Diarrhea, lethargy, and not eating

[PBAndAlice]

Hi guys, one of my Tractor Supply Easter egger hens, ~3 years old, has been lethargic since yesterday morning, looks like she hasn't been preening her tail, and she has watery diarrhea and her fluff is all dirty from it. Her comb got paler than usual (she's always had a big floppy comb though). She seems to be a bit "out of it," walking all slow, and not running away from me, and only picks at food and treats, she's been drinking plenty though. Not sure if she lost weight bc she doesn't like being picked up so it's been a bit, but she feels lighter than the others (she's previously been heavier). Her crop is mostly liquid with a bit of solid, it emptied at night, no smell or impaction as far as I can tell. She just kinda lays on the ground with her feathers fluffed a bit. Parents said yesterday she was sprawled out on the ground in the run. Weather has been mid-high 70s the last few days. We have 4 other girls, none have similar symptoms.
I've been working double shifts fri&sat so just got to dealing w this. I'm worried about electrolyte imbalance from the drinking + diarrhea but no eating, but I don't know what's actually causing this. Advice highly appreciated, attached pictures are her (her name is Cookie). My phone color corrects things for some reason but her comb is a lot paler in person.

 

[PBAndAlice]

Some things I've considered are giving a bath, isolating, feeding scrambled eggs or feed mash, and giving electrolytes water, should I do any of those or something else entirely? Also I have work again in 3 hours so hopefully I can do at least something before then.

 

[dawg53]

You really need to wash off and clean her rear end, remove all the feces stuck in her fluff and feathers. It can be a cause of Fly Strike, in which maggots from flies will literally eat her from the inside out.

Additionally, inspect her closely for lice and/or mites crawling around on her body. Again, pay particular attention to her rear end.

Consider worming her, and your other birds with Valbazen. Dosage is 1/2ml for a 5lb hen given orally using a syringe without a needle. Repeat dosing in ten days.

It's also possible she might be eggbound. If that's the case, soak her in a container of warm water up to her sides. The warm water will relax her innards. Put one hand under her while she is soaking and gently massage her front to rear. The massaging will encourage her to move the egg along. Do this for 30 minutes while she's soaking.
Wear a disposable glove and gently put a little olive oil or vegetable oil just inside her vent, it will make it easier for her to lay the stuck egg.
Repeat as necessary until she lays an egg. (If this is the case.)

 

[PBAndAlice]

You really need to wash off and clean her rear end, remove all the feces stuck in her fluff and feathers. It can be a cause of Fly Strike, in which maggots from flies will literally eat her from the inside out.

Additionally, inspect her closely for lice and/or mites crawling around on her body. Again, pay particular attention to her rear end.

Consider worming her, and your other birds with Valbazen. Dosage is 1/2ml for a 5lb hen given orally using a syringe without a needle. Repeat dosing in ten days.

It's also possible she might be eggbound. If that's the case, soak her in a container of warm water up to her sides. The warm water will relax her innards. Put one hand under her while she is soaking and gently massage her front to rear. The massaging will encourage her to move the egg along. Do this for 30 minutes while she's soaking.
Wear a disposable glove and gently put a little olive oil or vegetable oil just inside her vent, it will make it easier for her to lay the stuck egg.
Repeat as necessary until she lays an egg. (If this is the case.)

Hi, thanks for the reply, sorry I didn't get back to you. I've been giving her daily baths to clean off her fluff, and then soaking in warm water with epsom salt for 30 min + massaging. I also gave calcium supplements daily because I heard those help with binding. She hasn't layed yet, but I think since it's been 4 days it's safe to say it's not egg binding? Cuz she'd only live 2 days AFAIK, correct me if I'm wrong though. I will continue cleaning her though of course.

I checked during each bath too and I see no signs of external parasites, injury, or anything else that could cause this that I can see outside.

She's been eating and drinking a bit, not a lot but some, still sitting down a lot but got up and moving when I brought treats and cleaned, just walking slow though. Her poop has much more solid in it but still a bit watery.

I couldn't afford the Valbazen (I work below min wage lol) but I researched and gave a bit of Safe-Guard fenbendazole equine paste to all 5 birds instead.

Things have been up and down. I isolated her as of yesterday to monitor better. Morning time she was eating and drinking a little, standing and moving, and clucking a bit. Night time she won't eat or move much, but she also could just be sleepy. I don't know what else could be wrong at this point or how long the dewormer takes to work. All I know is that she really likes scrambled eggs lol. Anything else I should try?

 

[PBAndAlice]

Hi, thanks for the reply, sorry I didn't get back to you. I've been giving her daily baths to clean off her fluff, and then soaking in warm water with epsom salt for 30 min + massaging. I also gave calcium supplements daily because I heard those help with binding. She hasn't layed yet, but I think since it's been 4 days it's safe to say it's not egg binding? Cuz she'd only live 2 days AFAIK, correct me if I'm wrong though. I will continue cleaning her though of course.

I checked during each bath too and I see no signs of external parasites, injury, or anything else that could cause this that I can see outside.

She's been eating and drinking a bit, not a lot but some, still sitting down a lot but got up and moving when I brought treats and cleaned, just walking slow though. Her poop has much more solid in it but still a bit watery.

I couldn't afford the Valbazen (I work below min wage lol) but I researched and gave a bit of Safe-Guard fenbendazole equine paste to all 5 birds instead.

Things have been up and down. I isolated her as of yesterday to monitor better. Morning time she was eating and drinking a little, standing and moving, and clucking a bit. Night time she won't eat or move much, but she also could just be sleepy. I don't know what else could be wrong at this point or how long the dewormer takes to work. All I know is that she really likes scrambled eggs lol. Anything else I should try?

Update: I made one scrambled egg and mixed it with lots of water and dissolved some feed in it, and she is now eating and drinking the weird soup stuff ravenously. I haven't seen her with this much appetite since before she got sick. Still keeping her isolated and monitored though. She ate about half of it so I'll probably leave her be for the night.

 

[PBAndAlice]

Yet another bath today, seemingly no change in behavior from yesterday. I have work tomorrow so I won't be able to watch her as often, I'll make time to clean her if I need to though. Really need some advice here because I don't know what's wrong.

Also probably worth noting that my parents got mad at me for something dumb (forgetting a chore iirc) and decided to spray paint directly next to Cookie's isolation crate on a humid day with no wind. Really appreciate that one. Hope it didn't do too much to her but I'm worried.

 

[PBAndAlice]

UPDATE: Cookie's crop is impacted.
Checked again this morning and her crop was full and hard. I never really noticed before because she was only really eating eggs and water, so in the mornings it felt mostly empty and soft. She had lots of feed pellet mash last night (as in before I put her to bed; I haven't been leaving food in the crate overnight so I can monitor her crop) so that must be why I noticed it this time. However I know she has been having some food go through because 1. she's still here with no worsening of her state and 2. everyday her morning crop isn't as full as it was before she went to bed.

I've read through the crop issues thread SO many times as of last year (when SBC had pendulous/sour crop) so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing at this point lol. Just got off my first shift so I will be heading to the store shortly to pick up some stool softener and yogurt, I'll also try the oil + massage. Hoping I can handle this but I think I got it.

I think this happened because the girls got out of the coop the day before we mowed the lawn so there was a LOT of long grass that might have caused an issue. The other girls seem fine as it's been a week, but I'll keep an eye on them as well.