UPDATED: sick hen lost quite a bit of weight.

[jasonm11]

I have a 2 yr old buff orington that we have had about 3 months. To my knowledge she has not laid any eggs since we had her. I got a rooster a month ago with a few more hens. Now all my hens are laying except Buffy. She has been sick for a few weeks. She has been getting weak and slowing down quite a bit. She is still eating and is alert, but does not have the energy she used to. I thought she had diahrrea for two weeks. her back side has been green and yuck, stinking the last couple days. I was told to give her tetramycin which I started a week ago. She got better for a couple days then back to weak. this morning she would not get out of the coup. I picked her up and she did not want to move. I brought her in the house tonight and gave her a warm bath. I noticed the poop was matted in her feathers and seemed to have a lot of rocks, oyster shell something. her belly seemed squishy. i was very suprised at how much weight she has lost, hardly any meat on her keel. I thought she might be egg bound but could not feel anything hard in her belly when I manipulated her. I have her in the house tonight, My wife has fed her some bread and a little yogurt and some pedialite.

I would appreciate any help. I have read many of the articles including the ones about internal lying. I pray this is not what is going on.

 

[Minniechickmama]

How does her crop look and feel?

 

[jasonm11]

ummm...

...not sure. Still a bit of a chicken rookie...how would I go about checking that?

 

[RioLindoAz]

Iodine works well with birds that are hemorraged from diarrhea. You can find it at your feed store. Confiscate her and wash her vent area every day. Feed her scratch ONLY to encourage her to eat and gain weight.

 

[jasonm11]

Is scratch the same as 'laying crumbles'?

 

[naturegrrl]

The crop of a bird is above their breast bone, kind of between the tip of the keel and the neck. http://lh3.ggpht.com/_nu8MnrzG0PA/SapjKHTADjI/AAAAAAAABfY/RiTFQWw2fTo/s1600-h/chicken_anatomy4.jpg. In a bird that has eaten quite a bit, it's very noticeable (I call it the "food boob"...) as a round, slightly squishy protuberance. Sometimes the crop can get bound up with hay or other materials - in this case, it will feel hard, and won't change in size.

Scratch is different than layer crumbles - it's a mixture of cracked corn and other grains, usually fed only as a treat, since it's high in fat. But it can be a good way to get chooks to put on some weight. When my gals lost a bunch of weight this year due to molt, I fed them lots of scratch, oatmeal, and mealworms. Live or canned mealworms have a pretty high fat content. However, scratch is often the easiest to get a hold of.

What with the pedialyte and antibiotics, it sounds like you're doing what you can. If you can afford it, I'd suggest taking her to an avian vet; otherwise you're doing the best you can - getting advice from others who have been through similar stuff, and trying to make your little gal comfy.

Good luck!

 

[naturegrrl]

Um, also, feed her some whole milk yogurt with live cultures every day- this will also boost her fat intake and help her gain weight, as well as repopulating her intestinal flora (antibiotics kill the bad stuff *and* the good stuff in the body, so it's important to put the good stuff back).

 

[jasonm11]

thank you all for the feedback. I let heroutside this morning with the rest of the flock. She is only eating a little but We will be pulling her in at night and cleaning and spoiling her to see if it makesa difference. One thing to note, My little terrier is doing great with her. Kind of sniffs and consoles her, kind of cute.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

you may want to deworm her. foamy poop can be a sign that they need it if they are eating normal but still loosing weight. start with wazine 17 in her water as a gentile start to deworming. she is not laying so this should be fine to give her without having to throw out eggs for 2 weeks. since she is eating you may also give her some pumpkin seeds and minced garlic as a natural remedy till you can find the wazine. then move onto Ivermectin so it can help get anything else she may have in her system.

if she does have worms you want to change out the floor material in the coop and clean the run area of any fecal matter since it could re-introduce the worms back to her or the other chickens in your flock.

 

[jasonm11]

Chickie'sMoma :

you may want to deworm her. foamy poop can be a sign that they need it if they are eating normal but still loosing weight. start with wazine 17 in her water as a gentile start to deworming. she is not laying so this should be fine to give her without having to throw out eggs for 2 weeks. since she is eating you may also give her some pumpkin seeds and minced garlic as a natural remedy till you can find the wazine. then move onto Ivermectin so it can help get anything else she may have in her system.

if she does have worms you want to change out the floor material in the coop and clean the run area of any fecal matter since it could re-introduce the worms back to her or the other chickens in your flock.

when i washed her yesterday i saw no evidence of worms. No foamy poop. Just green and not alot of it. I am planning on getting pumpkin seeds today. Should I roast them and grind them or just give them au naturale?​