Sick hen, sickly sweet smelling soft droppings

[1Crackedmama]

I have an Easter egger hen, about 3 yo, who was very ill a couple weeks ago, she was down in the bottom of the coop,poopy bottom,very lethargic, swollen abdomen, watery diarrhea, very dark comb, quite weak, and thin. We found out that our girls had gotten into some spoiled meat and believed that to be the cause, we gave her a good bath and checked her over and decided to give her amoxicillin and lots of TLC (and some egg and yogurt here and there) for about week and a week and a half after and shes almost her perky self again except that she is still having very soft to runny droppings with a horribly sickly sweet smell that can permeate the room in an instant, and quite a bit of it too! It kinda looks like her crumble is just turned to a slurry or paste coming out the other end, sometimes it's more watery diarrhea, but mostly it seems like the crumble slurry with bits of her undigested scratch grains in it at times. I've searched all over for what would cause a hen to have such sickly sweet smelling runs but just haven't had much luck, I'm hoping that someone here might have some advice for me to get my girl back in shape. When I first found her down I thought I was gonna lose her and I syringe fed & watered her and even used a toothbrush and baby shampoo to get the poo out of her feathers for several days and I've got her this far but just don't know what is wrong nor what to do now. I will try to attach a pic of one of her droppings, it's not the worst that she's been doing alot but it's what I could get a shot of atm, mind u it's on a towel cuz we've been keeping her inside in a big tote with towels for her to sleep on. I really hope someone can point me in the right direction cuz I care for her a great deal but can't afford to take her to a vet but I'm willing to do whatever I can to help her, TIA!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

poopy bottom,very lethargic, swollen abdomen, watery diarrhea, very dark comb, quite weak, and thin. We found out that our girls had gotten into some spoiled meat and believed that to be the cause, we gave her a good bath and checked her over and decided to give her amoxicillin and lots of TLC (and some egg and yogurt here and there) for about week and a week and a half after and shes almost her perky self again except that she is still having very soft to runny droppings with a horribly sickly sweet smell

Does this hen lay eggs? When was the last one?

Lethargy, swollen abdomen, dark comb I would take a guess that she's got a reproductive issue. Which one, it would be hard to know unless you lose her. Peritonitis, cancer, Salpingitis, internal laying, etc. can all have similar symptoms. Swelling of the abdomen can be a symptoms of Ascites which is fluid in the abdomen - this is not uncommon in laying hens that have reproductive disorders, fatty liver disease or organ failure/dysfunction.
Treating symptoms with antibiotics can help for a short period of time and a hen can seem happier, but often symptoms return once treatment has ended.

Sometimes all you can do is offer supportive care - see that they are eating/drinking, that their crop is emptying overnight, there's no lice/mites/worms and when they begin a decline and seem to be suffering, put them out of their misery.

Sorry, not to sound bleak, but often this is the case. A necropsy (your own or through your state) can give more answers.

 

[1Crackedmama]

With our weather being cold our girls laying had nearly stopped, the girl in question has a twin/sister. We got these 2, and 2 others at the same time, as 3-4 day old chicks, however we actually thought that she was gunna be a roo, as she was practicing crowing had a larger comb, and a more make looking body type, not so full and kinda round as a hen, we only figured out she was a she when she laid an egg quite a bit later than the other girls we had gotten. She's always been thin but muscular and she definitely rules the group. So we really don't know when she last laid but all other symptoms have pretty much gone, she still needs to put some weight back on and we r letting her out for a portion of the day with the others but bring her back in so that I can make sure I know how she's doing and all. The only issue right now is this smelly diarrhea and she's drinking alot. All the swelling seems to have gone, I think the spoiled meat had given her food poisoning, possibly colostridium pereferans (sry I know I misspelled that). I'd say she has probably a good 80-90% of her energy and all back already but I'm really concerned about the diarrhea. I also suspect that there may be some poor genetics at play since she's always been a bit of an odd one, we have nicknamed her butch, due to her still crowing on a regular basis and having never filled out like a laying hen, but built muscle like a roo and never got round and fluffy, but she would have no problem standing up and taking a decent size roo for a piggy back ride,we have seen it happen. I'm just concerned that maybe I should have given a longer dose of antibiotics, or could it be another issue? For a few days her droppings were fairly normal near the end of the antibiotics and a couple after, I'm seriously thinking to give her some more to see if that's the issue. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what could cause this so I could make a better decision on what to do, or what antibiotics would be best. I searched alot but just couldn't find much on what would cause this sick sweet diarrhea in a chicken, apparently in ppl it can be an indication of c. Diff. But I guess maybe not too many have had to smell their chickens runs to know ?

 

[tigger19687]

I too am wondering when she last laid an egg

 

[Wyorp Rock]

poopy bottom,very lethargic, swollen abdomen, watery diarrhea, very dark comb, quite weak, and thin

shes almost her perky self again except that she is still having very soft to runny droppings

she has probably a good 80-90% of her energy

The only issue right now is this smelly diarrhea and she's drinking alot.

So she's not lethargic and has no other symptoms but diarrhea and drinking a lot of water.

I would make sure her crop is emptying overnight. Drinking a lot of water generally indicates a crop issue. Sour crop may need to be addressed since she was on antibiotics. Give her some probiotics to help restore the gut.

I would try to figure out if she's laying eggs or not. Reproductive disorders are very common in laying hens and this can lead to a lot of symptoms that most people can't seem to understand are related.

 

[1Crackedmama]

They had mostly quit laying with the cold weather, so not really sure when she last laid, but I did check her vent and no egg was felt. Ever since we brought her home she has always seemed to drink too much water but it had calmed down a bit. We bring her back in around 530-6pm and she has about an 8oz water bowl with probiotic and vitamin mix in it and it seems like we r refilling it at least 3x an evening. As well as needing to change her bedding (towels) about 3x due to all the poo. She has frequently had runny droppings from her excessive drinking b4 but the smell and amount has me concerned. Her poo had gone back to looking fairly normal for a couple days and then this smelly, kinda like rotting/fermenting fruit in a way, diarrhea happened. I don't know if it could be some kind of a yeast infection or if she should have had a longer course of antibiotics, or different antibiotics or what. I just know that it's not right. While searching for this type thing on the internet I ran by articles of ppl with the smell relating to c.dif. and other infections but really can't find anything on chickens. It's been quite awhile since they were wormed, I've never dealt with cocci or anything, so I was considering worming then again. I have ivermectin on hand but read that it doesn't work on all worms, so I was thinking maybe I should get some safeguard? But I've seen that u give 2 doses 10 days apart or u give them a dose everyday for 5-7 days, but I don't know which is right if I want to make sure that they don't have any worms or if I should even do it rn considering the situation... I only have 4 hens and 1 roo and she's the only one that is having problems. 1 of my hens is passed her laying days but my other 2 r just starting to get back to laying. I'm just really not sure what to do for her, she seems to be getting back to herself, when she's out with the others she has no prob reminding them she's a boss, but she needs to gain some weight and it seems that the food is just running through her. Night b4 last her crop was a big cupping handful and went down in the morning. I haven't seen any worms but know that chickens can have them even if u don't see it. Any input would be appreciated, I just wanna take care of my babies. TIA