Advice/Help Needed - Bright Green Poop

[TwoCrows]

Quote: This was very long ago and I wasn't experienced enough to diagnose her if she truly was internally laying however I have learned how to diagnose them now for the most part by other clues. I did not have her put down and I really should have back then. I do put them down now if I suspect internal laying, ascites or any other illness I know I can't treat. I tried to treat this hen with the hard abdomen on my own and still she passed. I know better now.

As for your girl it is your choice and you know your hen better than anyone else. I now have a rule that if I have tried everything I can and a long period of time (days or weeks depending on the bird and it's illness) has gone by with no improvement or they have gone down hill, I put them down now. I don't want them to suffer and if I can't fix them, nor a vet, there is no sense in watching them go down hill and suffer out the death.

Now that I have had more experience with internal layers and ascites, I don't think you can drain a hard abdomen. Water on the belly is so liquidy that it is easy to poke a hole and get the draining started. Being hard, I doubt anything is going to come out. The source of this may be above the intestines and the intestines themselves are pushing down on the skin making it hard and tight. I really doubt anything will come out. With my birds, I learned how to find the pockets of liquid by the color of the skin on the abdomen and was able to start the draining in these areas. Fluid build up areas appeared yellow on the skin of the belly.

You could try antibiotics?? Amoxicillin is wonderful for E.coli associated with oviduct infections and internal laying. It penetrates much better than PenG injections and is preferred for internal laying. It's just an idea.

 

[tarahharlin]

Quote:
She was just on antibiotics over Christmas. They had given her Clavamox, which I believe is Amoxicillin. I'm assuming the antibiotic cleared up any infection she may have had, but it also made her sick and caused the yeast infection, which caused her crop to back up. That is when you helped me figure that out that she must be suffering from a yeast infection from the antibiotic. Once we got that all cleared up, she seemed to be doing great. With that being said, there hasn't been much time that has passed from then until now, so I almost feel that if I go back in and try another antibiotic, that we'll have to go through another crop issue and that her current issue will more than likely return. The vet originally thought that she had a reproductive issue and when he examined her, he thought he felt a mass inside, but wasn't 100% without doing x-rays and blood work. So, I have that sick feeling that her body is just starting to fail her. She's a RIR who will be 3 years old at the beginning of April and has laid an egg almost every day with only taking one month off from laying. During the past year, her shells have been thin. The last thing I want is for her to suffer and I'm not sure how long she'd go on for, but it seems like I'm probably going to have to make a decision for her. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me. I think that is exactly what I needed and was looking for. She's part of my first group of girls and will be more than likely, my first chicken death, so I feel I just feel horribly sad and unsure of decisions. I have been dreading this day. I don't want her to suffer, but don't want to make premature decisions either. You sharing what you've been through has given me some insight on that, so thank you. One quick questions.....If she does have E.coli that is associated with an oviduct infection...do I need to worry about my other girls?

 

[TwoCrows]

The thing about Internal Laying is that antibiotics will help them at first and even a couple of treatments they can continue to heal, but eventually since you can't stop the yolks, the E.coli infections get the best of the bird and no medication can save them. Other than having the ovaries removed, or an implant put in the bird, you can't stop the yolks from coming. You can slow them down by cutting way back on the protein levels and limiting their amount of daylight. Both of these things can slow or even stop the yolks. But it isn't a permanent solution to this situation. Internal laying is an awful issue that we can't really fix. I had 1 and only 1 bird ever survive internal laying. They say that some internal layers get this way from an infection in the oviduct that damages the walls and the yolks then fall into the cavities of the bird. Well I jumped on this bird after losing my first bird to internal laying and I got her on Amoxicillin fast. It took a couple of treatments, but her oviduct must have healed and she recovered. But I have had 2 other internal layers since then and I was not able to heal them, both had to be put down.

And your girl has obviously responded to the meds, but has had a relapse. Some birds are VERY sensitive to getting yeast infections on antibiotics, some not so much. I had a hen that after day 4, she had a ripping yeast infection and another bird with MS that I kept on incredibly strong antibiotics for 16 weeks and she NEVER ONCE had a yeast infection. So they are each different in how they work internally.

Many of these laying issues are E.coli infections and generally the infection is not contagious. The sick bird can be carrying some of it in their saliva or poop. I have never noticed my other birds becoming ill, however I was very cautious and used ACV or probiotics on and off in the water to help the others stay healthy and I did keep up the poop as much as I could. I did cage one bird that was internally laying that had a ripping doughy crop as I felt she was very very sick and I didn't want to take any chances. I put her down not too long after knowing I couldn't save her. Rarely to internal layers survive.

BUT...in the end, only a necropsy done by a vet or yourself at the time of their death do you know for SURE what they died from. Chickens can die from all kinds of things, some of them remain mysteries for ever.

I am sorry this may be your first loss.

My first passing was very hard on me. They are all my babies and gosh I felt I let her down. But chickens do contract things. It is normal to lose something like 5% of your flock a year?? Something like this. I lose a few here and there occasionally. I try and appreciate each and every day I have them, spend lots of time and tell them how much they are loved each day. We never know when their time is up, even in the best of conditions, they still pass on eventually.