I have a RIR hen that I'm not sure what's wrong with her. She's probably pretty close to 5 years or so old. I found her sister dead in the coop last summer from what appeared to be prolapse.
Anyway, this hen had gotten to where she was sort of waddling when she walked, sort of a wider stance, and much slower than the rest of the chickens. She is always lagging behind lately. But, I just considered her age because she was still doing all the chicken things and peck other hens, letting them know she eats first and such. She had started sleeping in the nest box a few months ago. I just let her because I thought in her old age she might have problems getting up on the roost or something and she seemed fine.
Then, I had a hen go broody and this hen then started back getting on the roost at night (not sure if that's even related).
Well, for the past several weeks, this hen has just seemed to be getting slower and slower and waddling more and more and had started back roosting in the nest box. A week or so ago she had poop stuck to her butt really bad, so I let her soak so I could clean her. I went ahead and felt the best I could to make sure she wasn't eggbound & lubed her some with a little Vaseline. I thought that might create a barrier to help about the poop sticking to her as bad as well. While I had her, I went ahead and dusted her for lice just to be on the safe side in this hot weather...thought it couldn't hurt in this hot weather about flies and fleas and ticks and all too.
Anyway, not even sure if this is relevant or not, but the other day we had a hawk scare. It had gotten INSIDE the chicken coop. Thankfully, I happened to be outside & heard the commotion, opened the door and it flew away.
After the hawk scare I noticed this hen poop and it was watery diarrhea, with some undigested food...brown watery with some corn and seeds and such. I'm not sure if she had already been having watery poop or not. Then, the next day I saw A LOT of runny poop all over their yard...not sure if all of it was hers or not, but I assume it was. This time it did look digested, just runny.
I started noticing her just sitting more and sleeping and I saw what appeared to be water coming out of her mouth. When I picked her up, more came out. I first thought her crop is sour or impacted or something, but her crop didn't even feel like hardly anything was in it & I didn't smell a bad smell. But I gave her some yogurt and such just in case...what I could get her to eat of it. I keep ACV in the water and also supplement their feed with fermented feed so her probiotics should be ok I would assume. Then, I noticed that she was hardly walking and the rooster went and got on her and it knocked her down and she would just lay there like she couldn't get herself up. So, I separated her.
I noticed yesterday that I felt her keel bone and could put my thumb and first finger on each side of it, but she doesn't feel lighter. Her stomach does feel pretty big, but I've thought that about her before so I don't think it's nothing new. I'm not quite sure how its supposed to feel...I'm just trying to figure out what could be wrong with her. She doesn't eat very much, but she is eating some. She mostly just sits there and closes her eyes and sleeps. If I give her a piece or two of a grape, she perks up and grabs it from me. The same thing with bread with olive oil on it. But, she still just sits there. She will actually even turn her head all the way around and reach out her neck to get a piece of grape or bread, but other food sitting right in front of her, she might eat a little here and there but not much. She is drinking water. I put some vitamins & electrolytes in her water & she's drank a lot today...I mean A LOT! I also gave her a little Poultry Drench vitamin today. She is pooping some, but not very often (I guess from not eating much) and when she does, I mean it is watery! I actually hear it come out and it practically sprays out!
Yesterday when I noticed her so skinny, I went ahead and gave her some worm medicine on a piece of bread just in case that's why she's so skinny. I gave her some poly-vi-sol and put the vitamins in her water and fixed her a dish of a few selections of foods....some fermented feed, some layer crumbles, some starter crumbles, a tiny bit of cat food, a few pieces of a grape, some scrambled eggs. She ate a good bit of it, but not really what I'd call enough, but her crop actually felt like it had stuff in it when I put her to bed.
She is not walking any now. She just stays where I put her and sleeps. Yesterday afternoon though, I had her on our back porch where she's staying for now and I had went out to the rest of the chickens to give them a little bread and a little scratch and she must have seen me and wanted some because when I came back on the porch there she was at the end of it where we have a gate looking out almost like "Don't forget about me...don't forget to give me some". That's when I noticed her so skinny when I picked her up and treated her for worms and such.
She isn't throwing up the water near as much now, but she is still throwing up some, mostly after drinking water. If I hold her and tip her over a little and hold her head down some, a little will come out. I only do this in the morning and at night before putting her to bed or if I actually see the stuff dripping out her mouth.
Sorry so long, I just wanted to try to cover everything. Does anyone have any idea what I could do? Does anyone have any idea what she could be suffering from?
