Young hen exhibiting "puffed up" appearance, no other symptoms

[Wyorp Rock]

Deformed with fenbendazole about 1mo ago, just one round. We actually had to treat the whole flock for winter mites at the beginning of January, so I can confirm that's not an issue.

She's started on Corid as of this afternoon.

She is not eating much or drinking much while inside right now.

I'd re-check again for mites and lice.

Check her crop. Work on getting her hydrated and get the Corid into her.
She has a lot of urates, which could point to dehydration, but I'd still get Calcium into her as well just in case she's having trouble expelling a membrane or possibly lash material.
She may have reproductive problems or has laid internally, hard to know.

Hopefully she'll turn a corner.
Keep us posted on how she gets along.

I'd treat for Coccidiosis, but I'd also give her extra Calcium for 3-5 days. You can find Calcium Citrate with D3 at stores like Walmart, CVS, etc. Just pull down on her wattles to open her beak, pop the tablet in and let her swallow.

Re-check for lice/mites and see that her crop is emptying overnight.


Corid liquid dose is 2tsp or Corid Powder is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given as the sole source of drinking water for 5-7 days. Don't add any extra vitamins or supplements that contain B1(Thiamine) to their food or water during the course of treatment.

 

[TwoJacks]

Ugh, well - we had brought everyone in the heated garage during the polar vortex over the weekend and the hen seemed to be on the mend - eating well, drinking, etc.

Everyone else is back out, she's still in so we could monitor her and I caught her resting like this.

I've never seen posture like this before and am a bit lacking in answers. She still shows a desire to eat and drink but she's not moving aloud as much. We ended up not putting her back out with everyone bc she showed a clear discomfort with the cold - while everyone else was taking dust bathes and milling around she went up to roost right away and sat all puffed up and sullen looking.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What's going on with these feathers?
Can you get a good look at her skin?

 

[TwoJacks]

Well, unfortunately she ended up passing away early this morning. Based on the commotion, I'd guess she died from some kind of cardiac event as it came on suddenly and she went fast, so either a stroke or she had a heart attack.

When we looked at her skin/those feathers, there was nothing really wrong we could see, honestly. The skin was clean and clear, and while her feathers were ruffled there was no sign of disease, infection, etc that was obvious to the naked eye (at least not mine...)

She was doing better over the last couple of days, her manure was getting firmer although with intermittent bouts of watery, loose manure, but she was eating and drinking right up until the end. We have no idea what was ultimately wrong with her...really sad to see her pass as she was a super sweet hen but I now wonder if she had some kind of cardiac/inflammatory condition that cause both the feathers ruffling/weird posture and what ultimately led to her death.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear that she died.

The only way to really find out what caused her decline is to have a necropsy.
You can find your state lab here https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html