New rescue chicken in cage may be sick and passed something to my flock that killed one this morning- HELP!

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry about your hen.

Do you have photos of the foundling and her poop?

Do you still have the body of your hen that died? If you do, you can refrigerate it and send it to your state lab for analysis, this will give you the most info about what happened. If not possible, and you still have the carcass, feel like you can, open it up and look at the internals - heart, liver, reproductive system, etc. Sometimes you can tell what was going on. IF you do that, take photos, we'll try to help you with what you see. It may not be possible if the body has started to deteriorate.

It's nice that you took the poor hen in. It is a good idea anytime you bring in newbies to keep them housed separately for observation.

Possible she has something can affect your flock, some birds can be carriers of illnesses that can be transmitted through dust/dander, bodily fluids, etc. and not show any signs of illness.

For an illness to affect another hen in 3 days, just some common sense says you'd see some type of symptoms from the one that died (and very likely the new one too). Symptoms of certain respiratory diseases can appear that quickly, but again, you'd see symptoms. A disease like Marek's would take weeks. If it were something that moved that quickly and deadly, you'd have other birds that are ill with symptoms.

I lean toward this is coincidence since the hen was around 4, she had troubles with bumblefoot. You don't mention if she was actively laying or not. At 4 a hen can begin to have some problems, cancer, liver/heart dysfunction, etc. It's the pits, but sometimes they just die and unless there's further investigation it can be a guessing game.

Worming the newbie may be a good idea or getting a fecal float to see if your other hens need deworming would be good to do.
The existing birds would not be showing symptoms of worms in this short period of time IF the newbie has any. They would have to ingest her poop, then that poop would have to have worm eggs, then it would take a few weeks for anything to really get going with worms. So, you're looking at ehhh, at least a month.


You can find your lab here:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[kyleen]

that's good to know- do you just sprinkle it in the coop?

I sprinkle mine in the corners of the coop- but make sure it’s covered by bedding since DE if inhaled (point of controversy) may cause lung issues for the chickens…

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry about your hen.

Do you have photos of the foundling and her poop?

Do you still have the body of your hen that died? If you do, you can refrigerate it and send it to your state lab for analysis, this will give you the most info about what happened. If not possible, and you still have the carcass, feel like you can, open it up and look at the internals - heart, liver, reproductive system, etc. Sometimes you can tell what was going on. IF you do that, take photos, we'll try to help you with what you see. It may not be possible if the body has started to deteriorate.

It's nice that you took the poor hen in. It is a good idea anytime you bring in newbies to keep them housed separately for observation.

Possible she has something can affect your flock, some birds can be carriers of illnesses that can be transmitted through dust/dander, bodily fluids, etc. and not show any signs of illness.

For an illness to affect another hen in 3 days, just some common sense says you'd see some type of symptoms from the one that died (and very likely the new one too). Symptoms of certain respiratory diseases can appear that quickly, but again, you'd see symptoms. A disease like Marek's would take weeks. If it were something that moved that quickly and deadly, you'd have other birds that are ill with symptoms.

I lean toward this is coincidence since the hen was around 4, she had troubles with bumblefoot. You don't mention if she was actively laying or not. At 4 a hen can begin to have some problems, cancer, liver/heart dysfunction, etc. It's the pits, but sometimes they just die and unless there's further investigation it can be a guessing game.

Worming the newbie may be a good idea or getting a fecal float to see if your other hens need deworming would be good to do.
The existing birds would not be showing symptoms of worms in this short period of time IF the newbie has any. They would have to ingest her poop, then that poop would have to have worm eggs, then it would take a few weeks for anything to really get going with worms. So, you're looking at ehhh, at least a month.


You can find your lab here:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Thanks for responding @Wyorp Rock. You’ve always been so helpful with my chickens.
Here’s a picture of one of @alisoncrary chicken poops from her established flock. Looks more like cecal to me, but she said it’s more formed than some of the others.

 

[alisoncrary]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry about your hen.

Do you have photos of the foundling and her poop?

Do you still have the body of your hen that died? If you do, you can refrigerate it and send it to your state lab for analysis, this will give you the most info about what happened. If not possible, and you still have the carcass, feel like you can, open it up and look at the internals - heart, liver, reproductive system, etc. Sometimes you can tell what was going on. IF you do that, take photos, we'll try to help you with what you see. It may not be possible if the body has started to deteriorate.