I've thought about the internal laying, but just not sure.
Anyway, this hen had gotten to where she was sort of waddling when she walked, sort of a wider stance, and much slower than the rest of the chickens. She is always lagging behind lately. But, I just considered her age because she was still doing all the chicken things and peck other hens, letting them know she eats first and such. She had started sleeping in the nest box a few months ago. I just let her because I thought in her old age she might have problems getting up on the roost or something and she seemed fine.
Then, I had a hen go broody and this hen then started back getting on the roost at night (not sure if that's even related).
Well, for the past several weeks, this hen has just seemed to be getting slower and slower and waddling more and more and had started back roosting in the nest box. A week or so ago she had poop stuck to her butt really bad, so I let her soak so I could clean her. I went ahead and felt the best I could to make sure she wasn't eggbound & lubed her some with a little Vaseline. I thought that might create a barrier to help about the poop sticking to her as bad as well. While I had her, I went ahead and dusted her for lice just to be on the safe side in this hot weather...thought it couldn't hurt in this hot weather about flies and fleas and ticks and all too.
Anyway, not even sure if this is relevant or not, but the other day we had a hawk scare. It had gotten INSIDE the chicken coop. Thankfully, I happened to be outside & heard the commotion, opened the door and it flew away.
After the hawk scare I noticed this hen poop and it was watery diarrhea, with some undigested food...brown watery with some corn and seeds and such. I'm not sure if she had already been having watery poop or not. Then, the next day I saw A LOT of runny poop all over their yard...not sure if all of it was hers or not, but I assume it was. This time it did look digested, just runny.
I started noticing her just sitting more and sleeping and I saw what appeared to be water coming out of her mouth. When I picked her up, more came out. I first thought her crop is sour or impacted or something, but her crop didn't even feel like hardly anything was in it & I didn't smell a bad smell. But I gave her some yogurt and such just in case...what I could get her to eat of it. I keep ACV in the water and also supplement their feed with fermented feed so her probiotics should be ok I would assume. Then, I noticed that she was hardly walking and the rooster went and got on her and it knocked her down and she would just lay there like she couldn't get herself up. So, I separated her.
I noticed yesterday that I felt her keel bone and could put my thumb and first finger on each side of it, but she doesn't feel lighter. Her stomach does feel pretty big, but I've thought that about her before so I don't think it's nothing new. I'm not quite sure how its supposed to feel...I'm just trying to figure out what could be wrong with her. She doesn't eat very much, but she is eating some. She mostly just sits there and closes her eyes and sleeps. If I give her a piece or two of a grape, she perks up and grabs it from me. The same thing with bread with olive oil on it. But, she still just sits there. She will actually even turn her head all the way around and reach out her neck to get a piece of grape or bread, but other food sitting right in front of her, she might eat a little here and there but not much. She is drinking water. I put some vitamins & electrolytes in her water & she's drank a lot today...I mean A LOT! I also gave her a little Poultry Drench vitamin today. She is pooping some, but not very often (I guess from not eating much) and when she does, I mean it is watery! I actually hear it come out and it practically sprays out!
Yesterday when I noticed her so skinny, I went ahead and gave her some worm medicine on a piece of bread just in case that's why she's so skinny. I gave her some poly-vi-sol and put the vitamins in her water and fixed her a dish of a few selections of foods....some fermented feed, some layer crumbles, some starter crumbles, a tiny bit of cat food, a few pieces of a grape, some scrambled eggs. She ate a good bit of it, but not really what I'd call enough, but her crop actually felt like it had stuff in it when I put her to bed.
She is not walking any now. She just stays where I put her and sleeps. Yesterday afternoon though, I had her on our back porch where she's staying for now and I had went out to the rest of the chickens to give them a little bread and a little scratch and she must have seen me and wanted some because when I came back on the porch there she was at the end of it where we have a gate looking out almost like "Don't forget about me...don't forget to give me some". That's when I noticed her so skinny when I picked her up and treated her for worms and such.
She isn't throwing up the water near as much now, but she is still throwing up some, mostly after drinking water. If I hold her and tip her over a little and hold her head down some, a little will come out. I only do this in the morning and at night before putting her to bed or if I actually see the stuff dripping out her mouth.
Sorry so long, I just wanted to try to cover everything. Does anyone have any idea what I could do? Does anyone have any idea what she could be suffering from?
I've thought about the internal laying, but just not sure.
