Advice needed for sick chicken please

[Dinnerlady]

My poor Brenda is really poorly, she’s a hybrid hen nearly 5 yrs old. She’s had a poopy butt but that wasn’t worrying me as she often has and several vet visits could never determine why or anything was wrong, so long as she was her normal greedy feisty self we’ve just accepted the fact that she’s a bit of a dirty girty. But in the last 2 days she has not been herself at all. Confining herself to the coop today and now hardly eating, even her favs of mealworms bacon and cheese. Her mucky bum has definitely gotten worse. I gave her an Epsom salt bath, which was way easier to do than normal as she was easy to catch and just sat there not trying to escape. There are no worms in her poop. Now her poop is really runny and kind of tarry. Up until yesterday she was running to the treat bowl still but now not interested. She’s suddenly lost a lot of weight too and her comb is floppy. She hasn’t laid an egg in nearly a year. My husband thinks that she’s just come to the end of her time and she is shutting down due to old age. I’ve attached some pics in case anyone has some advice but I’m worried she won’t even last the night. As it’s the Easter holidays the vet was closed but I’m going as soon as I can, in the meantime what should I be doing to help her?
The pic with the lots of yellow was how her poops were about 3 days ago.
My other 2 girlies are fit and healthy, they all free range in the garden and regularly have prebiotics.

 

[alinas2010]

So sorry to hear about Brenda. 5 is pretty impressive for a hybrid, what kind is she? A CQ? Mine are going on 3 this summer. They’re funny little hens. I’m going to ask a lot of questions, apologies in advance, but they will help the smart folks here help you.

What is her diet and how often is she getting treats, also what are the treats?

Is her crop emptying overnight?

What does her belly feel like? In between her legs. Compare it to your other hens if you are having a hard time feeling.

Have you checked her for lice and mites?

Has she ever been dewormed before?

 

[Dinnerlady]

Not sure what she is, she’s brown like a farmyard hen.

They are all fed organic layers pellets. Treats are; morning, fermented mixed grains, oats and layers pellets with Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of live mealworms. Evening, corn with cucumber and grapes and Garvo mix.
They have a prebiotic too daily and calcium drops in the water along with vitamins maybe once a month.


In addition they sometimes get eggs and leftovers…. They love lasagne

No lice or mites, legs and feet are good, hard to feel her belly as she’s now so bony but nothing feels abnormal. I checked her all over for lumps when I gave her a warm bath 3 days ago.

Crop is definitely empty.

Her poops are now a kind of yellow colour runny.

She had a bit of egg this morning and a tiny bit of yoghurt, but she hasn’t ventured out from the coop and its area for 2 days now. They all have free run of the garden. Coop is cleaned out and disinfected daily. Run area is bark but raked over and sanitised weekly.
The other 2 girlies are fine, v fit and healthy so it can’t be a food issue.

It’s so sad to see her just sitting alone all day, she was definitely top dog of the 3 of them, wherever Brenda went Jean and dolly always followed. And Brenda was always first at the treat bowl she’d come running like race horse to get there first and get all the best bits. Now I’m having to coax her to eat.

Do you think she is coming to the end and the runny poop and weight loss is her body shutting down?

 

[alinas2010]

Aw poor girl. I’m not sure what it looks like when a chicken shuts down per se, but I have had one with a reproductive infection that did have very messy, liquid poop. It didn’t really look like Brenda’s, though. I’m going to tag some educators for their assessment @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous.

 

[azygous]

Hybrid breeds are very susceptible to reproductive cancer. The first clue that a hen might be developing cancer is the eggs stop. There may be no other symptoms until the tumors become large enough to start blocking the reproductive and digestive tracts. Then you will notice the hen losing weight, then becoming lethargic.

Yes, your Brenda is very likely experiencing her final days. Living to age five for a hybrid is actually impressive. We usually lose them by age three.

 

[2 Acres]

Hybrid breeds are very susceptible to reproductive cancer. The first clue that a hen might be developing cancer is the eggs stop. There may be no other symptoms until the tumors become large enough to start blocking the reproductive and digestive tracts. Then you will notice the hen losing weight, then becoming lethargic.

Yes, your Brenda is very likely experiencing her final days. Living to age five for a hybrid is actually impressive. We usually lose them by age three.

I just went through this with a 5yo Speckled Sussex. She stopped eating and drinking. Abdomen was pretty firm (mass inside).

 

[Dinnerlady]

I’ll have another feel of her belly as this seems the most likely, us girls never get it easy do we

 

[Dinnerlady]

Hybrid breeds are very susceptible to reproductive cancer. The first clue that a hen might be developing cancer is the eggs stop. There may be no other symptoms until the tumors become large enough to start blocking the reproductive and digestive tracts. Then you will notice the hen losing weight, then becoming lethargic.

Yes, your Brenda is very likely experiencing her final days. Living to age five for a hybrid is actually impressive. We usually lose them by age three.

 

[Dinnerlady]

I guessed as much But she’s had her best life, bossing around her girlie friends, free ranging in the garden with delicious treats every day. I’m just hoping the other two won’t pine for her, she’s been such a character to watch in the garden daily for 5 years

 

[alinas2010]

I guessed as much But she’s had her best life, bossing around her girlie friends, free ranging in the garden with delicious treats every day. I’m just hoping the other two won’t pine for her, she’s been such a character to watch in the garden daily for 5 years

I’m so sorry it came to this. It’s tough watching them suffer, I wish we could do more about those reproductive issues. Sounds like she had a wonderful, long life with you and her friends. I lost one very similarly and someone told me that they give us so many good days and a few really bad ones. I found it very comforting to think of that way.