HELP! Sudden weight loss and death in hens

[PeepingK]

I’m heart broken that I have to make this post but I really don’t want to lose my girl…
About a week or so ago I noticed that my BCM hen, Poppy, was very underweight. Thought maybe it was due to her moulting (she’s 11 months old) but she’s gotten progressively worse over this past week, she’s even thinner than she was a week ago and is now acting very lethargic. This morning I found her just sitting in the corner of the coop puffed up with her eyes closed and comb pale
She was eating fine a couple days ago but today she doesn’t want to eat or drink any water. I don’t know if it’s coccidiosis because no one else in the flock is sick at the moment, but I’m treating them all with corid anyway, which I started this morning.

What concerns me the most is that it could be something more serious like Marek’s…

A little over a month ago I noticed my sweet little WTB pullet, Ginger, go through very similar symptoms. She stopped laying eggs, which I thought was just from lack of daylight, but when I saw her starting to act strange is when I noticed how thin she was, I’m talking no muscle around the keel bone. I thought it could be worms so I dewormed the entire flock, but she ended up passing away 2 days later anyway.
Her symptoms were: extremely underweight, pale comb/shrivelled comb and lethargic. The only difference between her symptoms and Poppy’s is that Ginger was actually interested in eating all the way up until the morning when I found her half dead.

The problem is that I don’t know how long either of them were underweight before they started acting lethargic.. by the time I realized that they were sick they were already skin and bones.

Could this be coccidiosis or something more severe?

I know this forum gets a lot of the similar questions about sick chickens (which probably gets annoying after a while) so I truly appreciate any advice or insight.

 

[Tookie]

When was her last egg? How full is her crop as of now?
What do her droppings look like?

 

[azygous]

What worming med did you use? They don't all kill all species of worms.

 

[PeepingK]

When was her last egg? How full is her crop as of now?
What do her droppings look like?

Her last egg was in the middle of august, but she was perfectly healthy when she stopped laying, and then she went into moult.
I haven’t caught her pooping yet.

 

[PeepingK]

What worming med did you use? They don't all kill all species of worms.

I used a broad spectrum one, it’s called Aquasol.

 

[azygous]

Did you do a two week followup treatment?

If you haven't given the second round of the worming med, you can do it safely while treating with the Corid.

The other possibility is a bacterial infection. If you can find an oral antibiotic, you may give that safely also along with the two other treamtments.

 

[PeepingK]

Did you do a two week followup treatment?

If you haven't given the second round of the worming med, you can do it safely while treating with the Corid.

The other possibility is a bacterial infection. If you can find an oral antibiotic, you may give that safely also along with the two other treamtments.

No I never did the follow up… the vet just said to put it in their water for 5 consecutive days and that’s it. I never saw worms in any of their poops even once so I always questioned if they even had worms or not.

What would cause a a bacterial infection like that?

 

[azygous]

There are so many bacteria everywhere, outside as well as inside a chicken. Those normally residing inside a chicken can become too numerous for her body to handle if she happens to have her immune system slide for some reason. Bacteria outside is everywhere, as well. She may have consumed an insect contaminated by bacteria or eaten something off the ground that had been growing bacteria. It happens in my flock from time to time. An oral antibiotic usually handles it and the chicken recovers.

The symptoms are not really consistent with an avian virus, so that's why I'm looking at worms or an infection for the weight loss. Chickens can have a worm load and none ever appear in the feces. All worming meds should be given two weeks apart so as to get any worm eggs that hatched since the first treatment. Worm meds do not kill the worm eggs.

Another reason for lethargy and weight loss is bullying. Can you recall ever seeing this hen being pecked and bullied? This can cause starvation if she is too afraid to stand up for herself at the feeder.

 

[PeepingK]

There are so many bacteria everywhere, outside as well as inside a chicken. Those normally residing inside a chicken can become too numerous for her body to handle if she happens to have her immune system slide for some reason. Bacteria outside is everywhere, as well. She may have consumed an insect contaminated by bacteria or eaten something off the ground that had been growing bacteria. It happens in my flock from time to time. An oral antibiotic usually handles it and the chicken recovers.

The symptoms are not really consistent with an avian virus, so that's why I'm looking at worms or an infection for the weight loss. Chickens can have a worm load and none ever appear in the feces. All worming meds should be given two weeks apart so as to get any worm eggs that hatched since the first treatment. Worm meds do not kill the worm eggs.

Another reason for lethargy and weight loss is bullying. Can you recall ever seeing this hen being pecked and bullied? This can cause starvation if she is too afraid to stand up for herself at the feeder.

Well I have great news!! Since Ive started giving the flock corid she seems to be doing much better, so it was coccidiosis in the end! I’m relieved, thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post.
Unfortunately I have another hen that seems to be sick with something and it’s not cocci. I’m thinking of giving her some colloidal silver but I don’t know if it would interact with the Corid?

 

[azygous]

It's doubtful the silver can make much headway with a serious bacterial infection. She may need an antibiotic. What do you have on hand?