Very sick hen - purple comb, yellow poop, extremely lethargic

[uisceros]

Hi all,

I am currently having a bad month with my flock. The major issue right now is one of my hens is extremely ill.

She is ~10 months old, a black laced Wyandotte. She has never laid.

About a month ago I noticed she had yellow diarrhea.
View attachment 3430272

I gave her aquamox for maybe two weeks, and she definitely seemed better. I also put corrid in their water just in case. She was acting normal and running around with the others.

Last week the hen I had with her in her hospital coop suddenly died. I have no clue what happened. One minute she was fine (if with a bit of white diarrhea), the next she was gone.

Today I went out to check on the flock, and Daisy was still in the hen house, hunched over. She had plenty of yellow dropping below her so I know she’s not backed up, but she is extremely lethargic with a purple comb. She is sleepy and not even standing (she’s laying down with her wings spread).

I brought her inside the house so if she does end up passing at least she’ll be warm. Any ideas of what to do?? I put a dose of aquamox in her mouth just in case it’s some sort of bacterial infection. As of right now I am stumped.

I am currently dealing with another constipated chicken, and honestly I’m really feeling bad about my poultry keeping. I can’t seem to keep them healthy.

 

[Eggcessive]

With all of the illnesses lately, you really would be better off getting a necropsy done by your state vet, if you lose another one. The body should be kept cold/refrigerated, but not frozen, and taken in or shipped overnight to arrive on a weekday. Be sure if you use Corid, not to give thiamine (vitamin B1) during treatment. It is in most chick vitamins and electrolytes. Also give AquaMox for only 7 days. Probiotics are good after either Corid or antibiotics.

Have you checked your feed to see if there is any mold that has developed inside the container? Did you worm them or get some droppings checked by a vet to look for worms or coccidiosis? Sorry for your loss. Here are 2 of your recent threads for background:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mustard-colored-diarrhea.1563519/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/multiple-hens-with-diarrhea.1567153/

 

[uisceros]

With all of the illnesses lately, you really would be better off getting a necropsy done by your state vet, if you lose another one. The body should be kept cold/refrigerated, but not frozen, and taken in or shipped overnight to arrive on a weekday. Be sure if you use Corid, not to give thiamine (vitamin B1) during treatment. It is in most chick vitamins and electrolytes. Also give AquaMox for only 7 days. Probiotics are good after either Corid or antibiotics.

Have you checked your feed to see if there is any mold that has developed inside the container? Did you worm them or get some droppings checked by a vet to look for worms or coccidiosis? Sorry for your loss. Here are 2 of your recent threads for background:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mustard-colored-diarrhea.1563519/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/multiple-hens-with-diarrhea.1567153/

I know I should necropsy them, but the thought of cutting them up makes me ill.

Daisy, the chicken I was worried about, passed earlier, not long after I wrote this. Out of the three that had problems, only Lily is still here. Her issue is the constipation though. Otherwise she’s bright and responsive. I have her in a warm water bath right now to ease the constipation out.

I’ll check their feed, but I haven’t noticed anything. The only difference was that the two that died were in a small “hospital coop”. I fear something might be in there that made them sick. Hard to investigate right now due to the snow, but I won’t put any others in there.

I haven’t been able to get a droppings sample to the vet - the two that died showed no issues until they were either already gone, or right before that.

 

[addctd2plnts]

Purple/blue combs and diarrhea are two of the signs of Avian Influenza The other signs are: lack of energy or appetite, swelling of eyelids, comb, wattles, gasping for air, nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing, twisting of the head and neck, and falling down if you lose more than one bird, I’d call you state Dept. of Agriculture.

 

[Skipper Carnes]

Sounds like an active, spreading disease! Yikes! I am having a similar problem and don't know what to do.

 

[uisceros]

Sounds like an active, spreading disease! Yikes! I am having a similar problem and don't know what to do.

I would think so too, but it stopped after three chickens.

The first who died only showed diarrhea and some lethargy. No idea what happened.

The second who died I think might have had some internal problems - she never produced an egg despite being 10 months old, and had odd colored droppings.

The last who died had some constipation issues, and then just faded out. I think her problem was internal as well.

Since then all of my birds have been mostly okay - at least none that showed similar symptoms.

It's really frustrating - I wish I had answers for these issues but I was never able to get a necropsy.