5 year old hen, thin, eating active, but slowing down.. diarhrea with yellow white slime

[Bocktobery 10]

I'm having difficulty helping my 5 year old Barred Rock hen, Maple. She's been ill for quite some time now. I noticed about seven weeks ago that she was getting thin. Previously, she was very healthy. She free ranges and this is before all the snow came- my flock is mostly isolated in their coop right now and as been that way for about a month. (She's been sick with this since before the snow)

She has chronic diarrhea. I don't think that it is greenish, though maybe at times it is. Today, her poop was watery, with yellow white slime, but regular brown poop color droppings in the yellow white 'slime'. I'm guessing the white is urates? Not sure. She has up to this point been fairly active. You would not have known anything was wrong with her unless you picked her up. She was moving around just like the others and eating just like the others. There were times in which I would catch her sitting with the other sick hens I have. (One just died recently of egg yolk peritonitis- I did the necropsy and affirmed this).

She does not have any lumps in her abdomen. Everything seems normal. She was gassy this afternoon it seems. I heard her let out a large fart and after that her stomach was gurgling. She doesn't seem to keep her eyes open- the bottom eyelid is half closed over her eyes. The eyes don't seem to have anything wrong with them. She just seems very tired, weak. She is eating, but I noticed she will not eat the whole bowl of food. She will stop after a while, which is not really chicken like. Normally, a hen will eat everything you have to offer.

I checked her crop and it does seem as though it is emptying. I noticed some time ago sometimes she has difficulty swallowing it seems- she will swallow its its as if she needs to press the food down the remaining passage- she wrenches her neck to get the food down. She also seems dehydrated now- Her comb is dry and not supple.

I have treated her for worms, used ivermectin then Wazine- no change. I have given her duramyacin 10, sulmet- no change. I have given her lincomyacin- no change.. and I am now thinking about trying some bacitracin methylene disalicylate- yet I'm not sure about the dosage. I'm really out of ideas to try.

Her biggest noticeable thing is her weight loss. And the fact that she has a ravenous appetite, but then kind of stops after a while.

I've looked up so much stuff on the internet and in my books and really I'm at a loss. I'm just wondering if anyone else can maybe give me some advice on what to try or what they think it could be?

thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-3-year-old-polish-hen-lethargic-droopy-wings

See post # 2 for what I personally would do - Eggcessive wrote that post.

I know you don't have the drooping wings issue with your hen but my first thought was to try a different wormer after running Corid through her and then I would go with antibiotics. But I am no expert!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

ChickensAreSweet,

Thanks so much for your help. I'm not sure if my hen has that much time left. She refused to eat much at all. Didn't drink much either. Yesterday, she had brown poo, today- all green. I think she is slipping away. Worst thing is that her crop is now not emptying. It seems stagnant. Her feathers are ruffled and she does not move much at all. (When I got her yesterday in the coop she was walking around and eating- could she just be depressed about being away from the flock?)

Anyway, if she survives by Monday, hopefully I can get her into the vets and we can run some tests on her fecal matter to see what can be found and then treated. I think I just waited too long on this. She seemed to be doing better there- She did gain some color in her face, comb and wattles yesterday and still is not pale today. ?

Anyway, I got some chicken vitamins today that are supposed to stimulate eating- which it worked for only the first few moments. I think she may have some sort of blockage in there... CAN BACITRACIN CAUSE CROP BLOCK? !! <- burning question right now. I did notice she has a small lump in her lower abdomen, when I pressed it she let out a noise. Not good.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

ChickensAreSweet,

Thanks so much for your help. I'm not sure if my hen has that much time left. She refused to eat much at all. Didn't drink much either. Yesterday, she had brown poo, today- all green. I think she is slipping away. Worst thing is that her crop is now not emptying. It seems stagnant. Her feathers are ruffled and she does not move much at all. (When I got her yesterday in the coop she was walking around and eating- could she just be depressed about being away from the flock?)

Anyway, if she survives by Monday, hopefully I can get her into the vets and we can run some tests on her fecal matter to see what can be found and then treated. I think I just waited too long on this. She seemed to be doing better there- She did gain some color in her face, comb and wattles yesterday and still is not pale today. ?

