Foghorn is a 2yr old, red sex linked hen, who {about a month ago} presented as lethargic, not all that interested in eating - she was still drinking well. I brought her in, not sure what was going on and ended up eventually putting her on a 3 day course of Tylan. Tossed her back out in the flock 'cuz she was looking/behaving very well and a few days later started up with the lethargy and no appetite again... brought her back inside, got her eating soft treats {wouldn't eat her food}.
Last Friday night I gave her one dose of paste Safeguard just in case it was worms and lo and behold Saturday I saw live worms in her poop. They were either cecal or round, not sure which. Brought a stool sample and Foghorn to the vet this past Monday. Stool sample came back negative, but I did start her on Corid in her drinking water and the Safeguard on Saturday, so I figured that could play into it coming back negative.
She got 5 consecutive doses of paste Safeguard, Monday night was her last dose.
Monday afternoon/early evening and Tuesday early a.m. she looked pretty darn good. Her poops were getting more normal, not so runny. When I got home Tuesday from work, she looked *awful* and within 24 hrs her crop got huge and squishy. Now she had no interest even in drinking. I syringed some olive oil down her and lubed up her "backside" too... what I was thinking was perhaps there was a big worm die off and it was blocking her up. She wasn't pooping it seemed unless I "lubed" her up, I did on a few occasions see dead worms in her poop.
The squishy big crop wasn't going down at all, she was VERY lethargic, no interest in food/water. Brought her to the vet again yesterday {she spent the day}, they rehydrated her, told me she pooped a whole lot there, told me crop surgery probably wasn't a good idea because it was mostly fluid.
Last night I vomited her, something I thought I would never attempt due to the risks but there was SO much goo in her crop, I was able to get a lot out... it was brown liquid, with just a piece or two of lord knows what. A little while afterwards, I gave her a few drops of Poly Vi Sol and made some Exact baby bird formula on the thicker side and used the syringe plastic tip attachment to place in her her beak {not squirted in} and syringed some water into her. About 15 min later, she took interest in eating some canned corn kernels on her own and a few bites of watermelon.
Sorry so long, but thought it important to give the past month's history of what I've been doing w/her from observation of her, vet interactions and research here on BYC.
Today she is still pretty lethargic, still not drinking on her own, after my getting the baby bird formula and water into her {which I've been doing regularly} she does take interest in eating a few canned corn kernels but nothing else. Her crop is not going completely down overnight, but thankfully it hasn't gotten as huge/filled up with fluids like it was earlier in the week. She's in a dog crate in the house and is definitely taking advantage of the heat lamp.
Any thoughts, advice, whatever is greatly appreciated. I'm just not sure what to do for this poor girl and really don't want to lose her. Is it possible the worms just really depleted her and with rest, warmth, force feeding she could bounce back? Am I even thinking along the right lines here with treatment?
She had lost a lot of weight when this first started, but is holding it now {I weigh her}. She has been laying perfect eggs about every 2-3 days through this, her last egg was Tuesday though.
Last Friday night I gave her one dose of paste Safeguard just in case it was worms and lo and behold Saturday I saw live worms in her poop. They were either cecal or round, not sure which. Brought a stool sample and Foghorn to the vet this past Monday. Stool sample came back negative, but I did start her on Corid in her drinking water and the Safeguard on Saturday, so I figured that could play into it coming back negative.
She got 5 consecutive doses of paste Safeguard, Monday night was her last dose.
Monday afternoon/early evening and Tuesday early a.m. she looked pretty darn good. Her poops were getting more normal, not so runny. When I got home Tuesday from work, she looked *awful* and within 24 hrs her crop got huge and squishy. Now she had no interest even in drinking. I syringed some olive oil down her and lubed up her "backside" too... what I was thinking was perhaps there was a big worm die off and it was blocking her up. She wasn't pooping it seemed unless I "lubed" her up, I did on a few occasions see dead worms in her poop.
The squishy big crop wasn't going down at all, she was VERY lethargic, no interest in food/water. Brought her to the vet again yesterday {she spent the day}, they rehydrated her, told me she pooped a whole lot there, told me crop surgery probably wasn't a good idea because it was mostly fluid.
Last night I vomited her, something I thought I would never attempt due to the risks but there was SO much goo in her crop, I was able to get a lot out... it was brown liquid, with just a piece or two of lord knows what. A little while afterwards, I gave her a few drops of Poly Vi Sol and made some Exact baby bird formula on the thicker side and used the syringe plastic tip attachment to place in her her beak {not squirted in} and syringed some water into her. About 15 min later, she took interest in eating some canned corn kernels on her own and a few bites of watermelon.
Sorry so long, but thought it important to give the past month's history of what I've been doing w/her from observation of her, vet interactions and research here on BYC.
Today she is still pretty lethargic, still not drinking on her own, after my getting the baby bird formula and water into her {which I've been doing regularly} she does take interest in eating a few canned corn kernels but nothing else. Her crop is not going completely down overnight, but thankfully it hasn't gotten as huge/filled up with fluids like it was earlier in the week. She's in a dog crate in the house and is definitely taking advantage of the heat lamp.
Any thoughts, advice, whatever is greatly appreciated. I'm just not sure what to do for this poor girl and really don't want to lose her. Is it possible the worms just really depleted her and with rest, warmth, force feeding she could bounce back? Am I even thinking along the right lines here with treatment?
She had lost a lot of weight when this first started, but is holding it now {I weigh her}. She has been laying perfect eggs about every 2-3 days through this, her last egg was Tuesday though.
