Treating really sick hen, respiratory problems now mostly white diarrhea

[gtaus]

And no, I've never gotten eggs from her. She's about a year old, but never laid that I know of.

Also, she's looking much perkier this morning. Ate more eggs with much more interest.

I am guessing that it is not normal for a 1 year old hen never to have laid any eggs. If your basic feed is good and the other chickens are laying eggs, then maybe it is just this one hen with some kind of a problem.

Are your chickens pets? I noticed that this girl is not laying eggs, and worse yet, you are feeding her eggs to attempt to return her to health. That's actually negative egg laying in my book in terms of egg production. I treat my chickens as little composting machines for the garden with the bonus of getting eggs for breakfast. They are not my pets, per se, but I also have chickens just for the enjoyment of it all. So if people keep chickens mainly as pets, I can understand that too. In any case, glad to hear she is much perkier this morning.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The others have given excellent advice. I'm encouraged that she is looking and eating better.
It doesn't hurt to switch to a starter feed for a nutritional boost but go with a non-medicated starter. This is especially true for non-laying birds.
One thing that stood out to me in your first post was administering an antibiotic without knowing what you are treating. IMO less than half of the things that afflict chickens can be treated with antibiotics - even some bacterial infections. The worst part is only treating for 3 days. When using antibiotics, regardless of what one is treating, it is necessary to use a full course for all the recommended days. What happens with a short term treatment is that any bacteria present that survive are now reproducing superbugs which may no longer be susceptible to that antibiotic. Antibiotics aren't discriminating, they will not just kill bad bacteria but also any good bacteria. After completing a course of antibiotics, it is important to replenish their microbiome in the digestive tract with a good probiotic like Gro2Max.
After reading the follow up posts, the massive amount of urates on the feces and the fact your birds have been eating layer feed for quite a while but this bird has never laid an egg means through that time she has been getting more calcium than she can use. Any excess calcium must be processed by the kidneys and can damage them. One of the kidneys' main jobs is mineral regulation in the blood. Chickens have 2 kidneys with 3 segments each. As damage occurs, some of those segments will either swell or atrophy and become non-functioning. As long as they have 2 functioning segments, they will behave normally and can continue to lay eggs. Once one of the two remaining segments fails, they can go downhill fast and some birds may show no symptoms but die within 24 hours of losing that second last segment. The possible presence of Infectious Bronchitis will only compound the kidney damage. There is no way to restore those segments once they are damaged. All you can do for damaged kidneys is to continue excellent hydration and never let them run out of water.
Bottom line is, birds that don't lay eggs, regardless of age and sex, are not layers so shouldn't get layer feed.

 

[Gizabelle]

Thank you so much for the antibiotic and kidney insight. I knew I messed up big time with the antibiotics.
She is basically just a pet. I lost my other hens a year ago (all but one) to a neighbor's dog, and this girl is one of two I brought in as buddies for my lonely hen.
I'd really like to save her if I can, even without egg production, she and the other girls do an excellent job on bug control around the yard. Plus, they are pets. After all of this though, I'm not terribly optimistic about the long term.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you ever seen any bubbles or drainage in an eye, swelling of an eyelid or the face? MG usually causes that, along with the usual sneeze and congestion. IB usually does not cause the eye bubbles or the facial swelling that is seen with MG and sinus infection. While MG leaves your chickens carriers for life, even if some do not have symptoms, I B will make them carriers for 5 months to a year. It is always good to close the flock to birds going out or coming in (including hatching chicks) when desling with a respiratory disease. This link below is a good reference for the common diseases including the two mentioned above:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Gizabelle]

No eye bubbles or swelling. Just a runny nose at first and now rattly pneumonia sounding breathing.
They are already a closed flock. We only have 3 hens so no breeding and nobody leaves. Exposure to sick birds a few years ago. (Before this hen ever got here) but I wouldn't take any chances.
If she pulls through do I need to start separating her at feeding time and keep her on a special diet?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No eye bubbles or swelling. Just a runny nose at first and now rattly pneumonia sounding breathing.
They are already a closed flock. We only have 3 hens so no breeding and nobody leaves. Exposure to sick birds a few years ago. (Before this hen ever got here) but I wouldn't take any chances.
If she pulls through do I need to start separating her at feeding time and keep her on a special diet?

Just switch all the birds to starter or flock raiser and provide oyster shell in a separate container for layers.

 

[Goosebaby]

@Gizabelle How is your hen? Did she recover?

 

[Gizabelle]

@Gizabelle How is your hen? Did she recover?

Thank you for asking (sorry for the delayed response)
She did pull through that particular bout and made it back out to rejoin the flock, but she went right back down hill not long after. I wish I could remember how long, more than a week or two, but less than a month, I believe.
The second time there were no respiratory symptoms, just lethargy, loss of appetite, and the same urate heavy poop. It was only after loosing her that I fully appreciated just how little bird was under all that fluff, she had dropped a considerable amount of weight.
I think @ChickenCanoe was correct in suspecting kidney damage/failure.
She was a really sweet girl and is missed.

A high note though: that was the last (knock-on-wood) sign of respiratory trouble I've seen in my flock to date.

 

[Goosebaby]

Thank you for asking (sorry for the delayed response)
She did pull through that particular bout and made it back out to rejoin the flock, but she went right back down hill not long after. I wish I could remember how long, more than a week or two, but less than a month, I believe.
The second time there were no respiratory symptoms, just lethargy, loss of appetite, and the same urate heavy poop. It was only after loosing her that I fully appreciated just how little bird was under all that fluff, she had dropped a considerable amount of weight.
I think @ChickenCanoe was correct in suspecting kidney damage/failure.
She was a really sweet girl and is missed.

A high note though: that was the last (knock-on-wood) sign of respiratory trouble I've seen in my flock to date.

I’m so sorry you lost her!