Sick Hen

[allison_waring]

Hi Everyone,
Looking for advice on what might be affecting my 2 year old barred rock hen. She has been ill for the last couple of days. Her symptoms are:

• Almost clear, slighlty whiteish diarrhea
• Lack of interest in food- Although when I let her out to wander the yard yesterday she went wild for the snails and slugs she found.
• Drinking water excessively, to the point that it's about all she does all day long.
• Lack of energy- she was standing around with eyes closed when out with the flock. Not really puffed up though.
• Pasty white/yellow butt feathers from the diarrhea
• Gurgly digestive sounds
• She hasn't laid an egg since she has been acting sick.

I've isolated her from the rest of the flock, and given her a couple of epsom salt baths to wash her vent area. I thought maybe she had sour crop so I've been giving her monistat orally for the last couple of days. Now I'm thinking it could be a strain of coccidiosis that doesn't involve blood in the poop. I've added Corid to her water.

Thoughts on what this might be and what I can do for her?

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm sorry about your hen feeling sick.

It's improbable that a two-year-old free-ranging chicken could get coccidiosis but doesn't hurt to give her Corid. I'd follow that up with vitamin water and probiotics though.

Has her crop been emptying at night?

Is her underside squishy or firm? Possibly thinking ascites (water belly) if squishy.

She also may be egg-bound. That one is probably more probable if she hasn't laid an egg in a couple of days. I'd go with this first as she could pass away from this fast. Give her a calcium pill whole, as in open her mouth via pulling down her wattles, put it in, close her beak, and she'll swallow it. That would be one of the human forms of Calcium with D, around 400 + iu. Since it's already been a couple of days, I'd try hurry to do this. It won't hurt her if this isn't the problem. It will cause contractions and if she's having issues laying an egg, this will help.

 

[allison_waring]

I'm sorry about your hen feeling sick.

It's improbable that a two-year-old free-ranging chicken could get coccidiosis but doesn't hurt to give her Corid. I'd follow that up with vitamin water and probiotics though.

Has her crop been emptying at night?

Is her underside squishy or firm? Possibly thinking ascites (water belly) if squishy.

She also may be egg-bound. That one is probably more probable if she hasn't laid an egg in a couple of days. I'd go with this first as she could pass away from this fast. Give her a calcium pill whole, as in open her mouth via pulling down her wattles, put it in, close her beak, and she'll swallow it. That would be one of the human forms of Calcium with D, around 400 + iu. Since it's already been a couple of days, I'd try hurry to do this. It won't hurt her if this isn't the problem. It will cause contractions and if she's having issues laying an egg, this will help.

Thanks for the advice I'll try giving her some calcium to be on the safe side. She is moving at least the fluid she is consuming through here with the amount of diarrhea she has. Would she be egg bound if she is still able to pass water/food through her? Her underside feels normal to me and I did feel for an egg inside when I gave her a soak and didn't feel anything.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks for the advice I'll try giving her some calcium to be on the safe side. She is moving at least the fluid she is consuming through here with the amount of diarrhea she has. Would she be egg bound if she is still able to pass water/food through her? Her underside feels normal to me and I did feel for an egg inside when I gave her a soak and didn't feel anything.

Yes, she still could be egg-bound even if pooping. This certainly could be something else as well, but it worries me that she hasn't laid in a couple of days, so she would have one she should have laid but hasn't. After this is resolved, then you can see what symptoms she still has, if any.

Her drinking a lot of water doesn't have anything to do with being egg-bound and could mean she's got something else wrong.

 

[Suitablecookie]

My bird has the same problems as yours, I haven't found a solution yet. But I have been giving her some cooked food since she won't eat her feed. I don't believe she is egg bound since she's not hunched over and showing no signs of a stuck egg. Yours might not be either?

Also those baths should help your bird if there is one stuck. Have you felt her stomach for an egg?

 

[LaFleche]

Hi Everyone,
Looking for advice on what might be affecting my 2 year old barred rock hen. She has been ill for the last couple of days. Her symptoms are:

• Almost clear, slighlty whiteish diarrhea
• Lack of interest in food- Although when I let her out to wander the yard yesterday she went wild for the snails and slugs she found.
• Drinking water excessively, to the point that it's about all she does all day long.
• Lack of energy- she was standing around with eyes closed when out with the flock. Not really puffed up though.
• Pasty white/yellow butt feathers from the diarrhea
• Gurgly digestive sounds
• She hasn't laid an egg since she has been acting sick.

I've isolated her from the rest of the flock, and given her a couple of epsom salt baths to wash her vent area. I thought maybe she had sour crop so I've been giving her monistat orally for the last couple of days. Now I'm thinking it could be a strain of coccidiosis that doesn't involve blood in the poop. I've added Corid to her water.

Thoughts on what this might be and what I can do for her?

Going by your description I think she is suffering from some kind of reproductive infection such as salpingitis or similar.
Did she lay shell-less eggs or eggs with brittle shells prior to getting sick?

Try the additional calcium for some days as it will help to expel whatever residues there might be in her oviduct. And it will help to form strong eggshells if she will lay again.

She will need additional antibiotic treatment to fight the infection though.

 

[allison_waring]

Going by your description I think she is suffering from some kind of reproductive infection such as salpingitis or similar.
Did she lay shell-less eggs or eggs with brittle shells prior to getting sick?

Try the additional calcium for some days as it will help to expel whatever residues there might be in her oviduct. And it will help to form strong eggshells if she will lay again.

She will need additional antibiotic treatment to fight the infection though.

Ugh I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. I did find a broken softshell egg under the roosting bars a couple of days ago. I'm not sure if it broke when it hit the ground or inside one of my hens. I have some tums. Can I dissolve one of these in her water, since she is really only drinking right now? What type of antibiotic would work best. I have some Tylan but I've read that is really only good for respiratory illness.

Should I stop the Corid treatment so I can give her some vitamins and electrolytes in her water?

 

[LaFleche]

You could get her amoxicillin or enrofloxacin (Baytril) for the suspected infection.
Caught and treated early they can recover, but there is no guarantee and sadly, they often succumb to it despite their owners' good care.

You can give her the calcium tablet in one piece: sit her on your lap with her head facing front, tug down on her wattles which will mske her open up her beak, then quickly slip in the tablet and let go of her wattles so she can swallow. Offer her favourite treat immediately after her swallowing to end the procedure on a friendly note.

 

[Debbie292d]

Ugh I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. I did find a broken softshell egg under the roosting bars a couple of days ago. I'm not sure if it broke when it hit the ground or inside one of my hens. I have some tums. Can I dissolve one of these in her water, since she is really only drinking right now? What type of antibiotic would work best. I have some Tylan but I've read that is really only good for respiratory illness.

Should I stop the Corid treatment so I can give her some vitamins and electrolytes in her water?

You can use Tums and crush it but I'd mix it in a little bit of yogurt or small amount of mash. You need to make sure she eats the whole thing. If you get the Calcium supplement, that's best to give to her whole and see @LaFleche's post for how we do that.

 

[allison_waring]

Unfortunately Florentine our Barred Rock didn't make it. We tried a couple of different things (corrid, monistat, calcium), but she continued to go downhill over the next several days. She completely stopped eating other than the liquified diet I was syringe feeding her. Unfortunately the Baytril I ordered didn't arrive in time. She passed yesterday morning. I wish there was more I could have done for her, but she's now buried in the forget-me-nots on the hill looking over our yard. She's the first of our flock that we've had for 2 years to pass on.

In a twist of fate, the chicks we ordered months ago arrived today. Meet Floretine's Angels. I feel like she picked out these little sisters for the rest of the flock.