9 year old hen with pale comb, almost no tail feathers, now moving slow and less interested in food/treats

[Wyorp Rock]

Dear BYC Friends, thank you so much for walking beside me on this journey. Your advice and support were a lifeline for me.

I went to check again, try some watermelon. She had put herself in the coop, laying on the floor breathing open mouthed. She had been this way a few days ago when she hid in the nest box, and she'd recovered-- but I felt like this was not something to ignore so I brought her into a hospital cage in the house to make it easier to check her more often. Towel on the bathroom counter, then the cage, then another towel folded in thirds for a soft bed, then layers of paper towel to make frequent cleanups easy. Bowl of electrolyte water, and was ready to get a second bowl for watermelon and egg... but paused, and stayed with her. Told her she was a good girl and how much I enjoyed raising her and taking care of her. She acted like she was listening. She lifted her beak upwards a couple times then laid over on her side, then she flapped violently several times and was gone. The flapping was horrible but then she was still. Thank goodness I had not wormed her yet, I would be sure I had killed her. I think maybe old age, and heat stress made her vulnerable enough that she wasn't managing her worm load. And that drug her down, then the crop acted up. But I think 9.5 years was all she had to give me.

I know I probably need to worm the others. I had already gathered samples for fecal flotation from several places. I laid Goldie in a box, and sprinkled her with calendula and rose petals and chamomile.

She wasn't "just a chicken". She was a good girl with a huge personality. I will miss her.

Thank you all, but especially @Wyorp Rock for being so generous with your time and advice.

I'm so sorry to hear about Goldie.

I'm glad you were able to be with her, I know she meant a lot to you. You did all you could for her and she lived a long well-loved life.


In case you need to see the math for Albendazole, it's in this link. I understand what's read on various sites can be confusing. I think I read the same article you did, and I was like, well that's going to be confusing to a lot of folks.
The dosing is 20mg/kg, but remember a kg is 2.2lb and 11.36% albendazole is 113.6 mg/ml.

So, you convert to lbs.
1(lb) ÷ 2.2(kg) x 20(dose) ÷ 113.6(mg/ml) = 0.0800025 or 0.08mg per pound of weight.

Hope this helps.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-for-poultry-waterfowl-and-game-birds.75490/

 

[My1stChickens]

In case you need to see the math for Albendazole, it's in this link. I understand what's read on various sites can be confusing. I think I read the same article you did, and I was like, well that's going to be confusing to a lot of folks.
The dosing is 20mg/kg, but remember a kg is 2.2lb and 11.36% albendazole is 113.6 mg/ml.

So, you convert to lbs.
1(lb) ÷ 2.2(kg) x 20(dose) ÷ 113.6(mg/ml) = 0.0800025 or 0.08mg per pound of weight.

Hope this helps.

This is super helpful. Thank you. I already had absolute confidence in the dosing you provided- really just because it came from you. But it's nice to see and wrap my head around the math.

I will worm the others. Not today. By the weekend/early next week, highs will be less than 90 degrees. Less stress for the remaining birds, and more chance they will eat well. I still hope to put each birds dose in a cube of Hawaiian sweet bread (or other food) for them to ingest. I'll do a trial run to see how much bread it takes to absorb the dose, and separately have a practice run to see if each bird will gobble up that amount of bread injected with water.

 

[My1stChickens]

Update: I got my fecal flotation results back. I sent two samples, one that was mostly Goldie but also some from other hens. The second sample was just the four others.

I did not understand the results, even after googling the terms so I called the lab.

The tech said in the first sample she found lots of coccidia oocysts. No worms, not even roundworms. Goldie did pass two roundworms, and did not show any signs of coccidiosis.

The second sample, which excluded Goldie, had little beetle eggs. They did mention that the second sample was quite dry, and that could impact findings (it was from poop that had fallen onto the droppings board, which is covered with PDZ powder)

So neither sample showed worms. Goldies BFF was a little subdued for a couple days, I assume from missing Goldie. The others continue to be strong, active, boisterous. All are eating, no one has weird poop.

I guess I could treat for coccidiosis, but they don't seem sick. I leave town on Friday, but back Sunday night. I could treat them next week, but why? I could worm them next week. But I'm wondering why?

