Hi there! I'm in quite the pickle with one of my girls, Ducky, right now. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Long story short: I found lice on her yesterday, gave her a dusting of permethrin + diatomaceous earth + quarantined her, then realised she's been dealing with a sour or slow crop as well. I had her regurgitate after I gave her some water with electrolytes and probiotics. I've since let her have more water and a bit of food, along with two doses of clotrimazole, and she seems a bit worse for wear again. What else can I do to help her? Please help if possible!
Full Information: Yesterday morning, I checked on my girls as usual before letting them out to their run, and noticed my Ducky seemed a little slower than usual. A few hens were laying, so I left her and them up for a bit. I returned to let them out later, and Ducky seemed pretty much the same as before, so I kind of brushed it off as she was having a slightly off day. Fast forward to later that evening, and Ducky seemed much more lethargic and weak. Uh-oh. She wasn't talking at all either, and she's normally quite vivacious and sweet and chatty.
I gave her a very thorough look over, and I found teeny tiny white bugs around her vent that quickly scattered into her feathers, which I later figured out were chicken lice. Thankfully I had some diatomaceous earth on hand, and later found my permethrin, so I dusted her with both, making sure to really massage it all in. I made sure to give the others a small sprinkling too, as well as the coop itself, though from what I could see, none of the others were infested like she was.
She didn't seem interested in drinking water nor eating, and that's a very bad sign for her since she's always super ready for both! During my earlier reading, I found out that often times if a chicken has a lice outbreak, there's another underlying problem causing the chicken to feel bad enough not to dust bathe properly as it should to keep the lice + mites down. I noticed when giving her a look over that her crop was a bit mushy feeling, so I made sure to check on it again this morning after letting her rest all night. Sure enough, it was still full. She also had diarrhea that was basically just really stinky water with a few strange bits in it. Not good, not normal! I did a bit more reading, and deduced she probably has a sour or slow crop.
Because she had defecated a whole buncha water, I gave her some water with electrolytes in it and put her back in quarantine to rest, I figured she was dehydrated and tired. When I checked on her again later, she had perked up slightly, and even made noise once or so.
With my reading this morning, it seemed like regurgitating her might be a good idea to be sure whether or not she had crop issues, so I did that outside. A whole lot of nasty, sour smelling fluid came out, along with some bits of grass. No white bits, and her breath didn't stink in addition to that. I managed to get her crop nearly empty, though it seemed not 100% flat, but still very squishy.
A bit later, I gave her some water with electrolytes and probiotics, along with a bit of mushy peas (it was the only thing she seemed interested in + would willingly eat) and gave her two doses of clotrimazole cream orally. She upchucked a bit unprompted by me with the second dose, unpleasant smelling water and some bits of grass again.
What steps should I take now, do y'all think? Should I continue to try doctoring her myself or should I take her into a vet, despite all this social distancing and home staying I've been doing during these times? I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her well. Honestly not too worried about the lice since today it seems the permethrin did the trick, but the crop is definitely giving us both grief.
Thanks for reading all this, I tried to be real thorough, and I really do appreciate any help I can get! ;;;
Long story short: I found lice on her yesterday, gave her a dusting of permethrin + diatomaceous earth + quarantined her, then realised she's been dealing with a sour or slow crop as well. I had her regurgitate after I gave her some water with electrolytes and probiotics. I've since let her have more water and a bit of food, along with two doses of clotrimazole, and she seems a bit worse for wear again. What else can I do to help her? Please help if possible!
Full Information: Yesterday morning, I checked on my girls as usual before letting them out to their run, and noticed my Ducky seemed a little slower than usual. A few hens were laying, so I left her and them up for a bit. I returned to let them out later, and Ducky seemed pretty much the same as before, so I kind of brushed it off as she was having a slightly off day. Fast forward to later that evening, and Ducky seemed much more lethargic and weak. Uh-oh. She wasn't talking at all either, and she's normally quite vivacious and sweet and chatty.
I gave her a very thorough look over, and I found teeny tiny white bugs around her vent that quickly scattered into her feathers, which I later figured out were chicken lice. Thankfully I had some diatomaceous earth on hand, and later found my permethrin, so I dusted her with both, making sure to really massage it all in. I made sure to give the others a small sprinkling too, as well as the coop itself, though from what I could see, none of the others were infested like she was.
She didn't seem interested in drinking water nor eating, and that's a very bad sign for her since she's always super ready for both! During my earlier reading, I found out that often times if a chicken has a lice outbreak, there's another underlying problem causing the chicken to feel bad enough not to dust bathe properly as it should to keep the lice + mites down. I noticed when giving her a look over that her crop was a bit mushy feeling, so I made sure to check on it again this morning after letting her rest all night. Sure enough, it was still full. She also had diarrhea that was basically just really stinky water with a few strange bits in it. Not good, not normal! I did a bit more reading, and deduced she probably has a sour or slow crop.
Because she had defecated a whole buncha water, I gave her some water with electrolytes in it and put her back in quarantine to rest, I figured she was dehydrated and tired. When I checked on her again later, she had perked up slightly, and even made noise once or so.
With my reading this morning, it seemed like regurgitating her might be a good idea to be sure whether or not she had crop issues, so I did that outside. A whole lot of nasty, sour smelling fluid came out, along with some bits of grass. No white bits, and her breath didn't stink in addition to that. I managed to get her crop nearly empty, though it seemed not 100% flat, but still very squishy.
A bit later, I gave her some water with electrolytes and probiotics, along with a bit of mushy peas (it was the only thing she seemed interested in + would willingly eat) and gave her two doses of clotrimazole cream orally. She upchucked a bit unprompted by me with the second dose, unpleasant smelling water and some bits of grass again.
What steps should I take now, do y'all think? Should I continue to try doctoring her myself or should I take her into a vet, despite all this social distancing and home staying I've been doing during these times? I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her well. Honestly not too worried about the lice since today it seems the permethrin did the trick, but the crop is definitely giving us both grief.
Thanks for reading all this, I tried to be real thorough, and I really do appreciate any help I can get! ;;;
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And yes, many times when there is an underlying issue, parasites do overtake them.
