What's wrong with my hen?

[lcheshire]

I noticed my 1.5 year old barred rock laying in the nesting box today. She had already ĺayed today, so I wasn't sure why she was in there. So I made her leave and go into the run. She drank a little water, then just laid where I had put her, and began closing her eyes. After an hour of watching her, I knew something was wrong. She is withdrawn, and keeps going I to a corner by herself. She is not interested in food, even tried scramble eggs. The egg she layed today was normal, the shell was hard, it was very thin, felt like it would break easily. Upon examining her, she has no mites or lice. Her crop was fairly full, but it was evening. No respiratory symptoms at all, nothing coming out of her vent, or mouth or eyes. She pooped, and it look a little yellow, but formed. She has poop on her bum, but she has always had this, not unusual for her. Part of her comb may be purplish? I will post pictures and a video. I don't know how to help her if I don't know the problem. I thought maybe Egg yolk peritonitis, but her belly doesn't feel distended. Oh and noticed her belly area has a big bald patch. She has never had a molt yet . Her tail feathers are all pecked off too. Not sure why.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You said she was in the nest and you chased her out. She then went into a quiet corner and laid down.

Could she be broody? All the signs don't seem to show illness (poo looks okay to me). Nose, eyes, vent clean...except normal poo.

You might consider worming her as she might be anemic from worms.

But does she go into a trance like posture? Put her back in the nest and see how she behaves on a bunch of eggs. She *might* be broody.

Just thinking...hard to tell without seeing her.

LofMc

 

[lcheshire]

You said she was in the nest and you chased her out. She then went into a quiet corner and laid down.

Could she be broody? All the signs don't seem to show illness (poo looks okay to me). Nose, eyes, vent clean...except normal poo.

You might consider worming her as she might be anemic from worms.

But does she go into a trance like posture? Put her back in the nest and see how she behaves on a bunch of eggs. She *might* be broody.

Just thinking...hard to tell without seeing her.

LofMc

She is not broody. She is very sick, I'm just now sure what the issue is. She does want to move. She has not had any food or even a sip of water for 24 hours. Her crop is flat. She is pooping watery, pale yellow, as she is laying down. No matter what I do, she won't drink or eat anything. Here is her more recent poop. That brown thing is a seed.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Sorry, I have no idea what the problem could be. Will tag a few that may be of help with their knowledge ....
@aart
@azygous
@Kiki
@Wyorp Rock

Thank you all in advance for any ideas

 

[Kiki]

I'm sorry but your bird appears to be extremely ill. If you want to try to keep her alive while guessing)trying to figure out how to help her you will have to tube feed her water soon. Is that something you think you could learn how to do?

 

[ChickNanny13]

I'm sorry but your bird appears to be extremely ill. If you want to try to keep her alive while guessing)trying to figure out how to help her you will have to tube feed her water soon. Is that something you think you could learn how to do?

Thank you Kiki

 

[azygous]

From the appearance of her poop, I'd say she has a serious reproductive infection or an intestinal infection. Do you have an oral antibiotic on hand? She could use it starting immediately.

Are you in the US?

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Once there were several undigested seeds in my bird's poop & the diagnosis was Giardia.
You'd need a stool sample to be checked out, to be sure what's going on.
Or take the bird to the vet, get blood & fecal samples tested.
I gave my bird metronidazole & it did fine, but we knew it was definitely Giardia.
There are many illnesses that share similar symptoms, though. Salmonella is another one that makes their droppings look odd & smell especially bad.
If you do not have access to an avian vet, see if you can take a q-tip & zip lock baggie to get some good stool sample, & have a local vet analyze under a microscope. Even if they only see dogs & cats, they're usually willing to check out a stool sample for $15.
You need to know what it is, before you can address it with the proper treatment.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes...I'm sorry it sounds like she is very, very ill.

I agree that starting a round of antibiotics immediately may buy you enough time to figure out what's going on with her.

Good luck.
LofMc

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would work on hydrating her. Syringe or tube fluids into her
I agree, likely reproductive disorder from the symptoms you describe. I would try Amoxicillin if you have that. If not, do you have any abx on hand?



https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/