Sick chicken; advice appreciated

[TomHB]

Hello folks,

I have a sick chicken here and have been searching the internet to try and figure out what's wrong, and ended up on this forum. I have not been able to find anything that helps much, so I hope you don't mind me asking here.

I am looking after the chickens for my mum, who's currently away on holiday for a week. I've tried to get hold of her, but her phone is turned off and I don't have any other contact details.

The hen is very lethargic, in that she has not moved since early this morning. When I checked on them last night they were all roosting, but this morning at about 8am she was stood on the floor of the coop while the other two were outside.

I have been checking on her every couple of hours and she has only moved once all day. She's just been standing in one spot mostly with her eyes shut. Her only reaction to being touched was to open her eyes. The chickens aren't shy, but they do usually move away if you go to touch them.

Around lunch time she was spitting up something that looked brownish and a bit like phlegm, but I haven't seen her do that since. She had her head under her wing when I checked around 5ish and before putting them to bed, which was probably the most movement she's exhibited all day.

Thinking back, her eggs have been soft for a week or two. I originally put this down to her not eating enough grit; but now she is visibly ill could there be more to it than that?

The other two hens have been laying normally and seem perfectly healthy at the moment. They have plenty of food and water, but I don't know what else I can do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. They are ex battery hens, if that helps.

Thanks in advance,

Tom.

[mandyballantyne]

Hi Tom,

Sorry to hear about your sick chicken.

I am not the best person to answer and I am sure better advice will be along soon......

You say she has been laying soft eggs, do you know when she last laid? Is her bum messy? It could be that she has an egg stuck or that one has broken inside her. The best thing would be to get her to a vet ASAP, sorry.

Chickens are very good at hiding symptoms (as I have found out) and can go down hill very quickly. If you look for posts by Richmondhens or sue chooks amongst others you will see losts of posts about this.


I would also get some oyster shell from a petshop/farm shop for the others as this is what they need to help produce hard shells.

Good luck with her and please let us know how she is doing.

Mandy

[elizajay]

She doesn't sound at all well and I would say she needs a trip to the vet. I am not experienced in chicken health matters, but she may be egg bound. Have they been wormed recently? Have you read through the chicken health sticky. You may see something there to help. Best wishes, not good when you are looking after them for someone else.

[Suechooks]

This bird does sound rather poorly. I think you need to get her seen by a vet sooner rather than later and in the meantime try and find someone experienced in poultry to have a look at her and advise you.
The brownish liquid could indicate sour crop. Did it smell unpleasant? You can get an anti-fungal medicine fom the vet (who will probably need to see the bird before prescibing) but you could try some natural yoghurt in the meantime.
The other option is she may be retaining membrane from a broken soft shelled egg which may be setting up an infection - this will need antibiotics again prescibed by a vet. You could try sitting her in a bowl of warm water to ty and expel any retained membrane etc. Dry her off well afterwards.
Neither of the remedies I've mentioned are a replacement for proper veterinary care but just a stop gap until you can get her seen.
Hope she's ok for you.
ps have just noticed they're ex-batts - they do have a tendency to deteriorate rapidly and it may be that she has simply come to the end of her natural time. All the above advice still applies but don't beat yourself up if she doesn't pull through - ex-batts health can be quite frail at best

[petal]

I was thinking sour crop too, she sounds very ill and probably needs to see a vet, how old is she?

[TomHB]

Thank you for all the advice. She is looking a bit more alert today and has been drinking water, which I don't think she did yesterday.

I did read through the chicken health sticky. It is a great resource, but when you are looking for something specific a long forum thread is not the easiest thing to find it in.

I'm not sure on their exact age, but Mum's had them for a little over a year so I'm guessing somewhere between 2 and 3?

I don't think what she was spitting up smelt bad.

I'm not sure when she last laid; usually only one of them lays a day and the other two have laid so I would assume it's been about 3 or 4 days. I will try the bowl of warm water and take her to the vet tomorrow if she's no better.

