2 year old hen. Persistent loose poop and pasty butt. Did not respond to Nyastin. More details and pics in post.

[TropicalChickies]

Hello,
This is Butchie, a two year old hen who hatched on our farm. She's always been a happy little layer until recently. Right now, she appears to be having trouble with a yeast infection on the back end accompanied by loose watery yellowish poop.

Here's the problem history and how I've treated her so far:

About two months ago, she started having diarrhea on and off. Her eggs were bleached almost entirely white and with thinner shells. We were having a bout of very hot and humid weather and she was drinking a ton of water, so I just started keeping an eye on her, trying not to overreact.

Then she stopped laying and the diarrhea got worse. Foamy with white and yellow bubbles, sometimes just water came out. I tried electrolytes and probiotics. I'm in rural South America, we have lots of animal supplies and medicines available, but no vet will look at a chicken, except for lunch. The woman at the animal feed and supply store asked if there was blood in the stool. There wasn't, so she recommended treat for a bacterial infection first, then worms.

I gave her oxytetracycline for four days, via subcutaneous injection. Waited a few days, no improvement.

I waited two more days, then dewormed the whole flock with Flubenvent. 7 days later, repeated.

She improved briefly, then she started her molt. This was a month ago. After a week or so of improvement, the diarrhea came back, not foamy, just a whole lot of loose watery yellowish poop. It looks like she isn't digesting her feed very well either.

Her crop and abdomen are ok. The problem is more on the back end.

I clean her butt every day so then I noticed a pasty white discharge sticking to her feathers. And crusty white spots on her face and head. I clean the crusty skin with vinegar solution, but it comes back.

So I treated her for a week with Nyastin. Another hen had a sour crop and responded well to the Nyastin, but Butchie is still suffering from this diarrhea and pasty butt.

Note: for several days, before I treated with Nyastin, she stopped eating. Just walked around wiping her beak like everything disgusted her. After the Nyastin, her appetite is back, she's eating very well, but obviously not getting full nourishment with all this watery poop.

I know this sounds like a lot of treatments, but I've waited in between each one, followed all the directions and tried to go in order from most to least fatal problem.

One thing I haven't tried is acidified copper sulphate. Anyone have good luck with that after trying other treatments? Or an alternative antifungal?

Thank you for reading and I hope someone can help.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Hey folks, so here's an update on Butchie. After a week of aggressive treatment (Amprolium for possible cocci, Fendendazol for worms, and Clotrimazole 2% for yeast), she is making remarkable improvements.

We live in a remote forest in Ecuador. No fecal tests here for chickens, so when general symptoms like "foamy diarrhea" present, I have to do what I can.

I'm also acidifying the drinking water 2 days per week and giving her probiotics and a small amount of mineral electrolyte once a day via syringe.

Anyway, she's back with the flock, eating with them, bossing around the pullets, scratching in the leaves, but not eating dirt -- which probably really contributed to her problem. Like that great article by @TwoCrows, we have very alkaline soil with all kinds of fungi and molds. This is a rainforest after all.

Although I had given the flock two rounds of dewormer six weeks ago, I strongly suspect now that she was reinfested. I'm going to follow up this dewormimg with Albendazol in 10 days just in case she has a more resistant tapeworm or nematodes.

Now that's she's not actually dying, I can focus on what's still wrong with her:

1. She has a yeast or fungal growth on her face. It's flaky and smells sweet and musty, not sour. I'm cleaning it with diluted white vinegar and dabbing it with Clotrimazole, and that's helping, bit it's not gone yet.

2. Her gizzard/small intestine area feels a bit hard. I'm hoping it's not a tumor. Could be a hernia from straining to poop these past two months. Or could be a partial blockage. She is pooping, still a bit runny, but with solids now.

Her crop is working well.

I've read about the success some people have had here with a molasses flush for blockages further down in the gizzard. I bought animal feed grass molasses yesterday. Anyone want to chime in on how they've used molasses and what for? And if it worked?

Thanks much for all the great info here. I've brought back two hens from death's door following advice given here.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I'd try the Acidified Copper Sulfate if you have it available.
Do put a bit of cream on her vent to help with external irritation and if it's helping her comb, keep up with the cream on that too.

