Possibly a sick Buff Orp hen.?

[shelbyw]

Today as I was going up to my coop to do my normal feeding and cleaning of the coop, I noticed my buff orpington hen standing in the corner on the other side of the coop away from all of the other chickens. I knew something was not right because she is my most active hen. She is always bossing everyone around and always run straight up to me when I bring out the food. She has not been laying either, but I figured it was just some sort of phase as we are just now coming into warmer weather. She has had a little bit of runny poop, but it is not severe. It is only a little bit runny. Her comb is flopped over, but is a normal looking red colour. She is not even interested in her water or food and she was not ruling the coop with her counterpart, Clarice. I separated her from everyone because I did not know if it could be contagious to my other chickens or not. Could she be dehydrated or could she be sick with something ? I also forgot to mention that I do put electrolytes and probiotics in their water. Please help:/ I really do not want to lose her

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? She probably is dehydrated to some illness. Coccidiosis can make them weak, hunched, have runny poops with mucus or blood, and refuse to eat. Some egg laying problems such as internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis can cause a poor appetite, separating herself, and diarrhea. How does her crop feel--empty, full, soft or hard, or lick a balloon? Can you check her skin around her vent and elsewhere for tiny crawling bugs or their eggs. You may also want to feel inside her vent with one finger an inch or two, for a stuck egg.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Today as I was going up to my coop to do my normal feeding and cleaning of the coop, I noticed my buff orpington hen standing in the corner on the other side of the coop away from all of the other chickens. I knew something was not right because she is my most active hen. She is always bossing everyone around and always run straight up to me when I bring out the food. She has not been laying either, but I figured it was just some sort of phase as we are just now coming into warmer weather. She has had a little bit of runny poop, but it is not severe. It is only a little bit runny. Her comb is flopped over, but is a normal looking red colour. She is not even interested in her water or food and she was not ruling the coop with her counterpart, Clarice. I separated her from everyone because I did not know if it could be contagious to my other chickens or not. Could she be dehydrated or could she be sick with something ? I also forgot to mention that I do put electrolytes and probiotics in their water. Please help:/ I really do not want to lose her

Mercy so many things can be wrong, Look her over and if you do not see anything wrong---grease your longest finger/surgical glove and stick it up in her to see if you can feel a egg or something hard?? Is her abdomen swollen? If the lower part looks/feels ok---if you do not want to invest a lot of money at a vet( I would not) then I would start tylan50 NOW. I do it oral and have Good Luck that way. Does her weight feel normal?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Today as I was going up to my coop to do my normal feeding and cleaning of the coop, I noticed my buff orpington hen standing in the corner on the other side of the coop away from all of the other chickens. I knew something was not right because she is my most active hen. She is always bossing everyone around and always run straight up to me when I bring out the food. She has not been laying either, but I figured it was just some sort of phase as we are just now coming into warmer weather. She has had a little bit of runny poop, but it is not severe. It is only a little bit runny. Her comb is flopped over, but is a normal looking red colour. She is not even interested in her water or food and she was not ruling the coop with her counterpart, Clarice. I separated her from everyone because I did not know if it could be contagious to my other chickens or not. Could she be dehydrated or could she be sick with something ? I also forgot to mention that I do put electrolytes and probiotics in their water. Please help:/ I really do not want to lose her

How does her crop feel?
How does her abdomen feel - soft, hard, squishy, fluid filled, etc.?
You mention she has not been laying - for how long - did she lay through winter - how old is she?
Any photos of her and the poop?

Separating her was a good idea so you can monitor her actions and food/water intake. Check the crop to see if it is emptying overnight or if she has any odor to her breath. If you have poultry vitamins give her some of those - try to keep her hydrated.

It's so hard to know what's going on. Internal laying/reproductive disorders like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, Salpingitis, cancer or tumors can be quite common in laying hens.

If you have a vet that can test a fecal sample for worms, cocci and bacterial infection that would be a good idea too - this can help rule out a few causes of illness.

Keep us posted.

 

[shelbyw]

How does her crop feel?
How does her abdomen feel - soft, hard, squishy, fluid filled, etc.?
You mention she has not been laying - for how long - did she lay through winter - how old is she?
Any photos of her and the poop?

Separating her was a good idea so you can monitor her actions and food/water intake. Check the crop to see if it is emptying overnight or if she has any odor to her breath. If you have poultry vitamins give her some of those - try to keep her hydrated.

It's so hard to know what's going on. Internal laying/reproductive disorders like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, Salpingitis, cancer or tumors can be quite common in laying hens.

If you have a vet that can test a fecal sample for worms, cocci and bacterial infection that would be a good idea too - this can help rule out a few causes of illness.

Keep us posted.

