Cockoo Maran -Sour Crop and Diarrhea very Lethargic and getting worse! Urgent help needed!!!

[ChickenTender82]

HI. I have a 10 week old Cockoo Maran that is VERY sick. It has been a saga with him, and some of his flock mates. It started when my DH brought some chicks from a craigslist ad home and didn't quarantine. HUGE lesson learned when 4 of our pullets came down with bacterial respiratory infection. After taking them to the vet and a VERY HEFTY bill, my babies were on antibiotics. All of them were on the mend. Doing great and we were about to take them out of quarantine then I noticed Tweedle Dee, my maron, all puffed up... So I brought him (i think he's a rooster) in and felt his crop. All squishy and huge. This was four days ago, on Sunday night, so I just put him in our inside dog crate with puppy pads on the bottom. In the morning his crop was still full and there was a ton of runny mucousy diarrhea. I did help him purge and lots of liquid came out but there was not a noticeably horrible smell. I gave him some yogurt, but he didn't want to eat. I was watching him and seeing what happened but he continued to get worse. So I started on Monistat 3 day on monday, giving half the suppository every 12 hours. He has not gotten better. I thought that it may be worms as well. he had been wormed when he went to the vet but I had forgotten to do the follow up one. So I gave him wormer tuesday along with egg yoke syringed into his mouth. I gave him about 6 ml and then let him rest. His poop seemed a little more firm but not much yesterday. He was drinking a very little bit this whole time but not eating anything. I added Probiotics to his water as well. So last night I tube fed him 10 ml of baby parrot food with nutra-drench. I know that with a sour crop eating may make it worse but he is so weak and has lost so much weight I really thought that he was going to die. He was just standing in one spot, then he fell over. After that he was laying on the bottom of the crate. I really thought that needed food. I figured he was pooping so there was no impaction and his digestion was still working so he needs food. His crop seems to be getting better, smaller, not as full, but this morning there was still something in it. Smaller than last night after I fed him. When I felt it, its squishy and it feels a bit gritty at the bottom. I fed him again this morning. 15 ml of the baby parrot food with nutra drench and his dose of Monistat. Since last night he has pooped twice, both diarrhea. To be honest, I am surprised he lasted the night. Happy but still really really worried. So I am stuck. The only thing I can think of that still be wrong is coccidiosis. But I am not sure. I am worried about the sour crop, which just seems to be slow, not impacted. But I am more worried at how much weight he has lost. He's now back to standing, not laying so that may be a good sign. i just don't know what more to do! any help would be helpful.
This is Tweedle Dee this morning. the food is there just incase, but he's not eating. I don't think he is drinking anymore either.

this poop was from last night.

this poop was from this morning.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor fella

You have had a rough time!
Can you tell us what antibiotic the vet gave you for the respiratory illness?
What wormer and the dosage that you used?

Anyway you can get a fecal float with the results coming back in today?

Crop problems can make them feel terrible, but if he were mine, I would also treat for Coccidiosis. You can find Corid at the feed store in the cattle section.
Dosage is 1 1/2 teaspoons Corid powder or 2 teaspoons of 9.6% Corid liquid per gallon of water.
Give for 5-7 days - make sure this is the ONLY water available during that time period. Mix a fresh batch at least once a day.

I would still work on that crop several times a day. Push the Corid water. Don't add any vitamins that contain B1 (Thiamine) until you finish the Corid.

Once you are done with all treatments, get some vitamins and probiotics into him to help rebuild the gut.

 

[ChickenTender82]

Poor fella

You have had a rough time!
Can you tell us what antibiotic the vet gave you for the respiratory illness?
What wormer and the dosage that you used?

Anyway you can get a fecal float with the results coming back in today?

Crop problems can make them feel terrible, but if he were mine, I would also treat for Coccidiosis. You can find Corid at the feed store in the cattle section.
Dosage is 1 1/2 teaspoons Corid powder or 2 teaspoons of 9.6% Corid liquid per gallon of water.
Give for 5-7 days - make sure this is the ONLY water available during that time period. Mix a fresh batch at least once a day.

I would still work on that crop several times a day. Push the Corid water. Don't add any vitamins that contain B1 (Thiamine) until you finish the Corid.

Once you are done with all treatments, get some vitamins and probiotics into him to help rebuild the gut.

Thank you for the reply @Wyrop Rock. They were on Doxycycline 50. They wormer I used was Safeguard (fenbendazole) dewormer for goats, suspension 10%. i gave 1/4 cc. I have the Corid liquid here so I will put that out there for him to drink. But i have some questions. He's not really drinking anything. Should I tube feed the water to make sure he is getting it? The baby parrot food has thiamine in it, so i won't use that. What should I feed him? would his grower crumbles mixed with the corid water work?

