I have a question about Clostridium perfringens

[KayTee]

The odor is also a bit different than 'normal'. Sweet, but not nice to smell. Unpleasant enough to be 'off' but not like the sharp offensive odor of a normal fresh chicken poo. It is almost like vegetables/fruit that have started going bad and fermenting. Very hard to describe.


I must warn that in my experience and according to my vet, they don't always improve right away and may not seem to get better until the medication course is done or nearly done. Once she started improving, her droppings went back to normal, she ate well, and gained weight again.

Nambroth is right, the smell is so hard to describe. It's by no means stomach churning - it almost sweet, but at the same time not quite pleasant enough that you would want to go back and smell it again!

I had a girl who suffered from it as well, and it was thanks to Nambroth's experience with Coho and the information she posted that I managed to treat it myself. My local vet didn't have a clue about chickens (all he did was test her poo for worms even though it looked exactly like the photo in Nambroth's post!) so I decided it was 'kill or cure' and I treated her myself with amoxycilin - the only antibiotic I had available. It took a long time to see any changes, but I perserved through lack of any other ideas to try. However, once she started to show signs of improvement her recovery was pretty rapid.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:

No idea, I know they get some antibodies from the amniotic fluid and mom's blood supply, and they get vitamin k because their intestines don't have the flora to produce it. I thought they were face down to expel the fluid in their lungs and not choke on it.

Yea Kathy I remember seeing my foal eating poop. That one didn't get kissed on the lips, LOL

 

[JJ--]

Hi,

My sick chicken went to the vet and they said she had Clostridium and gave me amoxicillan. The chicken was having liquid poops and passing blood in stool. My sis is a Nurse and is freaking out about this!... We have our chicken under quarantine and handling with gloves and giving meds. From the vet perspective, all i had to do was give this meds and teh meds for worms and she would be fine. My sis is worried about the human cross over and our family picking this up and being in the hospital for more than two weeks on a high dosage of meds (worse case scenario).

Can poultry CP cross over in to humans?

Thanks!

JJ-

 

[Eggcessive]

Clostridium perfringens is everywhere in the environment, human intestines, and soil, so I would not even worry about it. It is a common cause of food poisoning. Here are good articles to read:
http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/clostridium-perfingens.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_perfringens

 

[lisanhunter]

Clostridium perfringens (necrotic enteritis) Host range Outbreaks of NE in poultry are typically sporadic,60,94,105,113 and the disease has been reported by poultry producers worldwide.23,39,67,99,132 Outbreaks are most common in broiler chickens 2–6 weeks of age,12,17,47,56,91 which is believed to be due to a window in the chick’s anti-clostridial immunity.85 This window develops when titers of maternal antibodies wane around 2 weeks of age and before the chick’s immune system reaches maturity at around 3–4 weeks of age.85,91 However, outbreaks also occur in broilers up to 11 weeks of age.64,87,101 The disease has also been reported in 3–6-month-old commercial layers50,110 and also in 12–16-week-old replacement pullets.24,50,51,101,110 An outbreak of NE in 9-month-old chickens was reported in India in 1974,83 but this is the only reported case of the disease in older birds. Necrotic enteritis has also been reported in a wide variety of avian species other than chickens, including turkeys,40–42,121 ostriches,84 quail,9 capercaillies,121,122 geese,134 bluebirds,18 lorikeets,98,104 and crows.8

http://vdi.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/03/28/1040638713483468.full

 

[casportpony]

Clostridium perfringens (necrotic enteritis) Host range Outbreaks of NE in poultry are typically sporadic,60,94,105,113 and the disease has been reported by poultry producers worldwide.23,39,67,99,132 Outbreaks are most common in broiler chickens 2–6 weeks of age,12,17,47,56,91 which is believed to be due to a window in the chick’s anti-clostridial immunity.85 This window develops when titers of maternal antibodies wane around 2 weeks of age and before the chick’s immune system reaches maturity at around 3–4 weeks of age.85,91 However, outbreaks also occur in broilers up to 11 weeks of age.64,87,101 The disease has also been reported in 3–6-month-old commercial layers50,110 and also in 12–16-week-old replacement pullets.24,50,51,101,110 An outbreak of NE in 9-month-old chickens was reported in India in 1974,83 but this is the only reported case of the disease in older birds. Necrotic enteritis has also been reported in a wide variety of avian species other than chickens, including turkeys,40–42,121 ostriches,84 quail,9 capercaillies,121,122 geese,134 bluebirds,18 lorikeets,98,104 and crows.8

http://vdi.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/03/28/1040638713483468.full

Welcome to BYC and thanks for the info!

-Kathy

 

[Renee Bailey]

I just realized that the photo I used to have up on the forum of my confirmed Clostridium perfringens bird's droppings is gone. I wanted to re-post it in case it helps anyone else.

Her droppings during the illness (and during treatment at first), were loose, watery, contained undigested food and grain, and were very explosive. At one point, she was passing whole black oil sunflower seeds, undigested. Without getting too detailed, they would shoot out of her quite a ways, sometimes with force! Think of a garden hose when you turn it on and it has a lot of air in it...

The odor is also a bit different than 'normal'. Sweet, but not nice to smell. Unpleasant enough to be 'off' but not like the sharp offensive odor of a normal fresh chicken poo. It is almost like vegetables/fruit that have started going bad and fermenting. Very hard to describe.



Her symptoms were: somewhat lethargic behavior but not outright acting sick, the aforementioned droppings, not eating very well, weight loss. Diagnosis was made by an avian vet via X-ray (reproductive gas was noted in the x-ray) and fecal exam. She was treated with metronidazole (flagyl) and then a probiotic after that was done, which did clear her up. I must warn that in my experience and according to my vet, they don't always improve right away and may not seem to get better until the medication course is done or nearly done. Once she started improving, her droppings went back to normal, she ate well, and gained weight again.

I just found this post online and my chicken has the exact same thing. Actually, I have 4 that have these same symptoms. Went to a vet and he did a fecal on my Vera and said she tested positive for 2 types of intestinal parasites and prescribed Panacur for worms and also Baytril for an infection. Well, my vet is not an Avian vet so I emailed him to call me after reading this post! I think I should switch to Metronidazole and dose my other chickens as well. I just don't want anything to happen to them. None of them act sick but I knew something was wrong with this explosive poop and still having the seeds in it.