Sometimes Gleet, crop problems, etc. are symptoms of an underlying condition, but hopefully Butchie will start to improve.

I'd try the Acidified Copper Sulfate if you have it available.
Do put a bit of cream on her vent to help with external irritation and if it's helping her comb, keep up with the cream on that too.

Sometimes Gleet, crop problems, etc. are symptoms of an underlying condition, but hopefully Butchie will start to improve.

Hi, unfortunately my partner found the copper sulphate used as a fungicide for plants, but not the acidified type I'm looking for. I'll look for it myself when I go to town over the weekend.

I'm going to proceed with the flush and treat with Clotrimazole syringed twice a day and around her vent.

Favaus would make sense. Our younger dogs get it on their feet often. That's why I have the Clotrimazole on hand.

I'm hoping that the course of oxytetracycline I gave her initially is what brought this on (combined with our warm wet climate which definitely favors yeast and fungal growth) and can be helped with the right treatment. I feel terrible that I gave her antibiotics that may have made the problem worse, but diarrhea symptoms are so vague...and things like e coli can kill so quickly. It's hard to do right without poop testing available.

I also moved everyone into a new coop (very gradually and gently) last week. Their old coop had some rotted wood and was difficult to keep clean. I think they'll be better off in their new apartment.

Oh well, there's many wonderful things about where we live in the rainforest, even the yeasts and fungi. I can make homemade wine, kombucha and vinegars no problem! But it's challenging for the animals in some ways.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I'm glad to hear Butchie is still hanging in there!
She's looking good.
Hopefully she's not having reproductive problems and is just now getting into the swing of things.

It's great the the antifungal drops are taking care of the skin on her face, it looks much better!

You've done a wonderful job devoting time and care for her. I'm rooting for her

How is Cleo doing?

Cleo is amazing. It's like she was never sick. Her only problem is a persistent bumble she's had forever. Every two months or so we excuse the scab and take out a kernel-- that's why she's wearing a "shoe" here. But we keep it from getting too bad although we've never been able to get rid of it completely. But other than that, she's great. Thanks for asking!

 

[TropicalChickies]

I'm glad to hear Butchie is still hanging in there!
She's looking good.
Hopefully she's not having reproductive problems and is just now getting into the swing of things.

It's great the the antifungal drops are taking care of the skin on her face, it looks much better!

You've done a wonderful job devoting time and care for her. I'm rooting for her

How is Cleo doing?

Butchie update! Well, she's still with us and seems to still be improving little by little. Her poop is still yellowish and gunky, but much better than the white water she was pooping before. At least it has solids. She eats well and doesn't drink excessive water anymore. She's off her roost early in the morning and asking for food. More than anything, I'm happy that she doesn't have a pained expression. I guess a lot of people might not think chickens have facial expressions, but I swear when Butchie was very sick her eyes were scrunched up and she looked peevish. She didn't want to be touched. Now her sweet little face looks peaceful and her eyes are clear and wide.

But she still has an "off" smell about her much of the time. Cheesy for sure. And while her crop is empty in the morning, later in the day it has a doughy feeling. When I press on her crop, it doesn't feel squishy with water, more like there's air or gas inside. So I've been trying to keep her system acidified with ACV and every few days I give her a little peppermint simethicone and she really likes that. She expels a little air -- from both ends!-- and then she's super happy and starts cooing and chatting.

The skin around her vent area has a strange color too, a greenish purple, but not all the time. Sometimes it's a healthy pink but them other times when I clean her butt it looks like the pic I attached.

So something is off in her system. Something is giving her gas and making her a host for some yeast I would guess that hasn't responded to anti fungal creams. The acidified copper sulphate I gave her a few months ago seemed to help. Maybe she needs more than one round? Or an anti-fungal pill? I've worked so hard to get her better, and she's come so far. Is there anything else I can try?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Butchie update! For anyone with a chick with vent gleet or crop issues -- my goodness, please be careful what she eats!

So after my last post here in early February, I carefully administered another round of ACS and Butchie improved -- a lot this time! The distension around her vent went down, her butt became firmer, pink, and healthy looking, the funky cheese smell went away, and her comb stood straight up for the first time in months! Hooray.

