Buff orpington suddenly sick (droopy comb, diarrhea), need advice

[otakuchick]

I'm really hoping someone on the forum can help me out. I've been googling a lot and have yet to find something that matches what's going on with one of my girls.

My buff orpington (Blondie) is about a year and a half old, and last night when I was closing up the coop I noticed she was laying on the floor of the inside coop. She looked much like the hens do when in their nesting box. When she saw me she stood up, but didn't do much more. I found the behavior odd but assumed she was a bit cold and hadn't felt like jumping up on the roost.

Tonight I went out to close the coop and found her standing next to the water, slowly taking small sips. I have never seen any of my chickens eating or drinking at night. They're always on the outside roost (that's in a protected run) or on their inside roost. I picked her up and she let out a sigh. When she went into the coop I saw a trail of diarrhea on her feathers. I also noticed the front half of her comb is flopped over to the side. She just stood there, tail slightly down, head held lower than usual as well. Nothing else about her posture was different.

I know that isn't much to go on, but that's where things are at. I wouldn't necessarily label her as lethargic, though she seems to be getting worse. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. It really could be a lot of things, but I would start off with worming her with either Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer. Look over her skin especially under the vent and on the neck for signs of lice or mites, or their eggs. Check her (before the worming,) for a stuck egg, by inserting a finger 1-2 inches inside the vent, to search for an egg. Are any of your hens molting now? That can be hard on them. Has she been laying eggs? For sick chickens, I usually cage them inside the coop with food and water containing vitamins and electrolytes or SaveAChick. You can also watch the dropping closely. Then I feed a scrambled egg every day or offer some ground meat or canned tuna for extra protein. Check her crop to see that it is emptying by morning, and is not full and hard or puffy. Have you ever had any chickens with coccidiosis in the past?

 

[otakuchick]

Thanks so much for the reply. I checked her for mites and lice, and she's looking good. She is missing some feathers on her underside, so she could be molting. But I haven't seen the usual piles of feathers all over the place. So I'm wondering if she's pulled out a few due to stress. I checked for a stuck egg, but she feels fine. Tomorrow I'll stop by the feed store for some dewormer. I haven't had any coccidiosis with my chickens. This is still my original flock, no outside chickens have been introduced. The other hens are acting normal, and they aren't picking on her at all. But I do think I'll take your advice and put her in a pen for awhile. I felt her crop and it's completely empty, and she's skinny. I'm thinking she's just been drinking water and not eating.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes it is hard to diagnose chicken problems if everything looks normal on the outside. Check to make sure she isn't going broody, or wanting to hatch eggs. They will pull out their feathers on the chest and belly to cover eggs next to their skin. They stay in nest boxes, and will sit on any eggs or golf balls they find. They won't eat much, and will occasionally get up and have a huge stinky greenish dropping. Treating with Corid, amprollium, or Amprol will not harm her if she doesn't have coccidiosis. The other things I could think of that might be wrong are a gizzard blockage, or that she is an internal layer or hass egg yolk peritonitis. If she is not laying eggs, it could be that. I hope you can figure it out, and help her. Here is a link on internal laying/EYP: http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx

 

[otakuchick]

I went by the feed store, talked through her symptoms (a new one being wheezing) with one of the people who work there. He was super helpful, and we decided to go for an antibiotic for the likely respiratory disease in the sick hen, then an immunity booster for the rest of the girls. I got her to eat some mealworms, which was nice to see. He said she should begin to improve fairly quick if we've diagnosed her correctly. So crossing fingers!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes when chickens are sick, and also during colder weather, they won't drink enough of the medicated water. If she isn't drinking well, I would get some Tylan 50 injectable from the cattle medicines t the feed store, a few syringes and needles, and give her some orally each day for 5 days. It is best used by injection, but many use it orally as well. Dosage is 1 ml for over 5 lb, 1/2 ml for under 5 lb, and 1/4 ml for bantams. Probiotics and vitamins afterward will help boost her immunity. Here is a list of respiratory diseases to read about symptoms, and look for mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) infectious bronchitis, infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT,) aspergillosis, and coryza: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044