 

[rebrascora]

Do you have the Corid liquid or powder? If you have the liquid, give him a couple of drops of the concentrate directly into his beak a couple of times a day until he is drinking/eating and yes I would add the diluted Corid water to some chick crumbs and leave it to soak and then get that into him as best you can. My thoughts are that the coccidiosis has inflamed his intestines to the point that they are constricted and very little is passing though and hence he is backed up into his crop.
Have they had access to grit. I would not give him any at this time until his crop is emptying properly again but just wondering if he has eaten some long grass/straw etc. In my experience a crop can be squishy and not be sour. Most of my impactions have been fibrous long grass/straw impactions and even after 10 days of massaging them they were still not sour. I know because I had to resort to surgery with one of them and removed a baseball sized tangled mass of vegetation that amazingly did not smell at all and the moment I glued her back together she was happily eating scrambled egg and never looked back.

At this bird's age I do wonder if something like Marek's disease is behind these problems and is making the bird vulnerable to secondary infections.
Good luck with him.

 

[SongBaby33]

That is very sad I love Cockoo marans.And I have had loads of hens in the past with sour crop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the reply @Wyrop Rock. They were on Doxycycline 50. They wormer I used was Safeguard (fenbendazole) dewormer for goats, suspension 10%. i gave 1/4 cc. I have the Corid liquid here so I will put that out there for him to drink. But i have some questions. He's not really drinking anything. Should I tube feed the water to make sure he is getting it? The baby parrot food has thiamine in it, so i won't use that. What should I feed him? would his grower crumbles mixed with the corid water work?

Give him a direct drench of undiluted Corid Liquid for 3 days at .10ml per pound of weight. This is in addition to making the Corid water available to drink - use the mixed Corid water to keep him hydrated, so if you need to, syringe that into him.

If the Thiamine is in the food, that should be o.k. You would just worry about "excess" Thiamine - just don't add more vitamins to his food/water that has Thiamine. Make sense?
You can also give him wet grower or chick starter made with the Corid water, to see if he will take that.

I hope he feels better soon, please keep us posted.

 

[ChickenTender82]

Do you have the Corid liquid or powder? If you have the liquid, give him a couple of drops of the concentrate directly into his beak a couple of times a day until he is drinking/eating and yes I would add the diluted Corid water to some chick crumbs and leave it to soak and then get that into him as best you can. My thoughts are that the coccidiosis has inflamed his intestines to the point that they are constricted and very little is passing though and hence he is backed up into his crop.
Have they had access to grit. I would not give him any at this time until his crop is emptying properly again but just wondering if he has eaten some long grass/straw etc. In my experience a crop can be squishy and not be sour. Most of my impactions have been fibrous long grass/straw impactions and even after 10 days of massaging them they were still not sour. I know because I had to resort to surgery with one of them and removed a baseball sized tangled mass of vegetation that amazingly did not smell at all and the moment I glued her back together she was happily eating scrambled egg and never looked back.

At this bird's age I do wonder if something like Marek's disease is behind these problems and is making the bird vulnerable to secondary infections.
Good luck with him.

That makes a lot of sense, him being backed up because of the cocci. I didn't have grit specifically out for them, but they had access to sand bath area so I figured that would work. There is not really access to long grass but there is straw. However his crop doesn't seem like there is anything solid in it. Just feels like liquid. I really hope it's not Mareks. I will add the liquid directly to his beak and see how it goes.

 

[ChickenTender82]

Give him a direct drench of undiluted Corid Liquid for 3 days at .10ml per pound of weight. This is in addition to making the Corid water available to drink - use the mixed Corid water to keep him hydrated, so if you need to, syringe that into him.

If the Thiamine is in the food, that should be o.k. You would just worry about "excess" Thiamine - just don't add more vitamins to his food/water that has Thiamine. Make sense?
You can also give him wet grower or chick starter made with the Corid water, to see if he will take that.

I hope he feels better soon, please keep us posted.

Thank you so much. I will do the drench right now. After I read your first post I changed out his probiotic water for the corid water. AND HE DRANK! He has actually been drinking a good bit. I hope that it's a good sign. although he is still not eating.

 

[ChickenTender82]

So something weird just happened. I picked up Tweedle and his crop was HUGE. I was feeling it and a big burst of air came out, like a burp. The crop size went down a bit but its still big. I am still giving the Monistat but am down to the last dose. Should I get more and continue?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How long have you given the Monistat? I would go for 7 days.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I've had that with crop problems, the "burping" and air. Just try to massage it a few times day. Hopefully with the Corid and Monistat it will all start to get better soon.