I followed with probiotics. Her poop was still not quite firm, but the urates were at least separate and visible and it was less yellowish, getting more brown. The flaky skin on her face was really clearing up. Everything was going great. Her appetite and energy were good, not drinking excessive water. She seemed bright eyed and content.

Then wham. Three nights ago, I noticed her crop was a little boggy at bedtime. Weather has been hot, steamy and wet so I made a note to check it in the morning. First thing the next day, she went straight for the water bowl and starting drinking. Then she staggers a few steps with yellow liquid coming out of her beak. I scoop her up and without even thinking about it, pointed her upside down so the slimy liquid could spill out. I never vomited a chicken before. It was pure instinct. I set her down and she shook it off and caught her breath. Her crop was big and I could feel a lot more liquid gurgling inside and she was shaking her head trying to clear it. So I watched a video really quickly on how to "correctly" empty her crop and did it, gently massaging her crop upward and giving her breaks to clear her throat and breathe. It seemed really necessary and an amazing amount of dark yellow goo came out with chunks of some dark green stuff. I put her in a cool shady place to rest and went to investigate.

All the poop in the coop was weird, orange and green... I ran to the compost pile, remembering I had baked a big squash (orange with green skin) the previous day for lunch. Sure enough, the chicks had gotten in and eaten the "guts" and the scooped out shells. Ive read that pumpkin and acorn squash is good for them cooked, but obviously not raw and rotting in the compost. Anyway, after they pooped, Cleo and everybody else was perfectly fine and still is. But poor Butchie didn't look good and her comb and wattles were that dark cherry red color that tells you something is wrong.

I checked on her throughout the day. My husband was in the city and I was on the farm by myself. I gave her a little coconut oil, which is all I had. By the afternoon, she had perked up, but the crop still filled up. When she put her head down to drink water, fluid dribbled out. I made her vomit again at 6pm and put her in the hospital for the night. I didn't want her gurgling to death in the coop where I couldn't hear her. I couldn't sleep from worry so at 1am I checked in on her. She was gurgling and I figured that was it. If she was still alive when it got light out, I would put her down. But I sat with her and massaged her crop and abdomen for awhile, telling her how much we loved her. She seemed to be breathing easier when I went to bed, but I wasn't hopeful.

The next morning (this was Friday) I found her standing up in the hospital, alert, and wanting to get away from the huge mess of grassy slimy poop she made overnight. I let her out and she promptly pecked my at my ankle, asking for food, and started walking around pecking at grass. No liquid came out. Her crop was completely flat and her abdomen a little bloated but not very much. My stars. These chickens do not go gently into that good night.

Ok, I said, you're not giving up, so I won't either. My husband had returned home in the evening with Epsom salts and a tube of Clotrimazol (the easiest thing for him to find.) I gave her a 8ml of saline flush, little by little, massaged the crop and belly and waited. Tem minutes later, she expelled most of it, along with more slimy pumpkin/feed/grass mess and then I started her on Clotrimazol, a morning and evening dose.

Question: I have two new four month old chicks mixing with the flock right now, a rooster and a pullet, and I'm wary of putting ACS in the water. So I'm trying Clotrimazol for Butchie instead of ACS. Is there a way to dose individually with ACS? I can syringe the solution into her beak, but how much?

I gave her half of a boiled egg later in the day (Saturday). She was famished. No more liquid collected in the crop. Her color was red and healthy. She spent the day being active with the flock. The pics I shared are from Saturday, one day after I had to vomit her. She looked great!

On Sunday, (yesterday) I gave her boiled egg for breakfast again, no problem.

The bad news
At lunch time she was so hungry I gave her 2 TBSP of damp chick starter feed. She gobbled it. By the evening her crop was squishy again and her head smelled like vinegar. This morning, she's exactly the same -- squishy crop about the size of a tennis ball and smelly. I guess I rushed feeding her normal food. I have her in the workshop because she's hungry and trying to eat grass, which I don't think will help.

Im feeling frustrated because before this episode, she had a really good six weeks. She was living like a normal chicken. She loves sunbathing and her "spa treatments" for her skin. I was so proud and happy to see her happy.