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @dawg53 Just wanted to update you and wonder if you have any advice? I have both Corid liquid and Endocox. But no one is acting sick.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is anyone taking care of the chickens for you between Friday and Sunday? If so, I would mix the Corid ahead, and have a new batch set out daily. I would go ahead and treat for coccidiosis. There would always be some coccidia in a stool sample, but when many are present, you should treat for them. Since you saw roundworms, I also would go ahead and treat for worms orally.

 

[My1stChickens]

Is anyone taking care of the chickens for you between Friday and Sunday? If so, I would mix the Corid ahead, and have a new batch set out daily. I would go ahead and treat for coccidiosis. There would always be some coccidia in a stool sample, but when many are present, you should treat for them. Since you saw roundworms, I also would go ahead and treat for worms orally.

I do have a babysitter.
I thought Corid had to be mixed fresh each day? Then any remainder discarded? I thought it went bad in <24 hours.... But I can mix it ahead? would it need to be refrigerated or is being in an airconditioned house good enough?

@Wyorp Rock --Just for my own knowledge, why would you prefer Corid over Endocox? Absolutely not questioning your expertise just want to learn. I recently bought it, thinking it had an advantage over Corid for some reason- -and it's only 3 days which sounds better than 5!

I can start Corid tomorrow, and have 2 days done before I leave town. Babysitter is plenty capable to handle Day 3 and 4 in my absence, and I can do Day 5. How long after Day 5 should I wait to deworm? (Anola, the surviving 9.5 year old is starting to molt)

 

[dawg53]

Endocox aka Toltrazuril is more in line for treating severe cases of the protozoa that causes blood in feces or when Corid is ineffective.
Corid is not an antibiotic, it is a Thiamine blocker.
It's best to start with the Corid unless you're seeing blood in feces.
You saw roundworms in feces, start worming your birds now. It's also okay to use Corid at the same time, direct dose orally with Albendazole or Safeguard liquid goat wormer.

 

[My1stChickens]

Endocox aka Toltrazuril is more in line for treating severe cases of the protozoa that causes blood in feces or when Corid is ineffective.
Corid is not an antibiotic, it is a Thiamine blocker.
It's best to start with the Corid unless you're seeing blood in feces.
You saw roundworms in feces, start worming your birds now. It's also okay to use Corid at the same time, direct dose orally with Albendazole or Safeguard liquid goat wormer.

thank you Dawg, good to know. Corid has always worked well in the past and no side effects.
I bought Albendazole so I can use it when they are molting-- hopefully no side effects. I'm summoning courage to possibly do it tonight. Or at least before my trip.

 

[My1stChickens]

Sanity check. Albendazole is supposed to be thick and white, with some lumps? I assume shake/stir til it's smooth? The lumps freaked me out.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry, I thought I posted this earlier, but forgot to post. You can use the endocox if you prefer. Corid does not go bad in 24 hours, but it is preferred to mix daily so the chickens don’t walk and poop in it.p which could contaminate it with coccidia. If you mix it in a gallon jug, you can add a new one daily. Yes albendazole or Valbazen can have a sludge at the bottom, and needs to be shaken for a bit after it sits. Shake again before drawing up a dose.

 

[My1stChickens]

@Wyorp Rock I DID IT! I reverified for the 6th time their dosages. I practiced to see how much bread for the largest dose. Loaded up and snuck out to the coop well after dark. I decided to physically put the medicated bread into each hen, just to be sure everyone got what they needed. Freaked out for a minute since Anola was no where to be seen- turned out she's hiding in a nesting box. (reminds me of Goldie doing that- the only thing I can see on Anola is she's sort of red around her lips and eyes. Her comb has turned pink, but she's not laying and she is starting to molt. So I proceeded). Anola first and it took several small bites but I did get it in her. Then Olive, who was easy. Anola kept creeping over because she wanted more bread, and there was a little wing flapping-- the meds, syringe, etc all dumped onto the poop tray. So I had to regroup. Never found the 1 ml syringe so went back to the house for 3 ml and proceeded. Penelope literally grabbed the bread out of my hand before I even opened her mouth.. So last was ButtCheeks and she did the same thing. Everyone got plain bread afterwards, and it's clear that I need not have held them and pried mouths open to place bread in their mouth after all. Now I know.
I feel confident they all got their doses properly. Now I just pray they all look good in the morning, when I take out the Corid water.

So much angst for dispensing a measly 1.4 ml across 4 hens! I've only wormed one time before, and then hen promptly died so I guess I had a deep rooted fear. Thanks for your patience, it's DONE.