henfriend1998
In the Brooder
- Jul 15, 2020
- 7
- 5
- 24
my two and a half year old buff brahma hen Frida hasn’t eaten for two days now, has been not acting like herself, standing kind of hunched and fluffed up with her head near her body and her eyes closed, and only pooping clear, thick (almost mucousy) faintly reddish brown droppings with thick white segments that get caught in her feathers, and very small amounts of brownish green poop sometimes. she’s been drinking electrolyte probiotic water with garlic in it, but shes refused any kind of food, even all her favorite treats, and its not like her at all, and i’m so worried because its been two days and shes getting less alert and more lethargic it seems like. for context, this is a hen that has had chronic softshell egg laying issues since her first year. she’s known to lay on and off, and so does most my flock in extreme heat (i’m in texas) and cold weather. when we catch her struggling, we always figure shes eggbound. we’ve found several softshelled eggs or their skins in the coop, and in the last month this happened again. she was pooping out egg white and egg yolk and i knew an egg had broken inside her, and i hoped it was soft. we brought her to the vet who seemed like he could care less and was incredibly rough examining her. he did a fecal float test and she came back with a high worm count. he said her symptoms were most likely from a severe case of worms and not an egg laying issue, and he gave her an antibiotic injection and a dose of ivermectin (i was sent home with a dose for my other four hens). shortly after we got home, she laid the empty skin of a softshelled egg, and seemed to perk up from there. she had lost a lot of weight from the worms but still had more of an appetite than she did now, so we kept her in from the 100+ degree heat and kept her on an enriched diet with plenty of free choice calcium. they’re also eating a 16% layer feed. after about a week she got back to herself and was put back out with the rest of the flock. now yesterday morning shes acting how she was last time we thought she was having trouble laying. she was isolating herself, not moving or making much noise, and not eating at all, which is nothing like Frida. she was standing how i described, like she would when she was struggling with a soft egg, but without her tail down. when she walked it was almost like it was in slow motion. me and my partner brought her inside and started running her an epsom salt bath to soak her vent, and we started calling around for a new vet, since we had several bad experiences with our last one. she seemed to perk up a bit later on in the day, but she was noticeably not herself at all. she started yawning a lot before the appointment and on the way, and the vet noticed. he checked to see if she was eggbound and she wasnt. he tested for worms and she didn’t have any. he said her droppings weren’t egg whites but something else. he checked her vent and inside her mouth and eventually he told my partner she had a fungal infection, likely in her crop because she kept adjusting it. the only thing he said was weird is that her crop wasn’t full and squishy and didn’t seem impacted. i can feel it now and it seems clear. he said he thinks its something like sour crop, but her crop is empty. her breath and droppings dont smell strong to me. has anyone had something like this happen? i’ve heard crop issues can sometimes be related to reproductive issues, and i know she has always had egg issues here and there. she hasn’t laid today or yesterday, but last time she was sick and staying inside she didn’t lay. i’m mainly concerned she’ll starve herself to death. she hasn’t touched any kind of food in two days, shes completely uninterested. what do i do? syringe feed her liquid foods? is there any way i can jumpstart her appetite? and how can i make sure she puts weight back on fast? this last month or so shes been struggling with her health so much, i just want to get to the bottom of this. my five girls are my babies, i love them more than anything. i dont know what to do. we tried calling the vet to ask if its normal for her to still be doing so bad, but they couldn't get back to us and now they’re closed, and shes still not eating and she seems even less alert and like herself. they’re closed tomorrow too. what should i do? what does this sound like? her crop is empty, tiny and maybe a little squishy from the electrolyte garlic water shes drank. but i tried chopped hardboiled eggs, greek yogurt, her favorite fruits and veggies, a wet mash of her feed, and she wants nothing to do with any of it. and she’s just stood in the same place on my floor, fluffed up with her head close to her body, all day with her eyes closed. not wandering around or making noise or eating or preening. at least she was preening herself yesterday. the vet gave me itraconazole to give her twice a day to treat the fungal infection. is there anything else i can do to keep her strong? how do i get her to eat? what do you think is wrong with her? some sour crop and maybe vent gleet symptoms but not all, but shes so inactive and the not eating for two days is something i’ve never had a hen do. i swear in the past i’ve seen her spit up clear watery fluid before, maybe its a chronic crop issue that is worse now for some reason. i know antibiotics can cause fungal infections so maybe thats it. please reach out if you have any idea what could be wrong or what i could do. she’s so skinny, i’m so afraid for her. i’ll include pictures. these hens are my best friends, and i love Frida so much. i would give anything not to lose her, thank you so much.
