another sick girl question.

[jjoos99]

I have a iso brown girl that is 3 years old. I noticed her the other day she was laying out in their run with one leg and wing outstretched and was really wobbly getting up. she is eating fine but seems lethargic and not very steady on her feet. She was running after food yesterday and fell down twice in 10 ft. Her comb is shrunken and pale and her wings are drooped. She isnt able to climb the ramp to get into her roost. Her hind end was all caked up with poo the other day. Her crop feels normal and I cant feel any sign of an egg being bound. She looks bigger then she has ever been. Any suggestions? This is my granddaughters favorite girl and is going to be crushed if she passes. I have some left over antibiotic from a sick cat and am thinking of giving her some of it.
thanks
Jeff

 

[azygous]

What does her poop look like? The description sounds like either Marek's or coccidiosis. The first isn't treatable, but the second is treatable with an antibiotic plus a coccidiostat called Corid, easily found at a feed store. It will say it's for pigs and cows, but it works great on chickens, too. Ifyou get the liquid form, the dosage is two teaspoons in one gallon of water mixed fresh each day.

You can verify if it's coccidiosis by have a vet run a fecal float test on a poop sample. If it's positive for coccidia, you need to treat the entire flock of chickens. The sick hen is the only one needing the antibiotic since it appears she's going to have some intestinal infection from the coccidia, being this sick.

If it's Marek's, the entire flock also is infected, but they may not display symptoms.

 

[jjoos99]

I just went outside and checked underneath the sick girl and it looks solid, mostly green with some white but there are quite a few and small piles. I have one easter egger who always has a poopy butt and a couple others have runny piles underneath them under their roost bar. I have some azithromycin. I gave her .5 ml of it tonight on some bread which she gobbled down. My dosage for my 9 lb cat was 1ml so I guessed at the .5ml dose. What will the dropping look like with coccidia? There is a rural king I can stop by tomorrow on my way home from work if the corid will help.
thanks a bunch
Jeff

 

[azygous]

Runny poop, sometimes streaked with traces of blood. is typical of coccidiosis. Necrotic enteritis is a complication of coccidiosis when the coccidia protozoa begin to irritate the intestinal lining, bacteria will take advantage, causing serious, often irreversible damage. It's wise to treat a sick chicken suspected of having coccidiosis with the antibiotic before the damage is done.

None of this hurts to do even if we don't know for sure this hen has coccidiosis. If she gets better, then we know we made the correct diagnosis. If she doesn't, at least we tried.

If it's Marek's and not coccidiosis, she may die. There are no cures for most of these avian viruses. But the implication of this hen dying doesn't bode well for the rest of the flock as it's extremely contagious.

 

[jjoos99]

How do I confirm that she is not egg bound? Is it just feeling of her abdomen and back end? I just read where being egg bound could also cause some of her symptoms. Before I noticed this the other day I did notice that she wasnt jumping up to the roost bar and was roosting in the nest boxes. She had been doing this for several weeks and I really didnt put anything to it. I will continue giving her the antibotic and purchase the corid tomorrow. I called a local vet and all they recommended was to give her some olive oil.
thanks
jeff

 

[azygous]

A certified avian vet might be able to diagnose this hen. Most vets never studied birds, though.

Giving oil is suitable for backed up crops and gizzards, but won't do anything for other ailments. You can try giving her oil if you wish. It won't hurt anything.

This hen displays the extreme lethargy of Marek's as well as coccidiosis. The only way to confirm either diagnosis is to run a test on the poop for the coccidia. It costs around $25. Any vet can do it.

However, the only way to confirm Marek's is to do a necropsy after the hen dies. Her symptoms of the one leg and one wind splayed, along with the lethargy are typical of Marek's. Sometimes the color in one or both eyes will fade with the pupil becoming shrunken and irregular due to ocular tumors. Marek's produces tumors on muscles and organs, and this is reflected in the lame wing and leg. Usually, it's just one side of the chicken affected.

I would say, there are few if any indications of a stuck egg. Hens don't go lame with a stuck egg. They are in a nest straining to get it out or are standing in the run pumping their tail up and down.

There is one other possibility. If the hen got into a pesticide or rotten food, or toxic mold, it could produce similar symptoms. As a rule, though, the hen would be showing signs of imbalance and other nervous system damage like not being able to walk or hold her head up.

 

[jjoos99]

I did start adding cocid to their water and the affected hen never got better and did die. I noticed tonight another girl seemed somewhat lethargic and her rear was all matted with runny poo. My granddaughter and I decided to clean her up and put her in a utility sink and cleaned all the dried poo off of her. I believe we caused her to stroke out, when I placed her back in the pen she fell flat then convulsed several times and died. Looking at her more closely her back end was very swollen and looked like some of her insides were bulging from her butt. It was very red. I am really afraid it is mareks and concerned for my parrot, since I have had him with me when I have visited the chickens before. I have 2 more girls that have poopy butts but are acting fine. I started the cocid treatment again. I hope I am wrong, would hate loose all my girls.
Jeff

 

[azygous]

If you haven't disposed of the dead chicken, you can have your questions answered by getting a necropsy from an agricultural lab.

I've been in your shoes. Trust me, it's worth the bother and expense to know for sure.