Help please!! Older hen with bad diarrhoea, very skinny!!

[briannajustine]

Hi all,
I recently had dinner at my parents house and noticed one of their hens wasn’t looking well. I ended up taking her home with me as I couldn’t leave her like this, as my dad doesn’t care that much about them (not neglected or anything, he just has them for eggs not pets).
She’s an older girl, we can’t remember when they got her but it was definitely over 5 years ago, and she is a commercial australorp so I know they aren’t known for their long life spans, but I feel like she’s not well and doesn’t deserve to die like this and still has more life to live. I would love ot be able to treat her so that she could live out the rest of her days happily with my little flock, however long that may be.
Initially I noticed she had soooo much poop on her butt, and i could smell it from a mile away. Once I picked her up to take her home though I realised how horribly skinny she was. She was also being severely bullied by some huuuge heritage australorps that were given to my dad 6 months ago, to the point where she is missing bits of her comb and probably not allowed to eat much food.
The day after I took her home I gave her a bath and realised it was much worse then I thought. She had maggots all over her vent and the poop was so matted and clumped together that parts were bigger then a golf ball and almost weighed more then she did. I spent hours over the next few days bathing and treating this. It has been almost two weeks since I picked her up and the poop is pretty much gone. She’s now able to preen away any poop that might end up there now
She is drinking water, and eating however is very selective on what she eats and definitely doesn’t seem to eat enough to put on any weight.
She is so skinny I can see her bones under her skin. She also continues to have Diarrhoea constantly. She was on antibiotics for the first week, and has been getting vitamins in her water. I’ve started treating her for coccidiosis and have wormed her. She also has what looked like a bad case of mites or lice so I’ve been treating that too.
She’s still super weak and skinny and is still having diarrhoea every time she poops snd I’m not sure what else to do to help! She has definitely perked up since she arrived (I initially thought she wasn’t going to make it) but she has such a strong determination to live that I really want to try and help. I’ve seen chickens that have given up on life, but this little one is fighting hard and really wants to live.
Does anyone know how I can help?? Or what might be causing the diarrhoea and how to stop it??
This poor hen is soooo skinny and she really cannot afford to lose any more weight. I would love for her to be strong enough to join my sweet little flock for the remainder of her life and can see she desperately wants this too as she absolutely loves being out outside during the day in a separate cage where she can hear and see them. I’m just not sure what to do to help!!

Thanks!
Some picks of my hen and what she was like when I got her. Also a pic of her poop if that helps

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The diarrhea is from the antibiotics. Antibiotics kill off both the bad and good bacteria which causes a great unbalance in the digestive system. Probiotics are often needed to help repopulate the good bacteria and stop the diarrhea. I really like bene-bac paste that you can get off of chewy. What feed are you feeding her? If you are not already I would highly recommend a 20% protein starter crumble and wet it into a mash to make it easier for her to eat. I would also advise against any treats. To put weight back on she needs good amounts of protein and nutrients.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Does anyone know how I can help?? Or what might be causing the diarrhoea and how to stop it??

What are you feeding her?

How did you treat for worms and mites?

Are you still treating for coccidiosis? And giving vitamins?

Are you in the US?

Being selective on what she eats.. may be a side effect of being "spoiled" by trying to entice her during recovery.

Thank you for helping her. Hope she thrives.

 

[briannajustine]

The diarrhea is from the antibiotics. Antibiotics kill off both the bad and good bacteria which causes a great unbalance in the digestive system. Probiotics are often needed to help repopulate the good bacteria and stop the diarrhea. What feed are you feeding her? If you are not already I would highly recommend a 20% protein starter crumble and wet it into a mash to make it easier for her to eat. I would also advise against any treats. To put weight back on she needs good amounts of protein and nutrients.

She had the diarrhoea for a while before I got her and had never been treated with antibiotics before. I’ve been giving her a probiotic since we finished the antibiotics. I had actually been giving her chick starter too but I had also read that high protein food can actually be worse for sick hens as it can lead to liver problems?? Not sure how accurate that is but I’ve seen in a few times so not sure. She only really seems interested in treats..

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

I love that you're trying to give her the best retirement possible. Thank you for doing that!

Regarding the maggots, were they just in the poop balls or did they burrow their way into her? Flystrike can be devastating.

I second probiotics - look into the Probios brand. It's a multispecies, but has done wonders for my birds after a round of antibiotics.

Try making a mash and mix is some high protein stuff - seeds, canned cat food, etc.

 

[briannajustine]

What are you feeding her?

How did you treat for worms and mites?

Are you still treating for coccidiosis? And giving vitamins?

Are you in the US?

Being selective on what she eats.. may be a side effect of being "spoiled" by trying to entice her during recovery.

Thank you for helping her. Hope she thrives.

She was initially getting chick starter, but now she has been getting mash made of layer pellets and water and sometimes egg mixed in. I’ve been putting a vitamin supplement in this too. She doesn’t seem to eat much of it though, but gets excited for meal worms, cheese etc so maybe she is just spoilt. I’ve tried not giving her any treats but then it doesn’t really look like she eats at all and I get worried as she’s already so skinny..
I gave her a worming tablet. For the mites I have used both pestene powder and avian insect liquidator which I’ve also been applying to make sure there are no more maggots.
I started treating for coccidiosis a few days ago just in case as I didn’t have any corrid on hand and only just got some. And yep still giving vitamins.
Nope not in the US, I’m from Aus

 

[briannajustine]

I love that you're trying to give her the best retirement possible. Thank you for doing that!

Regarding the maggots, were they just in the poop balls or did they burrow their way into her? Flystrike can be devastating.

I second probiotics - look into the Probios brand. It's a multispecies, but has done wonders for my birds after a round of antibiotics.

Try making a mash and mix is some high protein stuff - seeds, canned cat food, etc.

They hadn’t burrowed in thankfully, they were just all around her vent snd on her poop I think! There were no wounds that I could see. I haven’t seen any for almost two weeks now so I think if it was fly strike she would have been long gone. I think she just came to me time as I don’t think they’d been there for too long.
I started on probiotics a couple of days sgo but haven’t seen any difference yet!

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

Glad to hear there's no flystrike.
Probiotics can take a while to rebuild the gut bacteria, especially if there's been a lot of trauma to it. Given the treatments, her diet, and her overall health, I suspect it'll take a couple weeks to get there.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

She had the diarrhoea for a while before I got her and had never been treated with antibiotics before. I’ve been giving her a probiotic since we finished the antibiotics. I had actually been giving her chick starter too but I had also read that high protein food can actually be worse for sick hens as it can lead to liver problems?? Not sure how accurate that is but I’ve seen in a few times so not sure. She only really seems interested in treats..

20% is not high enough to cause liver problems and fat is more of an issue for the liver. Many people on here myself included solely feed 20% protein feed to our entire flock. Probiotics need to be used for awhile to build up in the system and not all strains are creates equal. Repairing a digestive system is a process and not something that can be fixed with quickly. Especially if she had issues with diarrhea prior and with antibiotics her system is going to be weak.

 

[briannajustine]

20% is not high enough to cause liver problems and fat is more of an issue for the liver. Many people on here myself included solely feed 20% protein feed to our entire flock. Probiotics need to be used for awhile to build up in the system and not all strains are creates equal. Repairing a digestive system is a process and not something that can be fixed with quickly. Especially if she had issues with diarrhea prior and with antibiotics her system is going to be weak.

Okay awesome thanks, that’s good to know! I’m just worried about her weight if she continues to have diarrhoea for a while, as she is literally all bones