Thank you again for all the advice,

Tom.

[francesbean]

Dear Tom

I've had about half a dozen ex batts and all but two of them exhibited symptoms like yours before they eventually died (or on one occassion I had to cull her). I did try the vet on the 2nd occassion and despite a good rummage around internally, some oxitocin (to enduce a stuck egg (if there was one) to come out) and some antibiotics - she still lost the fight. Vet told me it was likely to be sterile egg peritonitis and little you can do about that. It seems to be something the poor ex batts are suseptible to.

Have you felt her tummy area - does it feel as though its full of water ? Does she have a messy bottom? Is she unsteady on her legs(or kinda bow legged) when she tries to walk ? Any of these are signs of the peritonitis.

I've not had any experience of sour crop, but I|'m sure petal or someone else can help you with that.

Good luck

francesbean

[TomHB]

Hi francesbean,

I just cleaned her up as best I could, and she did have a messy bottom. She is also very unsteady on her legs. When I put her down, she had a lot of trouble standing (she kept her foot clenched) and almost fell over once or twice. Walking seems to be difficult for her too. She is, at least, drinking water but I'm not sure if she's eating.

I also just spoke to the vet. He said even if I did take it in, there's little chance he'd be able to do anything and most of the time you can only tell what was wrong in a postmortem. I don't know if Mum would want me to take it in or not since it would cost a fair bit for low chances.

The feeling I had yesterday and still have today is that she's just not going to make it. It is sad, but it is the way of things and at least she's had a happy life for the last year or so.

Thank you,

Tom.

[TomHB]

I woke up this morning to a dead chicken. I just wanted to thank you all again for your advice.

Tom.

[Hans Mum]

sorry to hear she didnt make it, am sure your mum will be glad to know you did your best for her and as you said at least she had a year in the sun and freedom.

[chris]

Sorry she didn't make it through - but you sound as if you've been caring well for her.

Hope this isn't too morbid, but if you're unsure on how to dispose of the chicken, double bag it and put it in the general waste bin... Only posted this as I asked before what to do if/when a chicken dies and was informed this is the most hygenic way to dispose of them.

[TomHB]

Thank you for the kind words.

No, not too morbid. She's currently in a bin bag in the shed while I think about that exact thing. I am fairly sure that mum would want to bury her next to the cat, but she's not back until Saturday evening which raises the question what to do in the meantime. I was thinking about freezing her, but I don't think there's room in the freezer and I am not sure if its a good idea to put a dead chicken with food. It looks like the bins are collected today so I think all round it's safest to go with your suggestion.

Thanks,
Tom.

[chris]

I was going to mention that she may want to bury it but didn't post that incase she wasn't back for a while and then you asked what to do with it in the meantime (as, I don't know.. and as you say I don't think putting a chicken which hasn't been culled for consumption is a good idea). I also am not sure about burying them incase you have foxes/badgers around that'd be only too happy of the free meal [i.e. depth, etc]

It also may be a good idea to keep an eye on them for the next couple of days closely as you have been doing incase it's contagious. I doubt it is, as you mentioned the others were out and about ok.

[TomHB]

Well, its now double bagged and in the general refuse bin that'll be collected in the next couple of hours. I can't really think of any other option. I don't think putting it in the freezer with food is a good idea, and leaving it laying in the shed for a week is even less of a good idea. The ground is absolutely sodden with all the rain so burying it now will be difficult too. I doubt mum will like it, but I don't see that I have any other option.

I have been keeping an eye on the other two. Their eggs are normal and they look fine, though. They did sound a little mournful this morning, but that's probably just me anthropomorphizing.

Tom.

[Suechooks]

Sorry your girl didn't make it but as I said initially ex-batts health status can be quite frail and they hide it so well that by the time we notice they're sick it's often too late.
She sounds like she's had a lovely years freedom with your mum doing chickeny things and feeling the sun on her back and thats the best thing anyone can hope for with these girls - she had as long OUT of the cage as she spent in it.