bloody poop! missing tailfeathers! itching! update: with poop pictures

[jeza921]

I have a variety of strange symptoms... I went in to watch the chickens this afternoon after noticing more itching than usual. Everyone seemed fine. Then I went and looked over the roosts (pallets leaning against the walls of the barn). There was two really blood poos! I mean like, blood running down the side of the pallet. Lots of it. So I freaked out and ran to BYC! I thought it was cocci, but they are on medicated food and they seem as peppy as always. I have teramycine, Ivermec, and the round worm stuff. My farm store doesn't sell Corrid. They are a pretty pathetic farm store, frankly. And to get to them I have to go to a neighboring town. I can order Corrid, but from what I understand, if it's cocci they'll either be dead or better by the time it gets here.

So... is it true yogurt could help them fight whatever it is? Could it be worms? Should I start with roundworms and then move to the big guns (Ivermec)? They're eating like pigs.

Oh, and another strange symptom... a few of them seem to have lost their tail feathers? What is going on here!?

 

[Renee]

Hi Jeza,

Can you tell us how old the chickens are, and if they are hens or roosters, and what you feed them?

Have you checked over all of the chickens for injuries carefully?

Are some of the chickens being pecked in the vent area by others?

 

[reesepoultry]

have you wormed them?

 

[threehorses]

Medicated food doesn't prevent coccidiosis if they get into a big enough threat of it - it only prevents most of it so that the birds get just enough exposure so that they develop an immune response.

Are you sure that the blood is in the droppings itself not from the vent? I'd make sure - pictures would be very helpful. Does your feedstore sell Sulmet? (Most stores do.) That will work against Coccidiosis if you find the blood is in the droppings themselves. Usually that sort of blood is in the droppings and won't run down the wood, though.

Do their vents look odd? Could you answer the questions from the second sticky in this board (https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569 ) only into here, please? That way we can know more about what's going on and give you more accurate answers. Tell us even more than the questions asks - everything about your chickens, even things that seem insignificant (because often the little pieces of the puzzle are the ones that solve the mystery).

I'd also check them a few times this week (at night after they roost) for mites and lice. Mites are hard to catch on the bird, but they will cause irritation, itching, loss of feathers particularly around the vent, vent reddening and irritation and sometimes bleeding, etc etc. If you have mites, you have to treat the premises (as mites spend more time in cracks in the wood than on the bird) as well as the bird.

Check carefully especially in the warm/moist areas under the wing, near the vent (descibe how the area around their vent looks in much detail please), behind their neck feathers - every inch. Look for breaks in the skin that might indicate scratching and cuts from scratching. Use a flashlight as mites are nearly microscopic. Do it over a white or light pillowcase for better seeing. Check their weight by hand while you have them up - are they thin? Light?

Check the cracks in the wood of the housing in the day time for any mites or their eggs. Unlike lice, they can be off of the birds for a while without dying until the next feeding. this makes them particularly difficult to find.

In the mean time, make sure that they're getting lots of good clean water, the best age-appropriate complete feed, lots of dry bedding, sunshine and fresh air, and that they are all eating. Feel their weight while you're checking for lice/mites.

 

[jeza921]

I will concede that I probably have mites. I have seen the occasional red mite in the barn. I would use the Ivermec, but I put Wazine in the water last night so I'm going to wait... don't want to overload them. In the meantime I'm going to stop by the pathetic farm store and see if they have permethrin.

The few vents I've looked at have looked good, but I've only looked at a few. It's reeeeaally hard to catch those suckers. If I have to do anything to them I have to wait until they're sleeping.

I will go take pictures and post them. Be back in a few hours.

 

[jeza921]

Pictures for all! I should note that none of the blood is new... apparently there was no bleeding last night.

two autralorps... one with a filled out tail, and one that had a filled out tail but now has... 1 tail feather?

I caught one that had tail feather loss and looked her over. Vent was fine, no redness or blood. Feathers nice and shiny. Skin looked good. Nose and eyes clear. Good coloring.

They're all out stuffing their faces on bugs and plants again.

They are 4 months old. No sign of egg laying yet.

Edited for lack of picture posting skill.

 

[jeza921]

Lice. I caught another bird and went over her carefully and pulled back some feathers and caught a wave of them running away. Obviously lice and not mites. Long, light brown buggers with a body longer than the head. I raked out the coop and will be putting DE on the dirt before rebedding and searching out some Sevin for a dusting tonight. (Remember, I have to wait for them to sleep before I can do anything to them.)

I read some stuff from UC Davis vet school about lice that said it can cause the chickens to scratch at themselves and pull out their feathers, causing the kind of wound that would bleed all over my roosting pallet.

I think the problem has been solved. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[Renee]

Good job.
Sevin Powder will take care of those nasties. Dust the vent area and under the wings, then anywhere they nest or dustbathe.

Good luck.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
I'd highly recommend permethrins in poultry dust over Sevin. It's way more safe, less harmful to the environment. If I use sevin (which after losing all my geckos this year I no longer do) I only used it under the bedding. Not in the bedding, etc. But really the poultry dust is better and does the same job.

Lice, huh? Yeah - see they're sneaky little guys aren't they? Looking at your pictures I just felt more confirmed that it was likely something external, not internal so I'm glad you found them!!

And I agree since you just did wazine, I'd wait on the ivermectin. When you follow up, the ivermectin will kill the last stragglers on the bird while the dust in the premises continues to kill in the coops. Be sure to still paint that stuff onto the wood so that the little mites you did see have no buddies.

It'll help prevent eggs hatching too if you get wild birds that bring them in.

I'm so glad to hear that you got an answer to your problem!

Have fun killing those things!