One sick chicken in small, healthy flock??

[WellingtonCoop]

Hi all!

Over the years we have kept a small, tidy little coop of 6-10 hens. We currently have 6 hens, ranging from 2 to 3 years old. They have a warm and clean house, spacious run, and plenty of fresh herbs, veggies, grubs, layer food, calcium source, grit, and fresh ACV water every single day.

My question - I have ONE ailing chicken that never seems to be doing very well. She is one of my 3yr old girls, a Bielefelder, and she is also humungous. She is oddly the largest of the group and always seems very slow, unusually overweight, has a gentle limp, doesn't like to go outside in cold or rainy weather, and overall seems unwell. We have previously treated the flock for various parasites, worms etc, but she never seems to rebound. Currently, she is panting and making gasping breaths, which she has done in the past. But the other girls seem completely fine and very healthy! She also moulted most of the feathers around her bum nearly 5 months ago, and they never grew back, so she has a red and irritated-looking bottom, but fluffy feathers everywhere else on her body.

We lost a couple of her original flock sisters to weird and unknown ailments last year, but the rest of the flock has been doing VERY well since then..except for her.
I can't figure her out! Is she just a poorly chicken in general? I would greatly appreciate your insights!

 

[Tookie]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

Her "humongous" weight might be a good place to begin. Where is she heavy? All over? Just the area below the vent and behind the legs? Or is her belly large between and in front of the legs, pushing them apart so she waddles? Is her crop huge and pendulous?

The chickens that died, what were their symptoms before they died?

What is your location? What do you feed your chickens? Type of feed, sorts of treats and frequency?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Do they have fresh water in addition to the ACV water? There is a lot of debate about acv but most people on here agree it should be given with plain water as an alternative. Just a side note.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I had a chicken similarly not well after a molt. She was losing weight and ended up dying of a coccidiosis infestation before I figured out what was wrong. I had to treat my entire flock. I am also interested to know the symptoms of the other birds that died

 

[WellingtonCoop]

Her "humongous" weight might be a good place to begin. Where is she heavy? All over? Just the area below the vent and behind the legs? Or is her belly large between and in front of the legs, pushing them apart so she waddles? Is her crop huge and pendulous?

The chickens that died, what were their symptoms before they died?

What is your location? What do you feed your chickens? Type of feed, sorts of treats and frequency?

Thanks for your reply!
She is large everywhere, both rump and belly. She does have a waddle, which we have always attributed to her weight. She just seems like an unusually hefty girl. The rest of our flock is considerably smaller, including her original flock sisters. She's always been much, much larger than the others since her early days.

The other chickens had absolutely no symptoms before they died. We check them twice daily and treat them like family pets, so they get plenty of observational monitoring and attention.

We live in Ontario, Canada. There is currently a major warning for avian flu here, but she has been poorly long before that. Our flock is also fully enclosed in their run, and do not have any interactions with other wildlife. We don't do much in the way of treats. Occasionally black sunflower seeds and mealworms, but daily they just get a very small ration of chicken-appropriate kitchen scraps (older lettuce, cooked scrambled eggs, roasted leftover veggies etc), and a supply of foraged herbs like oregano and lemon balm etc. Their layer feed is the standard giant bag from the farm store, which we securely store in a sealed container for freshness, which is fed to them daily.

 

[WellingtonCoop]

Do they have fresh water in addition to the ACV water? There is a lot of debate about acv but most people on here agree it should be given with plain water as an alternative. Just a side note.

Hi there!
They have two water dispensers, one with a little drizzle of ACV, and the other fresh water replenished daily.

 

[WellingtonCoop]

I had a chicken similarly not well after a molt. She was losing weight and ended up dying of a coccidiosis infestation before I figured out what was wrong. I had to treat my entire flock. I am also interested to know the symptoms of the other birds that died

Hello The other chickens had absolutely no symptoms before they died. We check them twice daily and treat them like family pets, so they get plenty of observational monitoring and attention. It was shocking and sad. They have been treated for mites, as well as coccidiosis. She seems to never have recovered from anything she's had, and we don't know what the problem is at this point. Poor girl

 

[azygous]

Were the chickens that died the same breed and age as this sick hen? This could be a breed weakness.

It's important to narrow down where her fat is deposited. She's a fat hen is a little too broad a description.

An accumulation of fat between the legs that hangs down low and pushes the legs apart so as to force the hen to waddle as she walks (the penguin walk) points to liver disease.

Fat mostly below the vent points to reproductive disease, especially if the skin is bald and very red.

A heavy pendulous crop is a slow crop and nutrients aren't absorbed properly so the hen is malnourished. This crop disorder gives the appearance of a fat hen as it jiggles and sways when she walks. This occurs when a hen's chest muscles lack tone and it isn't supported enough to drain completely each night as a hen sleeps. You need to check the crop in the morning before the hen eats to see if it's properly emptied.