Purple and drooping comb, no appetite, poopy butt, etc.

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong with my hen? Could it be organ failure? She is an older (unsure of the age but definitely 4+) RIR. Her name is Reba.

Here are her symptoms:
-Drooping comb with the ends turning purple
-No appetite (refused scratch just now)
-Poopy butt - I noticed it was a little poopy the past 2 days but thought she got into something. Today it is noticeably worse.
-Lethargy - moving slow and eyes are half shut sometimes. She is choosing to be away from the flock too.

This hen has had health issues for a while but recently had been somewhat stable. She still has issues with laying though, despite my efforts. I see her in the nest nearly every day, but her eggs have brittle shells and the others just eat them. And yes, I have plenty of calcium and have supplemented her in the past. It continues to be a problem with the broken/eaten eggs, but at least Reba seemed to be feeling alright lately. Now it seems she has taken a turn for the worst. Advice?

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

So I decided it wouldn't hurt to give her a syringe full of egg yolk, which she did take, and put her in the bath to soak some of the poop off her butt. After I put her back outside though, I realized that it actually looks like her bottom is swollen! This looks extremely similar to what happened to my two Golden Comets who got salpingitis and/or some sort of reproductive cancer and died.

Anyone else have thoughts on all of this? I want to do what I can to help her, but if she starts going down the road my others hens did, I will begin to think about humanely dispatching her so she doesn't suffer like they did. But is there any hope? Anything I can do?

She was one of my first hens and I hate to see this happen to her.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Bump!

I really need help with this hen if anyone has suggestions.

 

[Seed223]

Just curious about what happened to your hen? The same thing is happening to our hen right now and I think she is in the process of dying

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Just curious about what happened to your hen? The same thing is happening to our hen right now and I think she is in the process of dying

I'm so sorry to hear this, and so sorry I didn't see this until now! Our hen is still with us. After I bathed her and gave her the egg yolk, she seemed to perk up the next morning with her comb being a little less purple and droopy. I also put garlic and hot pepper powder in their water. Idk what helped, but she has been doing better. She is maybe at about 80% her normal self, although I noticed a poopy butt again today.

How is your hen?

 

[LaFleche]

When did you last deworm?

And what exactly including treats are you feeding?

As her shells are described to be brittle it would be useful to give her additional calcium citrate 600+ D3 to form a proper eggshell. One tablet daily for 7-10 consecutive days.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

When did you last deworm?

And what exactly including treats are you feeding?

As her shells are described to be brittle it would be useful to give her additional calcium citrate 600+ D3 to form a proper eggshell. One tablet daily for 7-10 consecutive days.

I've never dewormed, but I also was not able to locate worms in her poop. Although I know they aren't always visible. Does this sound like worms to you?

I've done the calcium citrate thing many times, but I think I would have to do it 365 days a year to get her eggshells harder, and I'm still not even sure that would work. She gets layer feed, plus ground eggshells free choice, plus flaked oyster shells free choice. I see her eating them all the time. I have no clue why this wouldn't be enough calcium. It just makes me wonder if because of her age and how large her eggs have gotten, it's hard for her to make such a large shell that's also thick.

 

[LaFleche]

I've never dewormed, but I also was not able to locate worms in her poop. Although I know they aren't always visible. Does this sound like worms to you?

I've done the calcium citrate thing many times, but I think I would have to do it 365 days a year to get her eggshells harder, and I'm still not even sure that would work. She gets layer feed, plus ground eggshells free choice, plus flaked oyster shells free choice. I see her eating them all the time. I have no clue why this wouldn't be enough calcium. It just makes me wonder if because of her age and how large her eggs have gotten, it's hard for her to make such a large shell that's also thick.

Age can contribute and of course the size of the eggs as well.

Worms can deprive the bird of important nutrients that would be needed to form a proper eggshell. They can also cause obstructions of the digestive tract and injure the lining. Sometimes they even ascend into the oviduct causing inflammation/malfunction of the shell gland. When ascending even further they can damage the ovaries too.

I would deworm her thoroughly and add some vitamin C to her daily calcium tablet therapy as it will help with calcium uptake.

 

[Seed223]

I'm so sorry to hear this, and so sorry I didn't see this until now! Our hen is still with us. After I bathed her and gave her the egg yolk, she seemed to perk up the next morning with her comb being a little less purple and droopy. I also put garlic and hot pepper powder in their water. Idk what helped, but she has been doing better. She is maybe at about 80% her normal self, although I noticed a poopy butt again today.

How is your hen?

I’m so happy to hear that your hen did well and is still with you! Ours sadly passed on Wednesday . It’s been a very sad week for us. We lost a different hen on Sunday…. I’m really hoping we don’t lose another one!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Age can contribute and of course the size of the eggs as well.

Worms can deprive the bird of important nutrients that would be needed to form a proper eggshell. They can also cause obstructions of the digestive tract and injure the lining. Sometimes they even ascend into the oviduct causing inflammation/malfunction of the shell gland. When ascending even further they can damage the ovaries too.

I would deworm her thoroughly and add some vitamin C to her daily calcium tablet therapy as it will help with calcium uptake.

Thanks for the advice. Is it okay to deworm if I'm not certain it's worms? Do I have to worm the whole flock? I have never done this before so sorry for newbie questions.