Lethargic chicken

[clucksnducklins]

I just noticed today my head is acting very lethargic and dazed.. and was laying in the chicken coop and didn't want to get up she appears to have scaly legs and her poop looks very abnormal.. I don't know what is going on with her, any advice, please help

 

[SmiYa0126]

Does she have lice too? There's white specks in her feathers. Can you post pictures of her legs?
Tagging some experts here, @Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

Location.
Weather.
Photo of the poop.
Photo of her head and eyes.
Age.
Is she laying and I don't mean lying in the coop.

 

[clucksnducklins]

She is only a year old, and 2 other hens that have been affected are also about a year+ old.. I believe she was laying before. We are in Illinois and just got a lot of rain and the gnats have been pretty bad past few days, but it wasn't crazy bad.. so I didn't think it would be that bad for the chickens. This all happened out of the blue. First it was this hen who appeared very sick, now another is acting the same way, slow, lethargic. My hen was acting better earlier after I fed her electrolytes mix I made with a syringe.. She was eating and drinking.. her poop was even solid after that.. Then it seemed like as soon as the gnats started getting bad again she was acting worse, closing her eyes and laying down.. I sprinkled some DE on my hen so that could be the specks you see on her feathers. I didn't see any mites on her.. I checked her neck under her skin looked green and there were red dots.. I just lost a chicken earlier who was gasping for air and convulsing like she couldn't breathe, I do think the gnats killed her.. I don't know if there is some kind of illness, a virus and/or the gnats and it's all strange timing with the gnats but all my chickens were fine a day or so ago. I am very concerned and confused as to what to do bc I cant take them to a vet. I now have 2 hens isolated in a cage that both appear to be dying and am worried whatever is going on is going to wipe out my whole flock..

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The gnats may have killed the other one, it can happen for sure. Read the article below, you'll find it helpful.

Your hen does have a questionable eye, do you have Marek's in your flock? I'll post a photo of it, but I really think that the gnats are a big part of the problem(s) you are having.



https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/buffalo-gnats-and-what-you-need-to-know.75016/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/protecting-chickens-from-killer-black-flies-buffalo-gnats/

 

[clucksnducklins]

I've never had Mareks in my flock before.. I didn't have them vaccinated but this came out of nowhere.. Now I have 2 chickens isolated, I noticed the new one I put in there also had the same poop, so whatever is going on is happening to both. One chicken's eye is squinting and their neck feathers look wet and piecy, where you can see the skin underneath, and I noticed they smell wet also? One chicken is laying down with her head down and liquid was just dripping out of her mouth...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I've never had Mareks in my flock before.. I didn't have them vaccinated but this came out of nowhere.. Now I have 2 chickens isolated, I noticed the new one I put in there also had the same poop, so whatever is going on is happening to both. One chicken's eye is squinting and their neck feathers look wet and piecy, where you can see the skin underneath, and I noticed they smell wet also? One chicken is laying down with her head down and liquid was just dripping out of her mouth...

I would treat them for the gnats. Did you read the articles? The gnats can make them very sick.

Can you get photos of the necks, the skin underneath the feathers and of the hens?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Wowza! Seriously! That's crazy

 

[clucksnducklins]

My hen has been getting better and acting more like a chicken.. I still have her isolated from the rest of the flock. Yesterday I gave her ~1 ml of nutri drench, and gave her some water with wellness brew in it and a little bit of ACV.. That's all I had on hand.. This morning her poop had a worm in it!! Is there anything else I can do for her?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My hen has been getting better and acting more like a chicken.. I still have her isolated from the rest of the flock. Yesterday I gave her ~1 ml of nutri drench, and gave her some water with wellness brew in it and a little bit of ACV.. That's all I had on hand.. This morning her poop had a worm in it!! Is there anything else I can do for her?

That's a round worm, I would deworm her and consider deworming all your hens, or at least the ones that have not been doing so well.

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.