On the mend, but still questions: UPDATE, 20 week old banty wormy as heck,

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lalaland

lalaland

Crowing
16 Years
Sep 26, 2008
3,628
515
441
Pine County MN
I have a young pullet who has been growing quieter and being less active over the past few days. I've noticed she hasn't been able to fly up to roosts that she could get to previously.

She has no other signs of illness, does not have mites/lices. I just butchered 8 rooster flockmates and saw no evidence of worms. Her eyes are clear, breathing appears normal. She is a little hunched up. She has not yet started to lay, and her comb has not yet pinked up.

Has always been a bit of a loner, she is the only banty with 8 other pullets of the same age, and 9 other adult hens, and two same age roosters. I have not seen her bullied.

There were multiple feeding stations throughout the pen until two days ago, she could not have gotten this skinny in two days.

I picked her up last night when she failed to come into the coop and she is emaciated. She ate eagerly from my hand, and ate more once I got her in the kennel and settled. I gave her a hard boiled egg yolk mashed with a little yogurt and polyvi vitamins, and canned catfood. Had two normal poops during the night, ate ravenously this morning again, but was immediately sleepy and dozed off.


so, what is going on?
- possible worms?
- what else?
 
Last edited:
Could it possibly be coccidosis? Coccidosis can be present in older birds to and They can have cocci WITHOUT having bloody feces.usual symptoms are sleepiness lethergie and puffed up. Bloody stool may or may not be present. You can treat with amprollium corid or amprol. Its the same medication and will kill all 9 strains of cocci.
 
Failure to thrive? She might have digestive issues where she can't turn the nutrients into energy or something..

You could take a stool sample in to the vet for analysis. What does her poop look like? Pictures?
 
aoxa said:
Failure to thrive? She might have digestive issues where she can't turn the nutrients into energy or something..

You could take a stool sample in to the vet for analysis. What does her poop look like? Pictures?
Click to expand...
Her poop looks so normal! white capped, firm turds. didn't look close enough to see the color, I can't come up with any good possiblity. Failure to thrive could be it....she is the one that I thought I would lose when she was a chick, but who immediately revived with vitamins! So digestive issues sound like a possiblity.

Realsis, I've never had any cocci. wouldn't I have other birds with it too? I'm am reluctant to treat without knowing what she has. So maybe Aoxa's stool sample suggestion would show whether it was cocci or not, or...
 
lalaland said:
Her poop looks so normal! white capped, firm turds. didn't look close enough to see the color, I can't come up with any good possiblity. Failure to thrive could be it....she is the one that I thought I would lose when she was a chick, but who immediately revived with vitamins! So digestive issues sound like a possiblity.

Realsis, I've never had any cocci. wouldn't I have other birds with it too? I'm am reluctant to treat without knowing what she has. So maybe Aoxa's stool sample suggestion would show whether it was cocci or not, or...
Click to expand...
I would do the stool sample before treating. If she is pooping normally I wouldn't think it was cocci. If blood is not present, I'd at least expect some runny poop...
 
lalaland said:
Her poop looks so normal! white capped, firm turds. didn't look close enough to see the color, I can't come up with any good possiblity. Failure to thrive could be it....she is the one that I thought I would lose when she was a chick, but who immediately revived with vitamins! So digestive issues sound like a possiblity.

Realsis, I've never had any cocci. wouldn't I have other birds with it too? I'm am reluctant to treat without knowing what she has. So maybe Aoxa's stool sample suggestion would show whether it was cocci or not, or...
Click to expand...
Your other birds may have developed a good immunity to the strains of cocci that are in their environment. If this bird has a lowered immunity for any reason she could easily develop coccidiosis. She may indeed have underlying issues that have caused her to be weaker then the others so I would treat for it to rule it out. The treatment does absolutely no harm if it is not coccidiosis. A stool sample certainly wouldn't hurt although most vets will cry coccidiosis if they see any cocci at all and most chickens do carry a few, they have just grown immune to it. That is what I would start with anyway.
 
I hadn't thought of that, that a weakened state/immune system out of balance would let the cocci get a better hold.

Long day, I just got home after 16 hours. Mrs. Murphy is looking better, more alert, and during the day drank about a cup and a half of water, and ate an additional half cup of feed. Lots of normal droppings. I put her on the floor while I got her fresh water and hay, and she pooped a clear watery dropping with a pea green solid in it - not the bright green, but !

I may put her back with the flock after a she gets another good feeding tomorrow morning. I am home during the day and can keep a good watch on her, if I need to I can put her back in the kennel for the night and possibly on Thurs and Fri when I am back at work.

So, improvement, but not all better. And...improving in a warm, quiet environment is not the same as holding your own in the cold and the rough and tumble of a flock of standard sized chickens. I wonder if she will do better in the flock now that most of the roosters are gone - thats if she wasn't eating because of flock dynamics, although that just seems unlikely with the number of feed stations.
 
wed morning update:

well, she isn't going out today. She ate a little this morning, stools are looser and watery, and she seems to be drinking quite a bit. Fresh garlic and eggs this morning for her. SHe eats a little, stands and her eyes close.

I don't know if she got too close to starvation and needs a long recovery, or if and more likely, there is something going on internally. I want to avoid the stool sample at the vet for $ reasons, but will call to see what the cost is, and whether they can do it here without shipping it to the univ.
 
She has an immunity problem..I know you do not want to cull this bird..please think about this..this is her second time having trouble thriving..the rest of the flock knows something is wrong and does not want her with them..she is a risk and they keep her away...chickens are smart....she is a risk to your flock. Listen to your flock....
 

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