White Leghorn hen in bad shape. Need help

[krownkpb]

My only white leghorn hen is just over 1 year old. She has out performed all my other hens since she started laying. In fact, until a month ago, she had never missed a single day. The one day she did not lay an egg. She resumed and did ok for few days then missed another. Soon she was missing 2 or 3 days in a row. My hens are cooped up only at night. They have a lot about 25' X 100' to roam in each day. I feed them scratch every day in addition to laying pellets, keep fresh water in 2 locations for them and keep their coops reasonably clean. 2 Months ago, I started letting them free range 2 hours before dusk. They return as they should and it actually help egg production.
Now my problem. This evening when I went up to tend my flock, I released them as usual, and they all went out except for the white leghorn. She was standing by one of the water bins, occasionally taking a drink. I watched her do that about 15 minutes, she drank more water than she would have normally drank in a week. I finally went over and picked her up, without any objection from her, and water started pouring out of her mouth. I tilted her head down and more water came out, crystal clear. I did it again and more water, each time I did this more water cam out, and it started to have a tint to it, not bloody but brownish. In the end I must have emptied at least a 1/2 pint of water from her, maybe more. She is now isolated with some food but no water. Any ideas?

Ken

 

[Eggcessive]

Take the food out and put the water back in with her, and add electrolytes if you have any. She could have a crop problem, but crops can be full and slow to empty with many conditions. Good layers can suffer from several reproductive disorder such as internal laying and egg peritonitis. Check her crop in the morning to see if it is empty, full, hard or puffy. Do a search for impacted crop, and look for posts by Two Crows. Also Google impacted crop, and look for TheChickenChick.com. You may want to check her for egg binding by feeling inside her vent with one finger an inch or two inside. If her crop seems better tomorrow, try feeding her some plain yogurt, and some raw egg whipped together, and plenty of water. If you have a local vet who could see her, that is always a good idea.

 

[krownkpb]

I, being a complete novice, checked her out to the best of abilities. If I understood the directions on how to check the crop, it seems normal as compared to two of my healthy girls. On the other hand, she has what feels like a large collection in her throat, before you get to the crop. I tried to get her to vomit it out but the only thing that did come out was more water. I think she has an obstruction. I'll try to find professional help this morning.

Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes chickens can get a leaking air sac from an injury to the neck, chest, or back. That can cause air to collect under the skin. It can be deflated with a needle and then pressed out. Please let us know about any vet help that you get, and I hope that she recovers.

 

[krownkpb]

My little white hen passed last night. I'm deeply saddened, more so than I though possible. She was my favorite, friendly to me and the other birds. Would let me pick her up and pet her, but I could not keep her home. She did return every evening, and I generally could find her easily enough, but she was a wanderer. I trimmed her flight wings one time but that did little to keep her from getting over the fence and prowling the neighborhood. She laid her egg first thing every morning so she never missed leaving a parting gift. I will miss her and her incredible egg production. Thank for your help. I do have one more question. The same day I found my hen in distress I introduced 5 more hens into the flock. Since then the resident flock, now consisting of four, torment the new girls on a regular basis. Should I expect this to resolve itself, or is there something I can do to resolve it myself?

kb

 

[Reamuskitty1]

oh, I'm so sorry . this must be hard.

hugs, Reamuskitty1

 

[Eggcessive]

I never trim wings anymore. I have a 4 foot tall chainlink fence, and I trimmed one wing on all of the pullets who flew over my fence daily. It made no difference, and then I watched as my bantams flew straight up in the air 10 feet to jump up on my coop roof. Once chickens get a little older most stop ju,pimg the fence. I found poultry netting works well since they can't jump up on it.
It is really sad when our favorites become ill. I have lost a few over the years, including of my favorites, and it was sad, but I really dread the day I lose my little mille fleur.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

If you keep leghorns from big companies which come from the 4-lines system, you must feed a high-density feed and not chicken scratch.
They are designed to be very sensitive to the quality of feed.
The same happens with red sex links, which are more sensitive too.

 

[rebrascora]

I am so sorry you lost your favourite girl.

I very much agree with the comment made by @Thomas Lamprogiorgos about feeding scratch. We all know they love it, but it is not good for them and can lead to a multitude of health problems. Since your girl was drinking lots, that suggests to me that she may have been haemorrhaging internally. Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome can be caused by feeding too many carbohydrates like scratch. A simple necropsy to open up her abdominal cavity would probably show a lot of fluid in the abdominal cavity and possibly a lot of fat too if this was the problem. I appreciate that cutting open a loved pet is not something everyone can get their head around. High production birds like your leghorn are like top level athletes. They are performing at maximum ability of their bodies and therefore their diet needs to be very carefully controlled. For the sake of your remaining flock, even if they are not such good layers, reduce the scratch to just a very small amount once or twice a week or cut it out altogether. If they get to free range then that is probably the biggest treat you can give them, so don't feel like you are being mean to them by stopping the scratch.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

The italianer white leghorn, which is much heavier than the white layer of big companies doesn't need a high-density feed.
And the problem is that in some countries the commercial chicken feed contains gmo soy. Nothing worse than gmo.
So we try to make our own chicken feed.
I use 5/6 oat and 1/6 as a main feed. I give it in a flour form.
I add everyday some oyster shell, dextrose, some herbs and sun flower powder (about 50% protein).
I provide corn only at night before sleep and I hide it during the day time.
Once a month I add food grade diatomaceous earth to their feed.
I give my layers commercial feed containing coccidiostats the first five days of September each year.