Hen very sickly this morning

[JDChickChat]

No egg in last 3-4 days. This morning her crop emptied (much massaging and oil yesterday), she ate and drank a little bit (very not enough though) and is feeling mischievous enough to jump out of her box and explore the room.

That’s wonderful!! I would definitely try to get her to eat something. Fingers crossed!

 

[Mellowmalt]

from everything I have been reading there are so many ailments it is impossible to tell for certain which one it is but she does sound ill. Maybe time to get a vets opinion on it.

 

[Cazook]

Is she pooping o.k.?
You mentioned she was laying weird soft eggs - were they shell less eggs or something like Lash egg?

It's good the crop emptied! See if you can encourage her to eat a little wet feed and drink.

shell-less, I thought it was maybe since she lays HUGE eggs and wasn't getting enough calcium, so I started giving her more crushed shells.

been tempting her with layer feed (completely ignores this lol), mealworms, scrambled egg. she'll eat little bits of each. I think her appetite might be coming back but slowly. she also pecks the waterer from time to time. I put coxoid (amprolium 3.84%) but now it occurs to me that the dose for chickens might be different to the dose for pigeons (which it's intended for)...

she is much the same today. too skinny! more alert-seeming though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The directions and dosing on the Coxoid bottle should be correct for poultry too.

You can try wetting her feed to see if she likes that. I mix a bit of buttermilk into feed along with water to make a mash, my birds like it.

 

[Cazook]

Should the medicine have worked by now? Her appetite is still very 'scant'. I don't really want to put her outside (snowing currently) when it seems like she's not even eating enough to sustain herself. But, she can't really live indoors either She has already done a number on my carpet, despite 'containment measures'...

But, she seems slightly better, though maybe that is just hoping? She isn't any worse. No egg either, but I think the stress of illness/lack of food can stop that as well?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Should the medicine have worked by now? Her appetite is still very 'scant'. I don't really want to put her outside (snowing currently) when it seems like she's not even eating enough to sustain herself. But, she can't really live indoors either She has already done a number on my carpet, despite 'containment measures'...

But, she seems slightly better, though maybe that is just hoping? She isn't any worse. No egg either, but I think the stress of illness/lack of food can stop that as well?

Coxoid treats Coccidiosis, so if that's what's wrong with her, then it *should* be working.

As mentioned previously, it sounds like your hen is suffering from reproductive issues.
I would make sure her crop is still emptying overnight. Consider getting a fecal float to see if worms are contributing to her decline. Feel her abdomen for bloat or fluid.

Do what you can to encourage her to eat her normal feed. Offer her tidbits of scrambled egg to entice her.

 

[Cazook]

Coxoid treats Coccidiosis, so if that's what's wrong with her, then it *should* be working.

As mentioned previously, it sounds like your hen is suffering from reproductive issues.
I would make sure her crop is still emptying overnight. Consider getting a fecal float to see if worms are contributing to her decline. Feel her abdomen for bloat or fluid.

Do what you can to encourage her to eat her normal feed. Offer her tidbits of scrambled egg to entice her.

You still think it's reproductive issues? Hmm, I thought she would be going more downhill if that was the case. Crop seems to empty fine now that the weird dough is gone. They were all wormed last month. She seems normal, just... skinny.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They can hang in there a good while with reproductive issues.
Is she seems normal, then just keep watch on her.

 

[Cazook]

Update: She is doing a lot better now. Her appetite is returning steadily and she's much more active and tried dust bathing on my floor. I've been putting her outside for a little while in the day (flock still seems to remember her, she immediately started bullying one of the pullets so I take that as a 'good' sign) but it's -8c here and she still hasn't been perching in the coop so she's still inside at night. Now I just need to try and get her weight up.

So, looks like it was coccidiosis or some other ailment that responded to a bit of TLC.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Cazook]

Arg you guys might be right after all. She had a week or so of seemingly good health, then laid a normal egg, then started going strange again. Not eating at all but trying to sit in nesting boxes all day (producing nothing), standing around falling asleep, won't perch or move about etc. Looks like internal laying I guess. I don't know whether to just wait or if she needs euthanised.