Blackhead or Histomoniasis case in Chicken

[Bogtown Chick]

I would say the yellow poop would indicate liver involvement. Sometimes you can find a cecal dropping that looks like cheesey caseous poop. Another indication of blackhead. The fluff on my hen was always wet while she was ill and she would go to the coop or a quiet place to doze the day away. So her activity was definitely depressed. I used fish zole ( or flagyl if getting from a vet) and wormed with valbazen later as a summer molt was bringing new back feathers in. And wormers make for stunted feathers.

Sylvia is still with us by the way. She's 4 years old and feisty as ever. Old hag. Lol.



Also I would say a cyanotic head on a chicken may be indicative of multiple other reasons. But seeing that yellow poop... Makes me think blackhead. The baytril will cover I would say almost everything else that it could be. Any ascites or suspicion for egg yolk peritonitis?

 

[SDChickMom]

Hi Bogtown Chick,
Thank you for weighing in on the diagnosis. I didn't have Baytril, so I went with a Corid drench. This is the second day on Corid. I wormed with Valbazen yesterday too. One hen is molting, I didn't know about the stunted feathers. They are much less interested in food and water since starting the antibiotic.

Buttercup, the Buff Orpington got 5 days of Fish Zole. She has that "wet head" look. I was starting to doubt myself until they improved on the Fish Zole. Firebird, the RIR, got 4 days of Fish Zole since i didn't want to give them 3 medications at once. I am thinking about resuming the Fish Zole later today to be 12hours different than the Corid. The Fish Zole did make a difference, but their poops just didn't look right, hence the Corid.

I am not sure about ascites or peritonitis. The RIR does have what I would think was a swollen abdomen, not the BO. I think I need to resume the Fish Zole(one day off), but I don't know how long to continue. I also didn't think there was much you could do for ascites or peritonitis, just prolonging the inevitable....

So far, I have been treating them the same, but I think it is like many have said about Blackhead. They both have the Blackhead, but their secondary problems are different. My BO is thin and about 1.5kg, I suspect worms(treated with Valbazen). The RIR possible cocci or the other you mentioned peritonitis, ascites, or some kind of oviduct problem. I will start researching them.

PS Thanks for the info on Sylvia! I was wondering

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Here's a photo of Sylvia from this May.

With the ascites/or egg yolk peritonitis you can palpate the abdomen (just behind the legs) and if its soft and squishy...then there's no problems. If its firm and not giving then you might have an issue there. You are right...usually not much to be done about those two issues. But they can both shut down a liver (give yellow poop) and I would say push organs to compress the lungs so O2 input is comprimised and then you get the dusky looking comb wattles. The peritonitis has been my most common cause for death outside of predation. Not fun...

 

[SDChickMom]

Lovely little hen I will palpate and keep track of what I feel so I know if it changes. The poops were are seeing now are what my son described as scrambled eggs before you cook them with green in it. Lovely. I guess when you are 11yrs old comparing poop to food is completely acceptable.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Hahaha...It's amazing how a little chicken poop becomes so common place when you have chickens.

I would say the smaller green poops with water and white are typical of my peritonitis hens. Ugh... So sorry.

 

[casportpony]

There are warnings about using Safeguard (fenbendazole) during molt, but I haven't seen any for Valbazen (albendazole), though it would make sense that all wormers in that class could be a problem. That said, I have used Safeguard during molt *many* times and have not noticed any negative effects.

-Kathy

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Yeah Kathy I don't think I'd risk the Valbazen up here in Northern MN. Those Feathers coming in perfect are much needed in my neck of the woods.

 

[casportpony]

Yeah Kathy I don't think I'd risk the Valbazen up here in Northern MN.  Those Feathers coming in perfect are much needed in my neck of the woods. 

Probably wise... Those in areas like you, or those with show birds or racing pigeons might want to look at the different classes of wormers.

Google "fret marks molt fenbendazole" and you might find some interesting articles.
http://www.auspigeonco.com.au/Articles/Race_Form_Part3.html

Personally, I don't care what there feathers look like and I rather have a live bird than a dead one. FWIW, I have used 4 liters of Safeguard in the last 8 years and haven't had a single bird affected by worming during molt.

-Kathy

 

[Bogtown Chick]

That's interesting to know Kathy. LOL. I'm pretty protective of those feathers just as a much needed function of sub-zero weather weeks on end. Regional advice with any or all of these medicines needs to be strongly considered.

I also try to rotate the two --Safegaurd and Valbazen now. This year we're doing Safegaurd. Just to keep resistance to a minimum. Second dose is due this week as a matter of fact.

 

[casportpony]

Lovely little hen I will palpate and keep track of what I feel so I know if it changes. The poops were are seeing now are what my son described as scrambled eggs before you cook them with green in it. Lovely. I guess when you are 11yrs old comparing poop to food is completely acceptable.

Can you post some pictures?

Did you know that most birds with blackhead will have a secondary E. coli infection? Have seen five necropsy reports, and all of them had blackhead and E. coli listed as cause of death, so you might want to think about adding something that will treat E. coli.

-Kathy