It's nice that you took the poor hen in. It is a good idea anytime you bring in newbies to keep them housed separately for observation.

Possible she has something can affect your flock, some birds can be carriers of illnesses that can be transmitted through dust/dander, bodily fluids, etc. and not show any signs of illness.

For an illness to affect another hen in 3 days, just some common sense says you'd see some type of symptoms from the one that died (and very likely the new one too). Symptoms of certain respiratory diseases can appear that quickly, but again, you'd see symptoms. A disease like Marek's would take weeks. If it were something that moved that quickly and deadly, you'd have other birds that are ill with symptoms.

I lean toward this is coincidence since the hen was around 4, she had troubles with bumblefoot. You don't mention if she was actively laying or not. At 4 a hen can begin to have some problems, cancer, liver/heart dysfunction, etc. It's the pits, but sometimes they just die and unless there's further investigation it can be a guessing game.

Worming the newbie may be a good idea or getting a fecal float to see if your other hens need deworming would be good to do.
The existing birds would not be showing symptoms of worms in this short period of time IF the newbie has any. They would have to ingest her poop, then that poop would have to have worm eggs, then it would take a few weeks for anything to really get going with worms. So, you're looking at ehhh, at least a month.


You can find your lab here:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Wow, thank you for the detailed response!

I unfortunately did not take photos of her or her poop before we buried her, and it's been quite warm so I don't think the body would still be in good condition.

As far as egg laying, I haven't caught her on the nest in a long time, but can't say with certainty if she was/was not laying, as she may be going in at times that I wasn't noting. Egg production overall is down right now, but my friend Kyleen pointed out that this may be due to increase in temperatures this week.

That's good to know that some of those issues could be normal age related things, or due to her chronic bumble foot... I hope that is the case for the sake of the others, although to my knowledge they are all close in age.

My prior flock of 6 is now separated in a smaller area that is not in contact with the rescue hen, who is still in a cage in the chicken yard. The cage is made of hardware mesh and has a thick straw bedding, so I don't think any of my flock could have ingested any of her poo, which is good in case she has worms. I'm not finding any worms in the poop so far, but I know at least for horses that you don't always see that. I've also had negative fecal tests for horses that had visible adult worms, so I'm leaning towards just deworming the whole flock to be on the safe side, any thoughts on that?

I need to go back and re-read the deworming posts but it seemed like there were a few different products and ways to do that; if you have advice there I'm open to it.

If I'm deworming everyone, and none of the other hens show any new symptoms, how long should I keep the new girl separate from the flock?

The only possible new symptom is some runnier poop; I'll include a photo. Although our world has been rather chaotic so I honestly can't say if the soft poo is new since we brought the rescue hen in, or if it was present last week... A few are slightly runnier than the photo, but there are only a handful like this from the group, the rest are normal. One chicken has moderate poop stuck to her feathers, and two others have a minimal amount. All 6 in my flock were checked and cleaned yesterday, along with the new girl who has a moderate-high amount. Vents are not blocked, just seems to be sticking to the feathers if it's runny. I tried to get a photo of that but they were too wiggly; I can try again if that would be helpful.

Thank you so much for your time and sharing knowledge!

 

[alisoncrary]

I sprinkle mine in the corners of the coop- but make sure it’s covered by bedding since DE if inhaled (point of controversy) may cause lung issues for the chickens…

Thanks for responding @Wyorp Rock. You’ve always been so helpful with my chickens.
Here’s a picture of one of @alisoncrary chicken poops from her established flock. Looks more like cecal to me, but she said it’s more formed than some of the others.

thank you Kyleen!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm not finding any worms in the poop so far, but I know at least for horses that you don't always see that. I've also had negative fecal tests for horses that had visible adult worms, so I'm leaning towards just deworming the whole flock to be on the safe side, any thoughts on that?

I need to go back and re-read the deworming posts but it seemed like there were a few different products and ways to do that; if you have advice there I'm open to it.

If I'm deworming everyone, and none of the other hens show any new symptoms, how long should I keep the new girl separate from the flock?

The poop looks like cecal poop. Sometimes the poop can be a bit looser/watery during warm weather since they are drinking more. Changes in food/diet can also contribute to a change in consistency of poop. Maybe they are foraging more since it's nicer weather and eating things "in season"...

For deworming, most folks with backyard poultry use Fenbendazole (Safeguard Liquid Goat dewormer or Equine Paste) or Albendazole (Valbazen).

