Please let me know if you have any potential insight on what might be going on with my 5-year-old Easter Egger, Digger.
On Aug. 11, we lost our 1-year-old Snowy Easter Egger, Sugar, overnight. She seemed to have trouble laying eggs throughout her short life. She laid very large eggs a few times, then we had to treat her with an Epsom salt bath to help her lay two eggs in a row one day, she laid a few of the fart eggs and a few shell-less eggs. So in a way, it was not a surprise.
Then, last Wednesday (Aug. 17), I came home from work to find my 5-year-old Easter Egger, Digger (the subject of this post) looking miserable. She was poofy, wings dropped, eyes hardly open, crop empty, keel bone protruding more than usual. She had also made some yellow and green poops, so I immediately panicked. She hasn't laid eggs since February, which I thought may have been normal given her age. Given the fact that Sugar died only a few days before Digger fell ill, we treated the entire flock with Corid to be safe. Digger
Within 24 hours of the Corid treatment, Digger looked much better - tail up, wings back to normal, bright eyes. She wanted to eat tons of veggies (cucumber and lettuce), but was disinterested in her feed. She would pick it up and spit it out. So we supplemented with scrambled eggs to make sure she got some nutrition.
All week she has been out foraging for bugs with the flock, but does come up to sit down for a while from time to time. However, her poop is still not right. It's no longer yellow runny with green, but it keeps rotating between bright yellow runny (almost like egg yolk), to clear runny, to pale yellow runny, to light brownish runny, to rust-tinged runny. I've looked at every poop chart on the internet and have not quite found what I'm dealing with. So I'm turning to you all for help!
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.):
Easter Egger, 5 years and 4 months. Not sure of exact weight, but she has definitely lost some weight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
I would say she's slowed down. Still interested in pecking the ground and scratching a bit, but not as much scratching as the others. Still preening, but no dust bathing. Mostly stays with the flock, but at times comes to the porch to sit for a bit.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
About 2 weeks.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No, they all seem to be behaving normally.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
I'm not sure if the rust-tinged poop is indicative of blood. But otherwise, she doesn't appear to have any injuries. She doesn't appear to have water belly either.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing I can put my finger on specifically.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She is drinking water with Corid, and some water with apple cider vinegar. She's drinking quite a lot - the whole flock is; It is VERY HOT here in south Texas, heat indices of 109-120, so I don't consider this abnormal. She hasn't had much interest in her feed, though my husband claims he has seen her eating it as recent as the day before yesterday. Because of that, we want to make sure she is eating something, so she has had some cucumber (she fought over a cucumber), grapes, lettuce, scrambled egg, mealworms. Not all nutritious, but a good sign she is still interested in food. I'm trying to keep her cool and at least with some food in her belly.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Watery or liquidy. Rotating between bright yellow (almost like egg yolk) runny, to clear runny, to pale yellow runny, to light brownish runny, to rust-tinged runny.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Corid - Last Wednesday, we gave her a bit directly from a dropper as an emergency because she looked like she was going to pass away. Gave treatment dose in their big waterer for her and the whole flock. It's been one week of Corid.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Treat completely myself - we don't have a vet nearby that can help.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
I will share the poop pics from this afternoon: rust-colored runny and light brownish runny.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Very large coop, clean with pine shavings.
On Aug. 11, we lost our 1-year-old Snowy Easter Egger, Sugar, overnight. She seemed to have trouble laying eggs throughout her short life. She laid very large eggs a few times, then we had to treat her with an Epsom salt bath to help her lay two eggs in a row one day, she laid a few of the fart eggs and a few shell-less eggs. So in a way, it was not a surprise.
Then, last Wednesday (Aug. 17), I came home from work to find my 5-year-old Easter Egger, Digger (the subject of this post) looking miserable. She was poofy, wings dropped, eyes hardly open, crop empty, keel bone protruding more than usual. She had also made some yellow and green poops, so I immediately panicked. She hasn't laid eggs since February, which I thought may have been normal given her age. Given the fact that Sugar died only a few days before Digger fell ill, we treated the entire flock with Corid to be safe. Digger
Within 24 hours of the Corid treatment, Digger looked much better - tail up, wings back to normal, bright eyes. She wanted to eat tons of veggies (cucumber and lettuce), but was disinterested in her feed. She would pick it up and spit it out. So we supplemented with scrambled eggs to make sure she got some nutrition.
All week she has been out foraging for bugs with the flock, but does come up to sit down for a while from time to time. However, her poop is still not right. It's no longer yellow runny with green, but it keeps rotating between bright yellow runny (almost like egg yolk), to clear runny, to pale yellow runny, to light brownish runny, to rust-tinged runny. I've looked at every poop chart on the internet and have not quite found what I'm dealing with. So I'm turning to you all for help!
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.):
Easter Egger, 5 years and 4 months. Not sure of exact weight, but she has definitely lost some weight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
I would say she's slowed down. Still interested in pecking the ground and scratching a bit, but not as much scratching as the others. Still preening, but no dust bathing. Mostly stays with the flock, but at times comes to the porch to sit for a bit.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
About 2 weeks.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No, they all seem to be behaving normally.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
I'm not sure if the rust-tinged poop is indicative of blood. But otherwise, she doesn't appear to have any injuries. She doesn't appear to have water belly either.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing I can put my finger on specifically.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She is drinking water with Corid, and some water with apple cider vinegar. She's drinking quite a lot - the whole flock is; It is VERY HOT here in south Texas, heat indices of 109-120, so I don't consider this abnormal. She hasn't had much interest in her feed, though my husband claims he has seen her eating it as recent as the day before yesterday. Because of that, we want to make sure she is eating something, so she has had some cucumber (she fought over a cucumber), grapes, lettuce, scrambled egg, mealworms. Not all nutritious, but a good sign she is still interested in food. I'm trying to keep her cool and at least with some food in her belly.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Watery or liquidy. Rotating between bright yellow (almost like egg yolk) runny, to clear runny, to pale yellow runny, to light brownish runny, to rust-tinged runny.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Corid - Last Wednesday, we gave her a bit directly from a dropper as an emergency because she looked like she was going to pass away. Gave treatment dose in their big waterer for her and the whole flock. It's been one week of Corid.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Treat completely myself - we don't have a vet nearby that can help.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
I will share the poop pics from this afternoon: rust-colored runny and light brownish runny.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Very large coop, clean with pine shavings.
