Chicken vomited up feather - what to do next

[dcbq]

Dear all

Firstly thanks to all you who have enlightened me previously with wisdom from posts i've read in the past - i've learned a lot.

I've perhaps got a slightly unusual problem. Daphnie, our 7 month old warren, has been intermittently off colour for a number of months now. Symptoms were all very non-specific - sat in the corner, lethargic, watery poos etc. We had brought her in, nursed her back to health with treats+/-antibiotics, wormed her, and generally tried to sort her out. However no diagnosis was forthcoming - she would just get a bit better and stay ok for a few days/weeks before the cycle repeated itself. All other 5 chickens were fine, and inbetween everything went swimmingly...

Along comes baby Samuel (6 days old today), so Daphnie gets a little neglected, and goes downhill again. Last night my wife felt her crop and was convinced it was boggy and probably sour crop. So brought her in today, fed her only water, and tried the vomit method i've read about.

So upside-down she goes, and after a quick massage of the crop out comes a very old, mostly rotten feather, along with a small bit of undigested grain and water. I feel v pleased with myself and go and google to see what this means (or what to do next)-but no-one has really posted on it. So I thought I would share this experience with the community, but also ask for advice about feeding now - should she stay on liquids only, or go back to solids? And does she need antifungals?

Many thanks

DCBQ

 

[dcbq]

Update from today: Daphnie is continuing to go downhill. I don't think crop is emptying and she is just sat in the corner doing nothing. I tried to vomit her again today without success. My wife is keen on giving her antibiotics, but I am wondering if that will only make things worse.

Can anybody help us?!

 

[Animalian]

if its a yeast infection in her crop the antibiotics will make it worse, not better. They kill good and bad bacteria, which compete with the yeast. When my cockatiel had a yeast infection (caused by being on antibiotics!), when I made him vomit it would all be very thick mucus with a little food at the end. I treated him by 'vomiting' him every morning, then treating with nystatin, and put ACV in his water because apparently yeast doesn't like and acid environment. Don't give her any sugar/sweet! yeast LOVES sugar!

if it's a bacterial infection it will work.

I'd say since she's responded well to the antibiotics in the past, perhaps you just didn't treat her for long enough.

I have heard of people successfully treating sour crop by emptying the crop, then flushing out the crop with 1/2 and alka seltzer tablet disolved in 1/2cup water. Then giving the bird a little more to let in just 'sink in'.

I definately reccomend 'vomiting' her in the mornings, it seems to 'reset' them, and all the food in there is contaminated anyway, so any new food will be contaminated too. So vomit, treat, offer feed. My cockatiel was emaciated when I finally found out about vomiting them in the morning, I believe it saved him. He would be lethargic and 'sick looking' in the morning, but a few minutes after beign vomited he would scream for food and want to play. He's slowly gaining weight again now too.

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
Same for humans. Antibiotics can cause yeast infections.

 

[Animalian]

Oh, I also found my cockatiel had better days when he was REALLY ill when I gave him some probiotic yoghurt int he morning.

 

[Animalian]

Quote:
Same for humans. Antibiotics can cause yeast infections.

yup! Soooo annoying when your not allowed off the antibiotics too... it just cancels out the yeast treatment.

 

[AndreaS]

Quote:
Good Morning.
I wanted to pass along a link to some great information regarding sour crop- https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=207340
If that is indeed what the problem is, seems to me you want to treat with an antifungal (Nystatin or Diflucan -- Nystatin works best on an empty crop....so diflucan is the best choice if you can get it since you don't have to vomit them first). Feed only very easily dissolvable foods.....powdered crumbles, boiled egg yolk and yogurt for probiotics to compliment the antifungal. Of course, you want to use plain organic yogurt with active cultures. I'd stay away from the antibiotics for the time being. I'd keep her inside so you can moniter her bowel movements and also so you can make sure she doesnt eat anything that may be more dificult to break down...

I do wonder if there is something more going on with her....as a slowing crop can be a sign of many other illnesses...

How does she feel? Is she skinny?
Do they have free choice grit available?
Have they had any respiratory symptoms, sneezing, bubbles in their eyes, etc..?
I know you said you wormed her already....have you checked and treated for possible external parisites?
What kind of food do they eat?
Any possibility that she could have gotten into something mouldy, rotten, etc? (compost pile, wet food, rotten fruit..)

Just throwing around some ideas here.....it's so frustrating when these guys get sick. So often we don't catch it until it's very obvious and the same symptoms can be present with so many different problems.

Good luck with Daphnie and the new baby

Andrea