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
----OR----
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

For the found hen, do you have photos?
Does she have any wounds/sores that need to heal before introduction?
Sometimes a flock is fine with a single newcomer that is caged/housed near them, but once that bird is loose and trying to mingle, trouble starts - hen drama.

As for "when" to start adding her to the flock, I'd check her well for lice/mites, deworm. Address any wounds if she has any, then slowly begin integration, hopefully things will go smoothly.
There's still always a chance she may have something that your flock can get or the other way around, she could get sick from your existing birds, but since she's there, everyone has already been exposed since they are near each other. Observe her for a few days, then decide if she seems fit to join the others.

 

[alisoncrary]

The poop looks like cecal poop. Sometimes the poop can be a bit looser/watery during warm weather since they are drinking more. Changes in food/diet can also contribute to a change in consistency of poop. Maybe they are foraging more since it's nicer weather and eating things "in season"...

For deworming, most folks with backyard poultry use Fenbendazole (Safeguard Liquid Goat dewormer or Equine Paste) or Albendazole (Valbazen).

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
----OR----
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

For the found hen, do you have photos?
Does she have any wounds/sores that need to heal before introduction?
Sometimes a flock is fine with a single newcomer that is caged/housed near them, but once that bird is loose and trying to mingle, trouble starts - hen drama.

As for "when" to start adding her to the flock, I'd check her well for lice/mites, deworm. Address any wounds if she has any, then slowly begin integration, hopefully things will go smoothly.
There's still always a chance she may have something that your flock can get or the other way around, she could get sick from your existing birds, but since she's there, everyone has already been exposed since they are near each other. Observe her for a few days, then decide if she seems fit to join the others.

Thank you for that info- I picked up the dewormer today and will do that when my husband can help hold them

The first 3 photos are of the found hen- she's the brownish one in the straw. The only wound I've found on her is a small bruise near her vent and the tail feathers that are missing... I think a dog or some other predator almost caught her but she escaped. Her diarrhea is much better today and she seems happy, I did include a photo of her poo on the straw.

The black and white barred rock is the only other one of our prior flock with any noticeable diarrhea after we cleaned them off 2 days ago, so hopefully everyone is on the mend.

I will keep looking for lice and mites but none found so far. After deworming I'll let our prior flock back out into the yard so that they can re-introduce themselves to the new gal through the cage again then let her out on a day that I can be in the garden supervising, and hopefully they won't be too mean to her... Thanks so much for your suggestions! Maybe it was a slight bug that our girl with the chronic bumble foot could not fight off..?

 

[alisoncrary]

@Wyorp Rock and @kyleen

I dewormed the flock and will do it again after it's been 10 days. Everyone seems happy and healthy except for one hen, who has been lethargic the past few days and now has greenish diarrhea, sits on the floor of the coop with her beak slightly open (it is hot out but not excessively so yet) and today I heard a rattling noise with her breathing; this site won't let me post a video of the rattling it looks like, but I can post a photo of her with her beak open, and the posture she likes to lie in slightly on her side. (I had already soaked/cleaned her when I realized I should have taken a photo of the diarrhea, but very liquid, green and whitish).

I've been giving chicken probiotics and oregano in the water, not sure if that helps at all but I figure it can't hurt. Not sure what else to do. At this point all hens have been exposed to whatever this is so there doesn't seem to be a value to quarantining her as it would only stress her out more I'm concerned.. is this just a wait and see kind of situation, or anything else that I can maybe do for her?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry you have one that is not doing well.

For video, the BYC upload doesn't work. You will need to upload to a platform like Youtube or similar, then provide us a link.

The hen that is not well, check her crop to see that it's emptying, look inside her beak to make sure there's no lesions or canker.

Does she lay eggs? When was the last one?
Feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs - is there any bloat or feeling of fluid?

Working on hydration like you are doing is good. I agree with you to leave her with her flock if she's not getting picked on. Less stressful for her (and probably you too).

 

[alisoncrary]

Thanks for those ideas- palpation of her abdomen and crop seemed normal compared to other hens. She wasn't too keen on me looking inside her beak but in my brief glimpses there didn't appear to be anything abnormal. I'm honestly not sure if she does lay anymore- we've had decreased egg production from our little group of hens as they are all about 4 years old now I think (we bought them as laying adult hens).

She's a little better this afternoon; she's ventured into the yard and back up on the perch instead of only on the ground, so hopefully she's on the mend! Thank you so much for your ideas