Betty White has a pale, floppy comb

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Hi guys - question. My girl, Betty White, is one of three Blue Plymouths I have that are 7 months old. I just noticed today that she was staying by herself while in the yard, and her comb is floppy and pale. Everyone else (13) look good. The coop and laying boxes are clean, and the run gets cleaned a couple times a week, at the least.

Any suggestions to turn this around, or is it normal? Thanks! The pictures are of her sisters and then her.

 

[azygous]

Little Betty White appears to be lagging the other two of her sisters in the race to point of lay. To confirm this, examine all three of them for distance between pelvic knobs.

Hold each on your lap facing you. Find the two hard knobs on each side of the vent. Try placing two finger in between them. My guess is Betty White's knobs are still closer together than two finger widths while her two sisters have room for two fingers. If those other pullets aren't laying yet, they will be very soon.

I notice Betty White's tail is held low. This can be a sign she isn't feeling well. What does her poop look like? Is she eating and drinking? There could be something pathological going on or she may be internally laying. She needs watching.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Little Betty White appears to be lagging the other two of her sisters in the race to point of lay. To confirm this, examine all three of them for distance between pelvic knobs.

Hold each on your lap facing you. Find the two hard knobs on each side of the vent. Try placing two finger in between them. My guess is Betty White's knobs are still closer together than two finger widths while her two sisters have room for two fingers. If those other pullets aren't laying yet, they will be very soon.

I notice Betty White's tail is held low. This can be a sign she isn't feeling well. What does her poop look like? Is she eating and drinking? There could be something pathological going on or she may be internally laying. She needs watching.

I have seen them all in the boxes and am fairly certain they are all laying. I knew the poop question was coming, but I just noticed this earlier and wasn’t able to identify her poop. I did isolate her in the apartment run so I can look it easier. I gave her a little egg yolk, and did notice her pecking at feed on the ground in isolation. I haven’t noticed her drinking, so I gave her a bit of water, as well.

I peeked at her before I came in for dinner, and it looked like she was sticking her head down in a corner, and her tail was down. How crazy these things come on so quick.

 

[azygous]

If you suspect Betty White is laying, it would be safest to give her a calcium tablet. She could be having an egg binding problem. Calcium will not harm her either way.

Poop in addition to lethargic behavior gives us important information. If you need to, stick her in a pet crate for tonight so you can observe her more closely.

It will also be convenient to have her in a crate so you can do a crop check in the morning to see if it's emptying overnight. If her crop is full come morning, it may be another indication of egg binding.

This is the calcium I recommend, but a Tums will do in a pinch until you can get the proper stuff.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Why, thank you much! She already was in the little isolation coop when I went to check on her - I was half expecting to find her on the ground in her little run, but she atleast got herself inside.

I didn’t want to stress her out by getting her out (it was already dark), but my husband will check her crop before she eats, and will give her the calcium tablet, too. I have the same as yours. I’ll also measure the pubic bone, and come back here with the results. Thank you so much

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

@azygous - Ms. White has not improved. I have been giving her calcium tablets, watching her eat, although not as aggressively as everyone else. I have also watched her drink. I mix probiotics, garlic and pepper flakes in with their feed, and she goes out for free range time which is supervised in back of our shop. I have noticed she will lay down when she pecks through some rocks, so I checked for bumblefoot, but looks good. I checked her vent which was very clean, and no mites or anything like that.

I checked her crop because it is not visible and hasn’t been, and it seemed a bit squishy. I smelled her mouth, but nothing. Her is a picture of her poop today. She has not laid an egg, but now I don’t think she’s been pooping. I haven’t had her isolated, I was hoping the calcium alone would fix what I thought could be an egg problem. Again, no sour smell I could detect.

Thoughts please, her poor little face is gray

 

[azygous]

It's time to put our sweet Betty White on an oral antibiotic. Do you have any on hand? Amoxicillin would be ideal.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

It's time to put our sweet Betty White on an oral antibiotic. Do you have any on hand? Amoxicillin would be ideal.

I have aqua mox and my husband has penicillin from when we had sheep. Will those work?

 

[azygous]

Perfect!!! Use the aqua-mox. I find it works lots better than penicillin. The dose is 250mg per day for ten days total. You should notice a significant improvement in Betty White in 48 hours.

The poop indicates a possible reproductive tract infection.

But I need to warn you that it could be a cancer tumor. If there is no improvement after ten days on the antibiotic, then we may assume it's something untreatable like a cancer tumor.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

@azygous Ok, I realized after I asked that the aqua mox is what I have for amoxicillin, and I have also seen some other posts where you said the 250mg capsule is what to give her. I cannot find anything saying how long to do this. I won’t bug you again this evening except to say thank you

Also, I just wanted to say that everything I’ve seen you posting to, you have always been so patient and helpful. You seem to be a very kind person, and it really comes in handy when people can be very frantic and flustered, and not thinking clearly. There is nothing worse than being new to this lifestyle, and having someone respond making you feel stupid. It’s very comforting in hard times with your flock that there are people here like you. It means a lot.