3 1/2 year old buff orpington seems really "off"

[staceyj]

Sorry forgot to add the photo

 

[erzulieloo]

In the case of my flock, there are a lot of health issues that stem from their carrying the LL virus (leucosis). I strongly suspect this is the case with my present hen that I'm trying to treat for reproductive issues.

This hen is around age three years, and she was one I hatched within the flock. I've had extremely high mortality in the chicks hatched from my own stock that carry the virus. My hatchery sourced chickens have mostly been able to live long lives after developing resistance to the virus as was the case of the hen I recently euthanized. (She was one of my life-long faves) I believe her problems started early on with huge eggs. Most of my hens that have laid super jumbo eggs have ended up with reproductive issues.

so sorry for your loss. truly. my girl having the issues right now was a layer of BIG eggs back in her day. It was always how i knew it was one of hers....

 

[erzulieloo]

She’s quite pale and lacking tail feathers which could suggest a molt or the beginning of one
Have you turned her over to look for feather shafts growing in?
lice or possible a bit of leg mites?
Did you feel her crop?
Can you feel where I’ve marked with the arrow?
(? Pendulous crop?)

She has been dropping feathers and I've been thinking she was molting but it seems like it's taking longer and going more slowly than she has done in the past. I have felt her crop and it's soft. I don't smell anything around her beak - I've not dealt with crop issues before but I've always read about a terrible smell - and yes. I thought it looked like the images I've seen of pendulous crop. I've not seen mites or eggs but I'm going to check again more closely.

 

[erzulieloo]

Sorry forgot to add the photo View attachment 1540225

the leg you circled...even if i don't see something moving is there another thing i should look for?

 

[staceyj]

the leg you circled...even if i don't see something moving is there another thing i should look for?

It could certainly be just a ‘dirty spot’
Scaly leg mite are invisible to the naked eye but get up under the leg scales and lift them up with their excrement build up.
since they are parasitic bugs they eat the blood of the chicken and can cause anemia.

 

[erzulieloo]

It could certainly be just a ‘dirty spot’
Scaly leg mite are invisible to the naked eye but get up under the leg scales and lift them up with their excrement build up.
since they are parasitic bugs they eat the blood of the chicken and can cause anemia.

Thanks you!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

This is a comprehensive and thoughtful post.

@azygous i’m so sorry to hear of the loss of your girl!
What a wonderfully long life she had though!

I have a crazy question that I might as well post here, about collapsed shells left internally.

Has anyone ever tried to gently flush it out say with a mild betadine solution, “a la douche”, since just soaking doesn’t provide the ...uh... rinsing action that irrigation would provide?
Curious minds want to know.

I would not recommend flushing the vent, since it can flush fecal bacteria up into the oviduct, because of the proximity of the large intestine inside the cloaca. I once recommended just that in a post because a more experienced BYC member had also advised someone to do that for an egg broken inside. But apparently a lot of bacteria end up working their way up into the oviduct anyway, and vent pecking can add to it, but many reproductive disorders can be related to bacteria, such as E.coli, mycoplasma, and several others colonizing the oviduct. In Merck Vet Manual they tend to blame all reproductive disorders on bacterial contamination.

 

[staceyj]

I would not recommend flushing the vent, since it can flush fecal bacteria up into the oviduct, because of the proximity of the large intestine inside the cloaca. I once recommended just that in a post because a more experienced BYC member had also advised someone to do that for an egg broken inside. But apparently a lot of bacteria end up working their way up into the oviduct anyway, and vent pecking can add to it, but many reproductive disorders can be related to bacteria, such as E.coli, mycoplasma, and several others colonizing the oviduct. In Merck Vet Manual they tend to blame all reproductive disorders on bacterial contamination.

Ah, thanks for explaining that.
All good efforts have their own set of perils...

 

[azygous]

I agree that trying to flush the reproductive track from the cloaca wouldn't be a good idea. Besides the risk of pushing bacteria up into the reproductive track, there's also the risk of injuring delicate tissue. I introduced the castor oil by tubing it into the crop, thus allowing it to work its way down naturally.

I checked on my current patient a while ago, and she was making her way into a nest box and behaving much less lethargically. This gives me hope that the warm water, calcium, and castor oil have caused things to begin to move, and perhaps the collapsed shell will turn up along with a normal egg following close behind.

 

[staceyj]

I agree that trying to flush the reproductive track from the cloaca wouldn't be a good idea. Besides the risk of pushing bacteria up into the reproductive track, there's also the risk of injuring delicate tissue. I introduced the castor oil by tubing it into the crop, thus allowing it to work its way down naturally.

I checked on my current patient a while ago, and she was making her way into a nest box and behaving much less lethargically. This gives me hope that the warm water, calcium, and castor oil have caused things to begin to move, and perhaps the collapsed shell will turn up along with a normal egg following close behind.

Please let me know.