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.

 

[Lay-A Organic]

She may have worms and you can try to deworm her. Just to help you can put a little apple cider vinegar in her water.

 

[TropicalChickies]

She may have worms and you can try to deworm her. Just to help you can put a little apple cider vinegar in her water.

Hi. Thank you for the response. I dewormed the flock about a month ago with Flubenvent and repeated a week later. I may try again, some eggs may have hatched and reinfested her. I think the white crusty patches and pasty butt are definitely yeast or fungal related, but it could be worms causing the pasty butt and diarrhea as well.

 

[Lay-A Organic]

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

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Her backside having a yeasty odor, then she may have vent gleet. While treating the surrounding tissue with a topical antifungal or yeast cream can help heal the skin, usually vent gleet is fungal/yeast infection internal. Much like having sour crop.
Since she responded to the Nystatin, you can try that again for another round, try something different like Miconazole or Clotrimazole or if you can get it, then use the Acidified Copper Sulfate.

The dryness of her comb and face may be from having to treat for all the external parasites that are prevalent in your area, but it may also be that she's getting a fungal infection like Favus. Clotrimazole or Miconazole cream, applied lightly to the skin may help with that.

Her drinking a lot, she's trying to clear her system. Every time I've ever had a hen drinking a lot of water, she's got a crop/digestive issue.
I almost wonder if you need to give her an epsom salts flush like you did with Cleo to jumpstart treatment. Give her the flush, then begin treating as Vent Gleet and Sour Crop.

Just my 2¢

 

[TropicalChickies]

Her backside having a yeasty odor, then she may have vent gleet. While treating the surrounding tissue with a topical antifungal or yeast cream can help heal the skin, usually vent gleet is fungal/yeast infection internal. Much like having sour crop.
Since she responded to the Nystatin, you can try that again for another round, try something different like Miconazole or Clotrimazole or if you can get it, then use the Acidified Copper Sulfate.

The dryness of her comb and face may be from having to treat for all the external parasites that are prevalent in your area, but it may also be that she's getting a fungal infection like Favus. Clotrimazole or Miconazole cream, applied lightly to the skin may help with that.

Her drinking a lot, she's trying to clear her system. Every time I've ever had a hen drinking a lot of water, she's got a crop/digestive issue.
I almost wonder if you need to give her an epsom salts flush like you did with Cleo to jumpstart treatment. Give her the flush, then begin treating as Vent Gleet and Sour Crop.

Just my 2¢

Thank you! I have a Clotrimazole cream. It has .04g of dexamethasone (a steroid added to it). Do you think that's ok? I put a little bit on her face two days ago, and it's helping the crustyness.

So I'm going to give her a flush, then try feeding her the cream 2x a day and put it on her vent (which is swollen and irritated, poor thing)

Should I do a full seven days with Clotrimazole before the copper sulphate?

 

[TropicalChickies]

Her backside having a yeasty odor, then she may have vent gleet. While treating the surrounding tissue with a topical antifungal or yeast cream can help heal the skin, usually vent gleet is fungal/yeast infection internal. Much like having sour crop.
Since she responded to the Nystatin, you can try that again for another round, try something different like Miconazole or Clotrimazole or if you can get it, then use the Acidified Copper Sulfate.

The dryness of her comb and face may be from having to treat for all the external parasites that are prevalent in your area, but it may also be that she's getting a fungal infection like Favus. Clotrimazole or Miconazole cream, applied lightly to the skin may help with that.

Her drinking a lot, she's trying to clear her system. Every time I've ever had a hen drinking a lot of water, she's got a crop/digestive issue.
I almost wonder if you need to give her an epsom salts flush like you did with Cleo to jumpstart treatment. Give her the flush, then begin treating as Vent Gleet and Sour Crop.

Just my 2¢

Thank you! I have a Clotrimazole cream. It has .04g of dexamethasone (a steroid added to it). Do you think that's ok? I put a little bit on her face two days ago, and it's helping the crustyness.

So I'm going to give her a flush, then try feeding her the cream 2x a day and put it on her vent (which is swollen and irritated, poor thing)

Should I do a full seven days with Clotrimazole before the copper sulphate?

Or should I just go with the copper sulphate if I can get it?

 

[YamYam]

Not advice, but I also have a hen with these exact problems, dirty bum, weird eggs, and also jiggly like a water balloon.
I've tried many treatments but after leaving her alone, a year later and she seems to be doing well (even though she still has a dirty bum.)
Best of luck with your hen~

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you! I have a Clotrimazole cream. It has .04g of dexamethasone (a steroid added to it). Do you think that's ok? I put a little bit on her face two days ago, and it's helping the crustyness.

So I'm going to give her a flush, then try feeding her the cream 2x a day and put it on her vent (which is swollen and irritated, poor thing)

Should I do a full seven days with Clotrimazole before the copper sulphate?

Or should I just go with the copper sulphate if I can get it?

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.

 

[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.