Anyway, I got some chicken vitamins today that are supposed to stimulate eating- which it worked for only the first few moments. I think she may have some sort of blockage in there... CAN BACITRACIN CAUSE CROP BLOCK? !! <- burning question right now. I did notice she has a small lump in her lower abdomen, when I pressed it she let out a noise. Not good.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/420979/vet-treatment-for-sour-crop-crop-stasis

You may want to search for poultry crop stasis, sour crop and impacted crop. I have no experience with those (if that is what your chicken's problem is) and cannot offer assistance on that. I hope she gets better soon.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/420979/vet-treatment-for-sour-crop-crop-stasis

You may want to search for poultry crop stasis, sour crop and impacted crop. I have no experience with those (if that is what your chicken's problem is) and cannot offer assistance on that. I hope she gets better soon.

Thank you! I've not hear of crop stasis... that might be it. She is still alive.. Her color is back and she seems very well rested, but still not back to normal self. She eats, but not much. Last night she had a bit of colored brown poo again, but very little. I was going to take her in to the vet today but we've got bad weather today!

Sooo, hopefully maybe tomorrow I can get some answers.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Ok, it might be crop stasis. I read somewhere that dehydration could cause the crop to empty at a slower rate. I know my bird is dehydrated- I can see it in her comb- its dry. Luckily, the color in her face is coming back. She is no longer pale. But my question is, what can cause dehydration and weight loss, and not respond to antibiotics? I'm thinking now there is a blockage.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Found a worm, or at least I think it is a worm in her droppings this morning. I think it was in her cecal dropping- its hard to tell because she has diarrhea, but in the brown gooey part of her poo, there was something very tiny, almost translucent and threadlike moving around in it. I am assuming that is most definitely a worm.

I also realized that when I treated her for worms about two months ago I never re-treated her, I guess because I did not see any signs of improvement with her. (VERY big mistake!) I treated her then with Wazine, and so this morning I gave her water treated with Wazine. She is not really drinking too much... I'm wondering if I should give it to her as a straight dosage into her mouth? Does anyone know if that can be or should be done? I also have ordered some stronger dewormer - two differnt kinds to be in face, safegaurd and something that begins with the letter V.. Val something.. sorry I can't remember the name. Don't know if it will be too late when I get it or not.

She seems to still be in fair condition. She gobbled up food this morning. She even wanted to wander around a bit this morning, and her face is not pale as before. Last night, I caught her in a few minutes of her feathers not being ruffled. (They've constantly been ruffled for a long time) So I think I have her mostly stabilized... for now. OH and her crop is emptying, albeit it seems somewhat slowly, which I think I read can be because she is dehydrated. Do worms cause dehydration?!

Sorry for keep updating this post. I've seemed to have gone everywhere in my mind with this chicken's illness and posted about it here. I just want to document it in case others can find any of it helpful.

 

[enola]

Wazine only kills round worms. Ivermectin is usless in poultry, the worms are resistant to it. You need to worm all of your hens with Safeguard or Valbazen.

 

[mg15]

HI,
Cecal Worms
This parasite (Heterakis gallinae) is found in the ceca of chickens, turkeys and other birds.
This parasite apparently does not seriously affect the health of the bird. At least no marked symptoms or pathology can be blamed on its presence. Its main importance is that it has been incriminated as a vector of Histomonas meleagridis, the agent that causes blackhead. This protozoan parasite apparently is carried in the cecal worm egg and is transmitted from bird to bird through this egg.
The life history of this parasite is similar to that of the common roundworm. The eggs are produced in the ceca and pass in the feces. They reach the infective form in about two weeks. In cool weather, this may take longer. The eggs are very resistant to environmental conditions and will remain viable for long periods.
The cecal worm can be effectively treated with fenbendazole. Since the worm itself produces no observable damage and the eggs live for long periods, it is advisable and necessary to keep chickens and turkeys separated to prevent spread of blackhead.
Fenbendazole (Panacur

) is what I used for the cecal worms. My girls had them, it kills tapeworms and round worms and others.

Not that you have turkeys. I don't either but I took a sample to the vet for worms and was told they had the cecal worm so I treated.

 

[casportpony]

10% Safeguard dose for cecal worms is 0.23ml per pound and repeat in 10 days. Treat five consecutive days for capillary worms.

-Kathy