URGENT!! SICK HEN!!

[Laylashens]

So our hen Jazzy has just started looking sick today. She has this weird thing where it looks like she’s pecking at the air and closing her left eye every time she does it. She does it constantly; it’s like she can’t stop. We have one other hen in our flock with a limp neck and one that just died suddenly yesterday with no specific symptoms other than sitting on the ground and labored breathing, but Jazzy’s condition looks like something neurological to me. Also, Jazzy slept in a different coop than the sick hens.
Any suggestions/diagnoses?
BYC won’t allow me to upload a video and YouTube cannot seem to upload a fifteen second video. I will post later if some miracle happens and YouTube starts working again.

 

[50-45-1]

More info please.
How old are your chickens?
What breed are they?
What is there diet like?
Any recent changes to there enviroment ?
Any piece of additional info may help.
Have you heard of wry neck or star gazing and ruled that out?

 

[Laylashens]

We have/had three sick hens.

It started with our buff Orpington, Fluffy, who has been on and off for the past at least two weeks. Fluffy looked like she had a wry neck; some days she looked almost normal, just a little tired and other days her neck was dragging on the ground and she could barely stand up. We gave her egg and yoghurt but she still has some off days on occasion, which rules out a vitamin B1 or E deficiency. We also ruled out Marek’s because we haven’t seen the same strain of the virus the fifteen other flock members we own. What she has is still a mystery. Here is a video of Fluffy on an “off day”

 

[Laylashens]

Then, we have Nightshine. She was an old and slow hen that slept in the same coop as Fluffy. A couple days ago she just sat down on the ground in the coop and never got up. Her breathing was labored. Other than that, no specific symptoms and no neck paralysis like Fluffy. We found her dead in the same spot in the coop yesterday morning.

 

[Laylashens]

Then, there is Jazzy. Jazzy is a black Australorp that is almost a year old. She is pecking into thin air and blinking her left eye constantly. Poop is watery and green, no sign of parasites. She can walk around with no paralysis.

 

[Laylashens]

Because of hawk problems, we have a covered run, so wild birds can’t come into contact with them and drink their water or spread their germs. They free range in the afternoon, but they don’t interact with any wild animals.

 

[50-45-1]

What are you feeding?
Also where are you located?
I wonder if these symptoms started with the spring weather? Maybe there is something in your yard that they are eating that is making them sick, a native weed of some sort.
Maybe observe them while they are free ranging and see what they are getting into.
If you loose another hen, take her body in for examination for cause of death. Not sure where you get that done but your vet or county extension office may be able to tell you.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Poop is watery and green, no sign of parasites. She can walk around with no paralysis.

When you put her down for the night check her crop, should be full. First thing in the morning, before she's had access to food and water, check it again... should be empty. I just lost a hen that had egg yolk peritonitis with extensive internal lash (discovered upon necropsy). One of her symptoms included watery and green poop, and a perpetual dirty tush. The water part of the poop was just like water, and the green was vivid green. During the necropsy, it was discovered that she wasn't getting adequate nutrition because her infection was squeezing her organs in such a way that she couldn't properly digest her food, I found seed & grass in her crop and gizzard, but no grit was evident. Have you examined her breastbone to determine if she's maintaining a good body weight? Feathers can seriously hide disease or injury. Do you know when she last laid an egg? If unsure, you might treat her as if she's egg-bound, a warm bath and calcium supplement to help her expel an egg or lash egg; this treatment won't hurt her at all but may be beneficial. Before she got this bad, was she waddling like a penguin, kind of stiff with her head held high and butt low to the ground? As for the blinking and pecking at thin air... no idea.

 

[Eggcessive]

You may be seeing Mareks disease or something else that causesthos esymptoms. There are different strains and you might see differing symptoms in each bird. Some flocks may see the neural type, while some see tumors, skin lesions, or eye problems with blindness. The beak smacking in the video looks like seizure activity or Mareks. Wry neck can be seen in Mareks. The best way to get a diagnosis is to get a necropsy and testing through your atate vet or poultry lab. When one dies, double bag the body in trash bags, and refrigerate it but do not freeze. Contact your state vet and take or ship the body on ice packs over night using Fedex or UPS. Here is a link where you can find state vets:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Here is an article or two on Mareks:
http://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/programs/poultry/FS-1007 Recognizing and Preventing Mareks Disease in Small Flocks.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[Ebony Rose]

Praise be, I've not seen Mareks yet; sounds like an incredibly difficult disease to diagnose until it's fully ran its course. I'm going to watch the video again (still trying to learn).