Chicken with diarrhea and stopped laying

[lindseyd]

I have a 1 year old black star who over the past few weeks has pretty much stopped laying (one exception noted below) and has very watery diarrhea. She's extremely thirsty, appears to be eating and foraging though there's not much to forage this early in spring in Colorado. She's drinking so much water that she often bends over and water comes out her mouth. She used to lay every day, and did all through winter. She seems a little out of sorts but is mostly acting normal.

The one egg she did lay yesterday was very large but soft shelled. Nothing out of the ordinary on the inside. She went into the box today but didn't lay anything.

This fall she was accumulating poop in her fluffy butt feathers so we cleaned her off and trimmed her feathers a little (not sure if that was smart). Nothing has grown back and it seems like there's fewer feathers in that area than before. We feed them layer crumbles, scratch, scraps.

I've never wormed them but see no signs of worms.

I've been thinking vent gleet but wonder if there's something I might be missing?

Thanks for your help and sorry for the kind of scatter-brained post.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Not seeing worms does not mean that she does not have worms. The things you mentioned actually ARE common signs of worms. Loss of condition, decreased laying, dirty bottoms. If you wait to deworm birds until you can actually see worms in their poop by that time they are heavily infested with all the internal damage that goes along with worms. I am not saying your bird has a case of worms but that would certainly be at the top of my list as the first things to start ruling out. Chickens get worms just due to their lifestyle, it's not a matter of if but when. Some people deworm twice a year as a regular routine. Other's get fecal testing done on a regular basis by a vet and treat as needed. It's a good thing to stay on top of for the health of your birds.

Another possibility is coccidiosis. It never hurts to run a course of Corid if you think a bird might be brewing a nice case of it. Better safe then sorry and then you can cross that off your list as well.

And of course it may be none of these things and be something else all together. But you have to start somewhere in trying to figure her out and those are the most common and easily treated.

As far as the possibility of vent gleet? I have never personally had to treat a case of it so I can't help there. Hopefully someone else with experience in that department can comment.

 

[lindseyd]

Thanks so much! I got a de-wormer and some corid powder. I saw not to mix them together into the same water but do you know if i can mix them into separate waterers available at the same time to treat simultaneously?

 

[cafarmgirl]

I would do one and then the other, probably Corid first. If by chance she does have an overgrowth of cocci it's best to nip that in the bud asap.

You can use wormers that go in the water but they are not nearly as effective as something like Valbazen or Safeguard for goats. Both are a liquid that is given orally then a repeat dose in 10 days.

 

[casportpony]

I have treated with Corid in the water and Safeguard *orally* quite a few times. I would not mix Wazine and Corid together... To be honest, I wouldn't use Wazine, I'd use Safeguard or Valbazen.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

This is a hen that I would do a cloacal exam on and check for lumps, bumps, swellings, soft egg and stuck egg. I'd also start weighing her first thing in the morning every few days. Careful handling her, 'cause with a crop full of water she could aspirate very easily.

-Kathy