Treatment for Peahen with possible infection

[CrazyBirdLady7]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. I know she's not egg bound as I have examined her and she didn't start laying until August last year. She has unlimited access to oyster shell and gets plenty of fresh fruit/veggies/herbs. Her normal food is a layer feed for chickens, which she normally enjoys but since she's a house pet, she always wants to check out what I'm eating. She's been eating a lot of kale and grapes lately. I treat her for worms twice a year as she does go outside occasionally. She likes to take dirt baths in my rose garden so maybe she picked up something there? When I created this thread, she wasn't pooping anything significant for a fecal float. Since starting the safeguard this morning, she has gotten her appetite back and poos are looking more normal and less watery. I'm hoping things are under control now but wondering what steps I can take to prevent this from happening again. Should I be giving her a different feed? The vet is the one who suggested the layer crumble. Does she need a "scratch" feed outside of the oyster shell?

 

[Birdrain92]

I have a two and a half year old peahen, Paisley, who lives indoors. Several weeks ago, I noticed that her poo was unusually stinky. I didn't think much of it until a couple weeks ago as every poo was very watery. Her eating/drinking and activity level were normal up until last week. I also noticed that she was eating more than she was pooping, i.e. more was going in than was coming out. Paisley had a fungal infection a few months ago and had displayed similar behavior as she is now, so I started the same treatment plan that had healed her last time; oil of oregano w/ olive oil and concentrated garlic liquid with a little greek yogurt, very small amounts injected orally 4-5 times a day. When she had the fungal infection, this method seemed to do the trick. This time around it has not been as effective. During all of this, I had attempted to start her routine deworming and was using Levasole (which I hadn't used in the past). Her poops kept getting more and more watery so I stopped that after a couple days. That's when I started the natural remedies. Up until this week, we noticed that her food wasn't digesting properly, as we would see pieces of greens and seeds pass through. I assumed this was the result of a sour crop, however, her crop doesn't seem any different than normal. She feels like she's a bit on the skinny side but other than that, nothing feels abnormal. Like she did toward the end of her fungal infection, she's been holding her tail up higher than normal, like something's bothering her vent, but upon inspection, all seems to be fine. She has been drinking excessively and today has only wanted to eat wax worms. After she ate a bunch of wax worms, she started milling around kind of picking at her but not really eating anything. Her poos today have been almost all watery liquid with no substance until she ate the wax worms (which perked her up quite a bit). I have attached some poo pics and a pic of her stance. The poo pic on the carpet was mostly water but had more too it than this morning. Shortly after that, she had two very stinky cecal poos. Kinda strange as far as timing as normally her cecal poos are like clockwork, 8-9am and 5-6pm. I started her back on Fenbendezole today in her water and haven't given her any of the oregano/garlic concoction since this morning.
I know my story is very detailed but does anyone have any suggestions other than going to the vet? I seem to know more about peafowl than any vet in my area and tend to get more help from backyard chickens than anywhere else. I have an antibiotic, duramyacin-10. Should I try that or get something else? Please help my poor little Paisley! She is my whole world!

In my opinion it almost looks like she's going to lay an egg. How old is she? Make sure she has access to a calcium source. I have a couple questions. Is she indoors all the time? Do you give her grit or gravel? If not I would advise giving her some gravel, small rocks, some sand, or grit when you can. It can help with digestion. Just for future reference don't put any medicine or wormer in her water. The only time you should mix medicine and wormer in water is when it says to in the instructions or when the medicine says Water Soluble. If it doesn't contain either or don't mix them with water. Doesn't do much good at all. How long has she been like that? Has she laid an egg before? I would follow Kathy's advice. It's a good way to check to see if she's egg bound. If there's an egg it's not that far from the vent and it will be fairly hard. She could lay it any day. Usually though with egg bound they look a little worse but better safe than sorry. If she's laying already check in corners that could be possible nesting spots. Hens like to choose corners. That much liquid in their poop is not normal. Could be mild stress or stress from laying. Like a natural lubricant produced by the body to try and pass the egg. It's important that when laying that they have access to lots of water.

 

[Birdrain92]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. I know she's not egg bound as I have examined her and she didn't start laying until August last year. She has unlimited access to oyster shell and gets plenty of fresh fruit/veggies/herbs. Her normal food is a layer feed for chickens, which she normally enjoys but since she's a house pet, she always wants to check out what I'm eating. She's been eating a lot of kale and grapes lately. I treat her for worms twice a year as she does go outside occasionally. She likes to take dirt baths in my rose garden so maybe she picked up something there? When I created this thread, she wasn't pooping anything significant for a fecal float. Since starting the safeguard this morning, she has gotten her appetite back and poos are looking more normal and less watery. I'm hoping things are under control now but wondering what steps I can take to prevent this from happening again. Should I be giving her a different feed? The vet is the one who suggested the layer crumble. Does she need a "scratch" feed outside of the oyster shell?

She doesn't need scratch. Scratch should be more of a treat. Scratch is like candy to them. It's possible that she picked something up but also with you adding garlic and oregano it could be more difficult to catch a parasite. Parasites don't like garlic at all. Garlic has high amounts of sulfur in it which kills parasites. Could be for energy maybe. I don't know how much protein or carbs are in grapes and kale. I would possibly increase her protein from a laying hen crumble to an all flock crumble.

 

[Trefoil]

I believe layer feed is for chickens. I would either give her gamebird or if you can't find that, allflock.

