Hi everyone, I noticed my red sex-link has been acting semi lethargic for the past few days. Now I say semi lethargic because she is acting some what aware of her surroundings and will still come to the gate to be let outside does come running for treats and her comb and wattels are still red, but then she's acting very slow, puffed out, sitting a lot, refusing to roost at night or unable to jump up, and is not really eating or drinking just picking at stuff. I brought her inside and I'm keeping her in a cooler room so she doesn't get to warm but she's not freezing either. Since it's winter my egg production has dropped to about one egg a day and I have eight hens. The egg is usually from my Easter egger so I really don't think my red sex-link laying at all. I did give her a quick bath and checked for mites/lice and I didn't see anything suspicious. After the bath I soaked her in epsom salt for 15 to 20 minutes just in case if she is egg bound or injured her legs/feet. She's giving me a really hard time with eating and drinking. I can get her to take small sips of water and the only thing I can get her to eat is yogurt, bread, and meal worms. I have made scrambled eggs, gave her layer feed, cut up strawberries, gave her carrot peels, cut up parsley, and she picks at them a little bit but won't eat it fully. She is having really runny green poops and they smell absolutely terrible I've never smelt something like this before. She's also kind of uneasy on her feet and will flop to one side sometimes. I'm really not sure what to treat for because I'm nervous she got into the moldy pile of pumpkins I was in the process of getting rid of. I've never had an issue with them before they usually just stay away. She also likes to venture on her own when free ranging so I'm not sure if she ate something bad. The ground has been hard and covered in snow, but I did let them out when we had a really unusual warm day and all the snow was pretty much gone. She was fine one day and then very ill the next. Attached is the picture of the poop she's been having, any advice will be greatly appreciated!
*Graphic Picture* 3 year old hen with nasty green poo
- Thread starter jzervas92
- Start date
Hi everyone, I noticed my red sex-link has been acting semi lethargic for the past few days. Now I say semi lethargic because she is acting some what aware of her surroundings and will still come to the gate to be let outside does come running for treats and her comb and wattels are still red, but then she's acting very slow, puffed out, sitting a lot, refusing to roost at night or unable to jump up, and is not really eating or drinking just picking at stuff. I brought her inside and I'm keeping her in a cooler room so she doesn't get to warm but she's not freezing either. Since it's winter my egg production has dropped to about one egg a day and I have eight hens. The egg is usually from my Easter egger so I really don't think my red sex-link laying at all. I did give her a quick bath and checked for mites/lice and I didn't see anything suspicious. After the bath I soaked her in epsom salt for 15 to 20 minutes just in case if she is egg bound or injured her legs/feet. She's giving me a really hard time with eating and drinking. I can get her to take small sips of water and the only thing I can get her to eat is yogurt, bread, and meal worms. I have made scrambled eggs, gave her layer feed, cut up strawberries, gave her carrot peels, cut up parsley, and she picks at them a little bit but won't eat it fully. She is having really runny green poops and they smell absolutely terrible I've never smelt something like this before. She's also kind of uneasy on her feet and will flop to one side sometimes. I'm really not sure what to treat for because I'm nervous she got into the moldy pile of pumpkins I was in the process of getting rid of. I've never had an issue with them before they usually just stay away. She also likes to venture on her own when free ranging so I'm not sure if she ate something bad. The ground has been hard and covered in snow, but I did let them out when we had a really unusual warm day and all the snow was pretty much gone. She was fine one day and then very ill the next. Attached is the picture of the poop she's been having, any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Can you take her to a vet?Green poop can mean Liver failure.
- Thread starter
- #3
A lot of the vets in my area won't treat chickens, and the only exotic vet in my area is extremely expensive. Is this common in older hens? Am I doing something wrong should I be feeding my older hens special feed because of their age? Is there anything I could do to help her? I can call some vets tomorrow to see if they're willing to look.
You might call your regular vet to ask if you can bring in a few fresh droppings for a fecal float and gram stain, to look for coccidiosis, worms, and enteritis. With some of her symptoms and her droppings, I would think about possible internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis, very common in older hens.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #5
So far all of her droppings have been extremely runny will they still be able to test them? Is there a way I should collect the feces where I won't compromise it? Do you think I should be treating her for anything in the meantime, my vet takes forever when I have to give them feces samples for my dogs I can only imagine it would be worse with chickens.
- Thread starter
- #6
I took her to the vet today and they diagnosed it as egg yolk peritonitis. They gave me antibiotics to give her, but they don't think the outlook is good. I really don't know much about this and plan to do more research. Is there anything else I can do for her?
kelsigall
In the Brooder
- May 5, 2016
- 12
- 0
- 22
Peritonitis is scary. There are a lot of bad ending stories in the forums. However my experience turned out good! My hen had it and I had to keep her in the house about 2+ weeks trying to get water, food, and antibiotics down her. I would let her outside for a few minutes everyday with the flock. It got to the point were she wouldn't move at all and her combs were white. That day I promised myself to put her out of her misery the next morning. Morning came around and she had eaten a little food by herself and started to walk around. Next few days she got stronger and better color. I have no idea how it happened. Just dont give up hope! Miracles can happen. She didnt lay for a good 3 months after this happened and now only lays a few eggs a week.
- Thread starter
- #8
What antibiotic has the vet prescribed? Although EYP is not something that you wanted to hear, at least you can try and make her as comfortable as possible. She may have good days and bad days, days when she will walk around and forage, and eat attractive food, such as chopped scrambled egg, canned tuna, and chicken layer feed mixed with a lot of water into a thin oatmeal consistency. I like plain probiotic yogurt, about a teaspoonful, added to the feed a few days a week also. That is especially important during and after antibiotics. Read as much as you can, and there are dozens of threads here to search for. Speckled Hen and many others have written threads over the years which are informative. Make some plans about how to humanely put her down when she is not having a good life, but enjoy her while she is having a good day. Sorry that she has EYP, but it is very common in hens over 2 years old. Here is some info where to start:
http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/tag/laying-issues/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...eproductive-system/egg-peritonitis-in-poultry
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/526089/egg-yolk-peritonitis
kelsigall
In the Brooder
- May 5, 2016
- 12
- 0
- 22
I made up a very liquidy mash and used a pipette/syringe to squeeze it into her mouth. She didnt like it when i tried to open her beak so i just dribbled a drop at a time onto her beak and she would "lick" it up. I figured fluids were more important then solid food. I used apple sauce, electrolyte/vitamin powder, and a little of her food crumbles and mixed it really good with warm water. I tried giving this to her 3 times a day. I'd have to hold her and try for 15 min just to get a little in her. I also always had small solid food available at all times. This was a mash made with crumbles, water, yogurt, apple sauce and scrambled eggs. She loves grapes so i shredded them into small pieces and put them in her water and mash to encourage her to peck at it. Even with all this she barely got anything down thats why I was so surprised she made it. Lots of food wasted haha but it was always nice when she did show some interest and ate a little.
One think that may have helped was that another chicken was attacked by a coyote at this time so I put them into a extra large dog crate together for a few nights while she healed from a puncture wound. It was after this she started to get better. I dont know if it was coincidence or just having a friend around helped. Make sure they get along good though.
One think that may have helped was that another chicken was attacked by a coyote at this time so I put them into a extra large dog crate together for a few nights while she healed from a puncture wound. It was after this she started to get better. I dont know if it was coincidence or just having a friend around helped. Make sure they get along good though.
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