What is wrong with my chicken?

[Adric]

Hi

I have a chicken that does not look too well. She is about 5 years old and has not laid for over a year. She has a very strange posture and is very lethargic. I had another bird which was similar last year which I had to kill.

I have attached a photo

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Richard

 

[azygous]

If you would provide more information, maybe we could help.

But with the small amount you have provided, I would guess this hen has tumors in her reproductive organs and they are now making her very sick.

However, it may just be coincidental to her age and not having laid in a year, and her issue may be with a secondary infection or crop disorder. Have you examine her crop? Hard, soft, empty when it should be full, full when it should be empty or perhaps a hard mass (impacted crop)?

 

[Eggcessive]

She may have a reproductive disorder such as internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis. Symptoms can include upright posture, a reluctance to walk and preferring to sit or lie down, runny poops sometimes with cooked egg yolk material, loss of weight in the breast or swelling in the lower belly, and loss of appetite. This is common in older hens. As Azygous said, tumors could also be a problem. Feel of her crop in early morning to see if it is working. Try feeding her some chopped egg or tuna along with her chicken feed.

 

[Adric]

thanks for this and your help. I have decided that she was too sick so have humanly brought her life to an end.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. If you are up to it, you may want to do a necropsy on her to look inside her abdomen for signs of EYP. If you take pictures and post them here, you may be able to get some answers. Here is a good link with pictures of a professional necropsy, and you can just do a shorter version to look at abdominal contents, organs, and for anything unusual:
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-perform-necropsy-autopsy-on.html

 

[azygous]

If you don't feel up to dismantling your deceased hen, and if you can afford it, a professional necropsy can also tell you if she died as a result of any of a number of seriously contagious avian viruses that can cause tumors throughout the body. This could have ramifications for your living chickens.

I'm so sorry to hear we lost this hen. I was entertaining serious hope for a turn-around.

 

[Adric]

Thanks for this but I don't feel up to doing an autopsy on her. I will just let her rest in peace.