 

[Birdrain92]

I believe layer feed is for chickens. I would either give her gamebird or if you can't find that, allflock.

Or a meat bird feed like this. The protein in laying hen feed, in my opinion, is low.

 

[Garden Peas]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. I know she's not egg bound as I have examined her and she didn't start laying until August last year. She has unlimited access to oyster shell and gets plenty of fresh fruit/veggies/herbs. Her normal food is a layer feed for chickens, which she normally enjoys but since she's a house pet, she always wants to check out what I'm eating. She's been eating a lot of kale and grapes lately. I treat her for worms twice a year as she does go outside occasionally. She likes to take dirt baths in my rose garden so maybe she picked up something there? When I created this thread, she wasn't pooping anything significant for a fecal float. Since starting the safeguard this morning, she has gotten her appetite back and poos are looking more normal and less watery. I'm hoping things are under control now but wondering what steps I can take to prevent this from happening again. Should I be giving her a different feed? The vet is the one who suggested the layer crumble. Does she need a "scratch" feed outside of the oyster shell?

1. "Scratch" is not related to oyster shell. Scratch is a blend of whole seeds and cracked corn. Good for a treat and entertainment for poultry and to add carbs in winter. Can't be properly digested without grit.

2. "Grit" is essential. It is small rocks, tiny pebbles, tiny gravel used by the bird's digestive system to grind up food. Without grit, a bird can become impacted and die. Indoor birds must also have grit. Grit is NOT the same as oyster shell. Commercial poultry grit is sold at feed stores and Tractor Supply. Sometimes it is very fine granite gravel. Free range birds can find their own grit. Not necessarily enough natural grit available in a rose garden, would depend on the soil and what the bird could find. She HAS to have grit, if she isn't getting any now, buy some ASAP.

3. "Oyster shell" is a supplemental calcium source made from pulverized oyster shells. It is NOT the same as grit. An adequate supply of calcium is necessary for egg laying, but excess shell is not good either. Most "laying" feeds already contain supplemental calcium. Keep an eye on egg shells -- observe whether they are too thin, or too thick, perhaps even with excess calcium deposits on them. Insufficient calcium can lead to egg binding.

4. Too much oregano can irritate the intestinal tract.

5. The month she started laying last year (when she was two) is not necessarily any indication when she will start laying this year. Last year, she was two, when most hens first begin to lay, and often lay for an abbreviated period. This year, she is likely to lay earlier and longer, as she settles into an adult pattern. She needs a comfy place to hang out and feel safe, without intrusion or disturbance. Peahens normally lay in the evening.

6. That photo is a nearly perfect photo of a hen getting ready to lay an egg -- the way she is holding her wings, the way she is holding her tail feathers and hind end... the egg may not be where you can feel it, but she really looks to me as though she has an egg on the way. Also notice that she has her neck feathers roughed out, but her body feathers are smooth. She isn't puffed out through the body, she isn't hunched over or hunched up, she just looks like she needs to shove an egg out her vent sometime in the near future. She may not be egg bound -- she may just be fine and working on getting the egg through her system. Particularly if she is just starting up for the season.

7. How did you figure out it was a fungal infection earlier?

8. Has she ever been treated with metronidazole or any treatment for blackhead? Does she eat garden worms?

9. I'm concerned the natural remedies may be taking a toll. Perhaps better to slow down and get a clear idea of what is going on, and then treat as necessary with a clear view of the issues. Can you find any vet with avian experience? Even a non-pea experienced avian vet will have a lot of transferrable bird health knowledge.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. I know she's not egg bound as I have examined her and she didn't start laying until August last year. She has unlimited access to oyster shell and gets plenty of fresh fruit/veggies/herbs. Her normal food is a layer feed for chickens, which she normally enjoys but since she's a house pet, she always wants to check out what I'm eating. She's been eating a lot of kale and grapes lately. I treat her for worms twice a year as she does go outside occasionally. She likes to take dirt baths in my rose garden so maybe she picked up something there? When I created this thread, she wasn't pooping anything significant for a fecal float. Since starting the safeguard this morning, she has gotten her appetite back and poos are looking more normal and less watery. I'm hoping things are under control now but wondering what steps I can take to prevent this from happening again. Should I be giving her a different feed? The vet is the one who suggested the layer crumble. Does she need a "scratch" feed outside of the oyster shell?

If your one of the *many* that think 3 cc of Safeguard in a gallon of water is a good way to worm, you might want to rethink that. Plenty of stuff I can post that will show it won't treat most worms, and plenty of people have lost birds for thinking they wormed them properly. Start weighing her. At her age she should weigh no less than 3 kg.

Safeguard (10% fenbendazole) dose to treat capillary worms is 0.23 m per pound for *5* days.

-Kathy

 

[Birdrain92]

If your one of the *many* that think 3 cc of Safeguard in a gallon of water is a good way to worm, you might want to rethink that. Plenty of stuff I can post that will show it won't treat most worms, and plenty of people have lost birds for thinking they wormed them properly. Start weighing her. At her age she should weigh no less than 3 kg.

Safeguard (10% fenbendazole) dose to treat capillary worms is 0.23 m per pound for *5* days.

-Kathy

I've seen people doing the 3cc per gallon of water so much it's not even funny.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: It's in that stupid book by Gail Damerow. That amount might treat large roundworms, but it will not treat capillary worms.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

It's also on a bunch of websites. The only place I have not seen it is in a veterinary book. Go figure... yet people still want to believe it will work. Sigh...

-Kathy