I went up there one hour after I posted this and she started having a complete sneezing fit. She was dripping yellow mucus from her nose and she was gurgling it in her throat. She also seemed like she was gasping for air. I am thinking it was either upper respiratory or it was Egg Yolk Peritonitis. I am leaning more towards the respiratory one though, because her comb started turning a very dar red/purple colour. She has not been laying for 1 week. I gave her a poultry boost with her food, but she didn't eat her food or drink any water at all. Her crop seemed healthy and she had a healthy looking abdomen. I did not notice any yellow coming out of her abdomen. I am thinking it was a respiratory infection. She recently died 5 minutes after I examined her and called my vet friend. I waited about 1 hour after she passed to make sure she was gone. She is buried far far away from the other chickens. I did notice she did not start sneezing until I separated her, so I am hoping my other chickens did not get anything. I bought some respiratory system booster for my healthy ones, so they do not get sick with what she had. I use the poultry booster in their food everyday and it has vitamins and minerals and probiotics combined in it to mix with their food. I mix 1/3 with their food. I did not notice anything early on with her except that she stopped laying a week ago.

 

[shelbyw]

How does her crop feel?
How does her abdomen feel - soft, hard, squishy, fluid filled, etc.?
You mention she has not been laying - for how long - did she lay through winter - how old is she?
Any photos of her and the poop?

Separating her was a good idea so you can monitor her actions and food/water intake. Check the crop to see if it is emptying overnight or if she has any odor to her breath. If you have poultry vitamins give her some of those - try to keep her hydrated.

It's so hard to know what's going on. Internal laying/reproductive disorders like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, Salpingitis, cancer or tumors can be quite common in laying hens.

If you have a vet that can test a fecal sample for worms, cocci and bacterial infection that would be a good idea too - this can help rule out a few causes of illness.

Keep us posted.

I also forgot to mention that her head was not swollen and her abdomen was normal size also. The only problem I had was her comb and her respiratory system. Her and Clarice turned 2 years old on the 5th of March.

 

[shelbyw]

Mercy so many things can be wrong, Look her over and if you do not see anything wrong---grease your longest finger/surgical glove and stick it up in her to see if you can feel a egg or something hard?? Is her abdomen swollen? If the lower part looks/feels ok---if you do not want to invest a lot of money at a vet( I would not) then I would start tylan50 NOW. I do it oral and have Good Luck that way. Does her weight feel normal?

I examined the outside of her vent, but when I went to grab her out of the isolation pen she started to sneeze and I got some on my hands. I washed them and returned with gloves to examine her more and her abdomen and her vent were good. Her weight was definitely normal. Her comb was very odd though. In a matter of minutes, her comb started turning a red/purple colour and she started sneezing again. Her head was normal and so were her eyes and her feet and everything else seemed very normal. She was not dripping anything from eyes AT ALL, which is so odd to me. She was somewhat gurgling in her throat, but it was not a lot of gurgling. She was gasping for air it seemed and then she died after she sneezed and flipped herself over.

I am thinking a mild respiratory infection that I am hoping did not get to any of my other chickens

I bought some respiratory supplement that I put on the chickens and also some in their mouth(Charles did not like this part at all

) I buried her far far away from the other chickens and the area they roam in. I am keeping everyone right now in the coop and I am keeping a very close eye on them all for a couple of months until I know they are all good. They are all laying, acting normal, pooping normal looking poop, eating and drinking, they are also still very vocal as usual.

 

[shelbyw]

How old is she? She probably is dehydrated to some illness. Coccidiosis can make them weak, hunched, have runny poops with mucus or blood, and refuse to eat. Some egg laying problems such as internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis can cause a poor appetite, separating herself, and diarrhea. How does her crop feel--empty, full, soft or hard, or lick a balloon? Can you check her skin around her vent and elsewhere for tiny crawling bugs or their eggs. You may also want to feel inside her vent with one finger an inch or two, for a stuck egg.

She turned 2 on March 5th of this year. I thought she was dehydrated, but she never drank the water that I put in the isolation pen. Her poop was not mucus like and it did not have any signs of blood in it. I do not know how to really describe her poop, but it was somewhat normal. It had some form to it and was not really diarrhea. It was kind of runny. She did not have any bugs when I checked nor did she have any larvae or eggs there. I felt her vent and it was normal, I didn't get to actually dig inside of it to feel if an egg was in there. It was normal colouration and her abdomen felt normal. If you read my other replies to the other people, you can see what happened. She had a normal head and face and eyes. She was sneezing, gasping, and a little bit of gurgling was involved. She was sneezing so bad that I actually think she snapped her neck before she decided to flip over on her back. I hated that I didn't even get a chance to save her

At least I have a chance to save my chickens that are alive and healthy

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm sorry for your loss. If possible I would try to retrieve the body, refrigerate it in a plastic bag, and try to get a necropsy by your state vet. It may be too late since you have buried her body. With the respiratory symptoms suddenly, it could be a serious respiratory disease, feom the yellow nasal drainage and gurgling. Let us know if you need contact information for state vets or how to send. If you notice any other sick chickens, isolate them right away.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.