As long as her quality of life is good and her crop keeps working -- even if it needs some help now and then -- I'll do what I can. At this point, I've accepted that she must have an underlying issue. After all, the other chicks gorged on rotten squash skins, got the runs, and were fine. Only Butchie couldn't handle it, so that tells me she's delicate.

She hasn't laid an egg since she first got sick in September 2022 (seven months ago). The last eggs she laid were very white, pebbly and irregularly shaped. It's possible she contracted Infectious Bronchitis when she was younger and became symptomatic later. The original group of hens I got from a (bad) neighbor were all sick and sneezing with rales when we got them over 3 years ago, so she would have been exposed to it. Or she has tumors. But it's interesting that she was actually much much sicker in September and October -- pooping water, not eating, barely moving -- and she's actually improved so much since then. With cancer, I figure she would really decline. But even with the crop issues, she's so much better than she was back then.

So who knows. Without any real diagnosis, I'm just doing what I can to give her a good life in whatever time she has left. Thank you everyone who has followed and helped especially @Wyorp Rock

 

[TropicalChickies]

Butchie!
Causing trouble again I see.
I think you are doing everything you can for her. She's bouncing back it seems. So hard to know what the underlying condition may be. It could be cancer or something else all together.
I'm glad she's doing better and you've were able to get her through this last episode.

Is that Cleo in the photos with Butchie! How's she doing now?

Thank you for replying. What a roller coaster the past few days were with Butchie. I kept her out if the grass yesterday and only gave her some boiled egg. She slept most of the day, but she was breathing easy and the rest seemed to help. She's drinking water with Acidified copper sulphate -- I'm only offering it to her because I'm wary of the 5 mo chicks drinking it. I don't think the Clotrimazol does much for her. This morning the crop was clear, she was very hungry. I'm going to keep her out of the grass for several days. She was also eating a lot of seeds and little berries and what not. I think she's passed most of it. She is bouncing back, much to my amazement, so I'll help her along as best I can.

Cleo is great. She's almost 4 years old and she's still laying beautiful eggs at least 3x per week. We've been trying a new antibiotic cream especially for staph on her bumble when we clean it out and its really helping. It's called mupirocin.

The other hen in the pic with Butchie is Tina Turner, another carrioca (Turken) with much longer legs, she's about 1.5 years. The little black and white painted fellow is Paco. He hatched here with his sister Lucy about five months ago. The older white hen in the back is Cherie, who goes broody all the time and hatched and mothered all three generations in that photo. Cherie and Cleo are the survivors of the original sickly lot of 5 pullets we got four years ago. Two died of cyanosis from whatever flu or pneumonia they came with, and another from repeated prolapse, poor birds. I've learned so much about chicken care since then, and still am, thank you!

Here's some pics of Cleo and the others.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Yep, Cleo is very special. No matter what, every day at 4:30 pm exactly, she comes by to chat with me.

The Acidified Copper Sulfate seems to be the best remedy for Butchie. Today is day 3 of ACS treatment and the crop has been clear the past two mornings. I'm using the ACS very carefully, diluting 1/4 tsp to 2 liters of water and making sure she's drinking it throughout the day. She's eating a boiled egg in the morning and damp feed mash at midday. Keeping her off the grass. The floor of our patio floor has sand in it, so she's pecking around it getting grit.

In the afternoons, her crop gets big and mushy after eating the mash. She has no problem with the egg. I was reading Two Crows post again about some chickens just not tolerating some feeds. I'm going to start a thread seeing if anyone can recommend some alternative feeds. We don't have a lot of choices here, but maybe I can find something that she can digest more easily.

Anyway, here she is relaxing in the kitchen with the dogs. She seems to prefer their company right now because she doesn't want to appear weak with the other chicks. But Cleo stops by to hang out with her periodically. They really are so sweet.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Cleo is a mess isn't she!

What a sweet dog you have too

I saw your other thread, interesting suggestions on there. I'm going to follow it as well and see what comes of it.

Ha ha, yes, I have 5 dogs and they all know they will be out on the street if they ever hurt one of my chickies.

I posted a video about Butchie in the other thread with some questions. But I thought you might like this pic of Cleo looking after Butchie

 

[Lay-A Organic]

Well I wish you the best of luck with your darling hen.