (No lesions inside her mouth after further inspection.) Her comb seems swollen too. Her right side seems to be an okay shade of pink. In the dog kennel, she is very out of her element, and doesn't eat well for me. She'll drink. Today she was pecking at what my daughter thought was a worm. (Photo also included.) It is coming from her skin, and definitely not a worm, as I touched and gently pulled at it. I'm just very confused as to what is going on here. Would love feedback from anyone with a clue as to what I'm working with here!!! Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

If you can take her to a vet, I would, because she is very pale. Look her over for mites, even at nighttime, since some only come on them after dark. Also look for lice, and for ticks. Ticks can cause swelling of the wattles and comb, and it can turn bluish from an anticoagulant they inject. Fowl cholera could be another possibility. If you can find Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell, I would get some and dose her orally with 3 ml daily by mouth. They contain iron, along with vitamins, mineral, and nutrients, and that might help the anemia. I think I would start treating the coop, nests, and roosts with permethrin or sevin right away, and changing the bedding, just in case.

 

[dawg53]

In the second pic; that is the oil gland, located at the base of her tail on the rump. All chickens have them and is normal....dont mess with it. Watch your chickens when they preen themselves. You'll see them nibble on the oil gland then preen feathers, helping to repel water when it rains.
I agree with Eggcessive, inspect your birds closely for external parasites especially around the vent where it's warm and moist. Also, go out at night and use a flashlight to look for mites crawling around inside the coop.
What concerns me is the fact that you described symptoms of a respiratory disease or more likely a fungal issue due to all the rain; head shaking and sneezing, neck stretching. Check for mold or fungus around the coop, inside the coop, bedding and litter, nest boxes. Spores can cause the symptoms you saw. Ensure there's proper ventilation to get rid of ammonia fumes from soiled bedding or change out bedding as necessary.

 

[BrazosChick]

Thank y'all very much for your replies. I will get right on this in the investigation and implementation of getting our coops in order!