clear diarrhea or discharge

[neo6hens]

I need help! One of my hens became very lethargic and was having watery poop. I put her in the basement to isolate her from the rest of the flock, gave her some antibiotics in her water and she has perked right up, but still has a very wet vent with clear drainage. The rest of the flock seems more loose than normal, but maybe I'm just looking harder. What do you suppose it could be and what should I do about it?

 

[dawg53]

Lethargic and watery diarrhea, sounds like worms. I recommend that you worm all your birds with valbazen liquid cattle/sheep wormer. Administer orally undiluted to each chicken using a syringe without a needle. Dosage is 1/2cc to each standard size chicken, 1/4cc for smaller chickens. Repeat dosing in 10 days.

 

[Michael Apple]

What age are the birds, what is the name of the antibiotic, and how long have you been administering it?

 

[neo6hens]

The birds are 8 to 9 months old and I used sulmet for the one I isolated.

 

[neo6hens]

Oh, and I've been giving it for four days.

 

[Michael Apple]

The birds are 8 to 9 months old and I used sulmet for the one I isolated.

Sulmet is effective against a few intestinal strains of Coccidiosis. I would change over to using Corid (Amprolium). Dosage for 20%powder is 1 to 1.5 tsp per gallon of water, or 9.6% liquid is 2-3 tsp per gallon of water for 7 days to treat symptoms. If you haven't dewormed like dawg53 mentioned, this is the age where intestinal worms are more of a threat.

I would stop the Sulmet, and run poultry vitamins and 1 tsp Probios dispersible powder in each gallon of water for 2 days, deworm them as dawg53 mentioned, then run Corid for 7 days. On day 8 begin supplementing with vitamins and probiotics in water 1 day, then just vitamins for 2. That will bring you to day ten when you administer the second deworming.

 

[neo6hens]

Where would I find Valbazen?

 

[dawg53]

Where would I find Valbazen?

http://www.wholesalekennel.com/index.php?main_page=product_reviews&products_id=29
http://www.jefferspet.com/products/valbazen-broad-spectrum-dewormer

 

[neo6hens]

Thanks for your speedy replies. I feel a lot more confident that I can tackle this.