Poorly chicken

[daverave]

My 4 year old Speckledy seems to be ill - She's not laying and has been quite lethargic.  Her bottom is covered in yellow muck - I assume it's poo, although it could be some kind of discharge.

Any advice on what it might be and, if neccessary, how to treat?  She was bought at 20 weeks, fully vaccinated and I use flubenvet every few months.  My other two hens seem OK.

[The Dogmother]

I'd bring her in, and give her a good wash so that you can get a look at her. See if you think that she has lost any weight, or feels different otherwise.

Is she eating and drinking as normal?

Before you get her to the vet (take a faecal sample with you ) on Tuesday, give her a slightly concentrated dilution of Herbal Gut Conditioner to support the good gut bacteria. It's hard to tell wheat the problem is without seeing her, but keep us posted.

[Beantree]

Having just cleaned up another dropped shell-less egg from the floor of one coop this morning, my first thought is that the 'yellow muck' may be egg yolk. As said, clean her up and check her abdomen for swelling. It should be squidgy and not solid, then get her to a vet.

[crisparkle]

Oh poor thing! I agree with the idea of taking it to a vet.

[The Dogmother]

Haha, just seen the autocorrect in my previous post.... that should have read 'where'!

Just been thinking on this - rather then just posting late at night - two things come to mind - yolk (as Beantree has said) in which case you'll see that it looks like dried egg yolk. Or caecal gland excretions.... chickens have 2 long green bean-looking glands in their abdomen, every 8th or 10th poo, they excrete yellow 'stuff' which looks like cat/dog bile (yellow and frothy) it also stinks of sulphur. The simple answer could be that she's just got some of this caught on her fluff, in which case just wash it off and job done. But if it recurs or she is doing a lot of yellow frothy poos, then you should get her (and that poo sample) to a chicken-savvy vet.