Year old hen lethargic, with white/yellow runny poo- isolating herself

[My1stChickens]

She was pretty pitiful later in the day. Sitting, head down, but tail up. Once everything was shady, the rest were "chickening" but she was just sitting, often head down. Tail was up, but head down. When she came in for bed (she was the LAST one in) I put her in the cage, with food and Corid water. But she was unhappy about not getting on the roost. She's one who gets up there ahead of the rest, and the more hens that went up, the worse she wanted to be there. She was not interested in water or food, she was looking out the top of that cage trying to figure a way out. I gave in, and placed her on the roost. Brought the food and Corid water back to the house to refrigerate over night. I'll start the Corid in the morning, and cage her tomorrow. I just hate to add stress to a stressed bird.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would have done the same. If she feels well enough to roost, then she should get to do what she wants.

 

[Lizzy733]

Read up on Salpingitis (lash eggs)... it sounds like what my pullet went through early on. Soft shell - no shell, then balls of curdish puss.
If you have an avian vet handy, she may need to go on antibiotics to clear the infection, but my girl actually cleared it on her own before we got to the vet - after a week of dropping shelless eggs.
You can support her with nutridrench or electrolytes and maybe a bit of garlic on a snack that she won't refuse.
A warm epsom salt bath will help with localized swelling too... just make sure she gets a long soak with her rump covered. Not hot enough to make her pant, but warm enough to help with internal swelling.
If it is salpingitis, she won't need to be isolated unless she takes a turn for the worse. Though it's a bacterial infection, it's not particularly contagious.

 

[My1stChickens]

I would have done the same. If she feels well enough to roost, then she should get to do what she wants.

This morning she was up and standing by the water - I don’t know whether she drank or not. I put her in the cage with a cup of Corid water and a second cup of pellets fruit and scrambled egg. She was not happy when the others left. It takes me about 45 min to get through morning chores and in the time I peeked in on her several times. Up, moving around looking around. Not eating or drinking but I’ll be able to check again in a couple hours

I checked her overnight poo and took a picture. Lots of liquid coming out. And she must have eaten something when I wasn’t looking. The large amount of liquid is a concern because now is looking a bit like the situation I had last week. Wyorp was helping me with those hens- one died, one euthanized. So far this one is not breathing hard, and her comb is standing up like it’s supposed to.

Oh – on the poop picture, thats PDZ powder under the roost.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you try to get a local vet to run a fecal test on her droppings for coccidiosis? It would be a shame to keep her separated from the others if she doesn’t have coccidiosis. If her problem is a reproductive issue or something else, she might not need to be kept by herself. Or you could medicate all of the chickens’water and let her loose with them. Chicken illness can be a guessing game. I tend to leave my chickens together so that they don’t get stressed.

 

[My1stChickens]

I am not optimistic about getting a fecal test done. First, her droppings have been cleaned up, so it would be tomorrows sample-- and I do not have (reasonable) access to a good bird vet, and I don't know if this is something a small animal vet can do. But, yes, I could treat the whole flock. There's no side effects right? Not even egg withdrawal as I recall.

Can grown hens who had symptoms actually get it again? Ie, is coccidiosis potentially a recurring problem? (I know that this hen has been treated before-- but she never showed signs, it was 2 of her flockmates that were puffy and miserable. She was treated as part of the group, not because she was symptomatic)

If she is still wishing she were out of the cage, I will let her out. I already have waters frozen for today, so will have to figure out how to transition to Corid solution for all, particularly since in this heat it involves multiple water sources that have to be cold, but cannot be frozen (since I can't add Corid to ice LOL).

 

[My1stChickens]

Lunchtime update: She was sitting quietly in her cage-- and a couple of others were in the coop. She either drank or spilled a little water. She nibbled a little food, but did not clean it up. I saw a tiny poop in her hay/bedding. I noticed her body position was really crooked, and took a picture from above the cage.

When I opened the door, she got up, and went outside. I had already gathered up all four waterers from outside, and went to the house to mix Corid juice. Just did two 8 cup batches with a teaspoon of Corid each, and added a frozen bottle of water to keep it cool.
Next I checked and 5 of 8 hens decided to hang out in the coop (of course). Two were outside sitting in the shade, and the patient was actually "chickening". Not vigorously, but she was standing up, casually pecking at the ground. It was tentative, but it's better than just sitting.

I have mixed up two more 4 cup Corid batches, and one 8 oz batch and have them in the freezer for use later today through tomorrow this time. (I know it's only good for 24 hours). OK, now to my phone so I can post the picture of how crooked she is.

 

[My1stChickens]

She made it through the day, and I saw small signs of progress. She spent some time standing, rather than just sitting. She did not isolate herself, she hung out with the flock. I saw her in several different locations so she did move around, albeit slowly. On the downside: She did not partake in treats even when they were right in front of her.

As dusk approached, she was the last one into the coop, but the first one up on the roost. (the rest were snacking, and scratching around in the dirt, basically "chickening"). Her tail feathers are messy again, mostly white, some green. No yellow today. She went to her usual spot. One of the rambunctious EE hens leapt up right on top of her, and she held her ground, and squawked a little. The way she positioned herself, all poop would have fallen to the ground so I turned her around so I can check in the morning to see how her poop looks. She's quiet, a couple times she looked sleepy, closing her eyes, but she's not getting picked on, she's moving around and in general seemed a bit better today than yesterday.

Tonight it will go down to 70, and highs for the next few days will barely reach 90, so 10 degrees cooler in the day, and 15-20 degrees cooler overnight. This should enable recovery from the heat, and I'll continue Corid for the whole flock so she can stay with them.

Question for the experts? the way her tail cocked off to the left? Is that "wry tail"? I I think she's always been a little crooked, but thought that was "just her".

 

[My1stChickens]

Tuesday: Day 2 of Corid. This morning she was still on the roost (standing) but when I opened the door, she jumped down and went out with the others. She went well into the run, rather than hanging out near the feed pan, but then she returned to sit with the others. She sometimes stood, sometimes sat, one time was on her side sun bathing with a wing extended. Very messy butt again, so after work when (still 85 degrees) I gave her a quick dunk/clean up. There is lots of bare pink skin visible when you lift those feathers. No wounds, pus or blood, but very pink. The mess was mostly liquid and some dirt stuck in the liquid, so this was not a soaking session, just a quick clean up.
I did not see her eat or drink today, and she did not tend to hustle over to see me when the rest of the girls saw that I brought treats. She stayed back, then eventually pecked a little at a blueberry that I tossed right to her, but never actually ate it-- another hen did. At lunch she did join the others to peck at watermelon.
Bad signs: I have not seen her eating, and she's not active/vigorous.
Good signs: she's not isolating herself, she's spending time with the flock, albeit quietly. She was stronger when she resisted getting wet/ being cleaned up.
I seem to remember it's the 3rd day of Corid that they start to look better, so here's hoping that will be the case.

If she is not eating/improving a bunch by Day 4 or 5 of Corid treatment, I'm not sure what else to try. I do not want her to slowly starve/deteriorate.

I also have a hen that is sneezing today. Very vigorous, eating well, very active, and no other signs of illness or respiratory symptoms. Hoping she just got some dust in the wrong place.

 

[Eggcessive]

It can be frustrating when they won’t eat. At least with the Corid treatment, you can rule that out if she is still not doing better. If her problem is a reproductive issue, then she may get better or not. She seems young to be having the reproductve problems, but it can happen occasionally in a younger hen. Have you tried any sunflower kernels? My hen who doesn’t eat much of anything, will dive for those. I prefer the shell-less ones.