Yellow pale hen-help!

[Chickenoodle#4]

My one year old hen has recently become ill, her comb and wattle are a yellow orange color and her skin is yellow. She is dehydrated and not eating- She is thin and her feathers are falling out (molting more than ususal) and has scaley flacky skin. I seperated her from the other and have her in a warm place with vitamin water and food. She's taken a little water and a few bites of banana and egg but doens't look so good- poor thing. Does anyone have an idea what she might have and what I should do for her. The other hens are fine- no symptoms.

 

[jaybme]

I am new to chickens, but from what I have read I would suspect anemia, caused by worms maybe?

Look that up and see if her symptoms fit that. Good luck!

 

[mypicklebird]

More info needed: what breed is she? Yellow skin is normal in some breeds, but if you have a white skin breed and her skin is now yellow- she may be jaundiced (really sick liver), but jaundice in birds is unusual- as they don't have the same components to their blood (which is why they bruise green). She may be a little yellower than she was when she was younger if you have them on a high yellow pigment diet- carrots/grass/ect/marigold extract. Yellow skinned birds are also more yellow when they are out of lay (lots of yellow goes into the yolks). So what breed is she?

If her comb used to be red and is now paler, she could be anemic- but her skin should not turn yellow, she would just be a paler version of her normal color.

Noticeably thin means she has not been eating well for a long time (weeks), and flaky dry skin just sounds also like a bird that has been sick for a long time. Scaly leg mites causes raised scales on the legs which might be described as dry or flakey, but does not explain the other problems.

Is she laying or ever laid? What have you been feeding? Any history of injury? Do you deworm? Have you inspected her for lice? Are they on dirt? Is she pooping? What does it look like? Is she straining?

How many do you have? You mention 'the other' if you just have 2 chickens, you may have a case of --one is dominant and keeps the other away from food/water much of the time- and you have bird that has been chronically stressed unto illness.

Unless you can take her to a vet, the most you can really do is supportive care: good nutrition, warmth, protection, vitamins, possibly deworm or treat for external parasites if you see them. Cull if she does not get better, or worsens in the next few days- as she sounds very ill. If you do cull and want to really know what she was ill from, arrange to send her to the state lab. Or if you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can do a basic necropsy and look for obvious things like lots of roundworms or egg yolk peritonitis AKA internal layer.

Sorry for the long and rambling response- hopefully you can find something of use in there, but do give us more info... and people may be able to provide better responses.

 

[Chickenoodle#4]

Thank you for all your information. I did take her to the vet today and they did blood work up- They didn't find any parisites in the blood which would cause her yellow comb and skin-Her droppings were normal. The vet wasn't for sure what it was except for and autoimmune problem as an isolated case. Her imume sysyem was attacking her red blood cells which caused the yellow shin. The flaking skin was from malnutrition. Not sure what the cause was. Her blood count was 14 and and average count is at least 50. I decided it was best to have her put to sleep peacefully. She was one of six hens that we have. Thanks again for your great information.

 

[beakkeeper]

Sorry you had to lose her like that.

 

[steffpeck]

Darn, I am sorry that you lost her.

 

[mypicklebird]

Wow- glad you got your answer, but sorry it was an unhappy ending. Immune mediated hemolytic anemia is the disease of 'body's immune system attacking it's own red blood cells' quite rare in mammals, very rare in birds- So weird and unfortunate it showed up in your bird. They are not supposed to be able to get icteric/jaundiced as they don't have bilirubin (the red blood cell breakdown pigment that makes humans yellow in liver disease or hemolytic anemia), they have biliverdin. But they still manage do do it sometimes. But If anyone else turns yellow, there possibly IS a red blood cell parasite- they can get those, and they are not always easy to see, or there may be a hemolytic toxin- such as onions or garlic. Any access to raw onion or garlic?
Jess

 

[Chickenoodle#4]

No onion or garlic but that is good to know and I am keeping an eye on the other girls. I do have one that has white (growth) spots-dots- on the top of her comb (fungus?) The vet told me to keep watch it and if it spreads to bring her in. I hope it's nothing to worry about. Thanks again for the wealth of information! Much appreciated.

 

[Wynette]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm very happy you were able to take her to a vet...there is comfort in knowing what the problem is/was.

 

[my1smthop]

Quote:
Jess--Is there anyway to cure hemolytic toxin??? My hen was attacked by a raccoon and while her injuries (rt shoulder bone exposed & the base of her comb was torn forward as well as the front of the comb where it attaches to her beak was bitten) are healing quite well, I can't get her to eat. I bought some bird vitamins and have been putting it in her water. She drinks it like crazy, but the night before last I read on line where if you mixe garlic with the food it would neutralize the poop smell. I mixed a little minced garlic from a jar in her food. I think I have caused hemolytic anemia in her and that's why her wattles were light pink yesterday and now very pale peach. I did find something that she will eat and now I think I know why she wouldn't eat. I crushed town house crackers up and mixed them with shredded velveeta and she tore into it this morning. I also bought some nurti cal high calorie vitamins for dogs & smeared some on her beak. She still has energy and is drinking fine it's getting her to eat --I think her beak is reallly sore because if she gets a bigger bite of cracker she spits it out, but if I crush it up she gobbles it down. She is such a little trooper and fighter to come this far, I just pray I haven't killed her because of my stupidity. She was quite happy to get back out today and flew out of the box into her pen. Please help me help Aggie.