Sick Hen! Help!

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I’m still a novice and can’t understand what could be wrong with one of our two-year-old hens.

We have seven hybrid hens. Four Goldline were purchased at POL in February 2009. Three Lohmann were purchased in May 2009 from the same free-range egg producer, and at that time had already laid for around 52 weeks. All seven moulted starting in the late summer and through the autumn and all seven looked really healthy again afterwards with their new feathers. The four Goldline started laying again and possibly also one of the Lohmann but for at least a month none of the three Lohmann laid a single egg, until last Wednesday.

The two groups of hens are kept in two identical arks (the two groups sometimes swap arks) and they are managed in exactly the same way. We feed layers pellets and they are free-range for most of the day. Although there was an egg from one of the Lohmann last Wednesday, one of these three hens has been unwell for a number of days. She has had no appetite, although I have seen her drinking. She has had her head drawn to her body and tail down (feathers fluffed up), soiling below her vent, pale if not slightly blueish comb and wattles. Some nights she hasn’t taken herself up to roost, even when it was dark she has had to be put up to roost, and on Thursday morning it was a while before she set foot outside the ark. Instead of scratching about as usual, she was pretty much sitting and standing around all day although she had obviously moved around the garden at times. Her crop looked and felt large, but it also felt soft, rather like a partially inflated balloon, as opposed to hard, so I didn’t think she had an impacted crop. On Friday morning she didn’t come down from the roosting area and when I opened the nesting box she seemed almost to fall off the perch and through into the nesting box towards me and seemed to be coughing and spluttering. When I picked her up she started to expel liquid from her mouth until it seemed to pour from her continuously for some time. Coincidentally, this hen was the first to moult and there was a noticeable increase in weight afterwards. Although I didn’t expect her to live on Friday, she has survived but is barely eating or drinking and is probably very weak. Does anyone have any idea what may be wrong with this two-year-old hen?

The only difference that I can think of between the Goldlines and the Lohmanns is that the Goldlines aren’t much more than a year old and would have had vaccinations more recently than the Lohmanns, which must now be nearly two years old. Are these two-year-old hens likely to lay again, or would it make more sense to replace them with some at POL?
 
this sounds like sour crop to me but im not expert, good luck
if you google it you'll find lots of info
i couldn't find anything on tims site tho
 
The crop feels empty. I've assumed that she has sour crop, as she emptied much liquid by mouth last Friday, although I can't say that I've noticed a foul smell. We've offered her live natural yoghurt from a bowl, which she doesn't eat, so for a couple of days we've given it by syringe, which she resists. She isn't eating or drinking at all now, and seems to have lost the will to live. Could this possibly be impacted gizzard?
 
It's really hard to say to be honest - If her crop is empty and there is no bad smell (and sour crop stinks!) I would expect it to be something else and not crop related. She could well be blocked further down the digestive tract. Sounds like a trip to the vet to see if they can work out what is wrong with her..
Tim
 
Thank you girlracer265 and Tim for your replies. Sadly she died before we could get her to the vet. We assume that it was a digestive problem rather than something that could have been passed to the other six hens.
 
Sorry you lost her Henny Penny :cry: .
Hens can go downhill very quickly,an earlier trip to the vets might have saved her,or,you could have had to pay for treatment and it might not work.Hopefully you have a sensible vet,who will not recomend treatment for an animal that has no hope of recovery.
 
We have been most unfortunate. Just days after we lost the sick hen, a fox visited our garden and took one hen, and another was left for dead and died shortly afterwards. We are left with three Goldlines that we had at POL in February 2009 and one Lohmann that is about two years old. All four hens are now together in one ark which means that we now have a spare ark that would accommodate four more hens. In the meantime, we will have to reconsider how to safely keep free-range hens in our garden!
 
Oh dear. It's certainly that time of year again with foxes feeding their cubs. Sorry to hear your news. :cry:
 

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