Diarrhea, Weak,& Now Yawning Hen

[gohappy]

Our hen "Happy" (2 years old) has not been feeling well for a day and a half now. She is having diarrhea, eating and drinking very little, she is having trouble balancing and today she started yawning a lot. We were thinking she was Egg Bound, but I was speaking with our Vet and he does not think she is Egg Bound since she is still pooping. (The call dropped and I'm still waiting on him to call back.)

The pictures are of her soaking in a warm bath, one glob of poop, one shot out like a canon poop (its smelled bad), and standing in our storage closet. The whole flock gets diamathearth in their feed at the first of each month as a Dewormer. The good news is the rest of the flock is doing fine.

Any ideas are welcomed.

Thank you and Hugs

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you feel inside her vent for an egg?
Any bloat/swelling or fluid in the abdomen between the legs below the vent?
What's her crop like?

Since you are in contact with your vet, see if they can perform a fecal float if you take a poop sample to them. Have them check for worms and Coccidia. DE is not an effective de-wormer.

The yellow is concerning and her stance is too. I would worry that she's developing some type of reproductive problem - Egg Yolk Peritonitis, cancer, etc. which can be common in laying hens.

Hopefully the vet will call back and be able to offer more help. In the meantime, I would keep her hydrated and comfortable.

 

[gohappy]

Can you feel inside her vent for an egg?
Any bloat/swelling or fluid in the abdomen between the legs below the vent?
What's her crop like?

Since you are in contact with your vet, see if they can perform a fecal float if you take a poop sample to them. Have them check for worms and Coccidia. DE is not an effective de-wormer.

The yellow is concerning and her stance is too. I would worry that she's developing some type of reproductive problem - Egg Yolk Peritonitis, cancer, etc. which can be common in laying hens.

Hopefully the vet will call back and be able to offer more help. In the meantime, I would keep her hydrated and comfortable.

Feeling inside her vent I'm not sure what I felt. Going in an inch it felt like I could go no further because it is blocked. Happy is swollen in the abdomen area, its not centered it is more to the left. Her crop is much lighter in color then normal.

The vet has not called me back. He is a mobile vet so there is no office I can go to :-(
I 'm looking for another vet to go to.

What would be a good de-wormer? There is so many options.

Thank you and Hugs

 

[gohappy]

Update: Happy ate some blueberries and watermelon today and drank a little more water then yesterday. I figure watermelon will help keep her hydrated. I also pick up cantaloupe and a banana at the store to see if she will eat that later. She is not wanting her chicken feed, even when made moist.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Feeling inside her vent I'm not sure what I felt. Going in an inch it felt like I could go no further because it is blocked. Happy is swollen in the abdomen area, its not centered it is more to the left. Her crop is much lighter in color then normal.

The vet has not called me back. He is a mobile vet so there is no office I can go to :-(
I 'm looking for another vet to go to.

What would be a good de-wormer? There is so many options.

Thank you and Hugs

She's pooping though correct?

Hard to know if she's got something like a lash egg that she's trying to pass or maybe even an egg. The feeling of blockage may be a tumor too.
If she's not lethargic, then giving her a soak in a warm epsom salts bath may help sooth her and help her pass something if it's passable.
The swelling of the abdomen is concerning as well. Is it hard or can you tell if it's fluid?

An antibiotic may help with inflammation, but if she's got a reproductive disorder, then it's not a cure. A lot of times medication can help them improve for a period of time. If that's something you want to pursue, then Amoxicillin would be the least I would try. Baytril would be the strongest, but it's banned for use in poultry - some vets and others do use it, just know that it would be off label use. Sometimes Amoxicillin can be found in feed stores like Tractor supply, depending on where you live (Fish Mox). Baytril would need to be ordered online.

For de-worming. Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Valbazen (Albendazole) would be good choices.

When they don't feel good like this, keeping them hydrated and eating a bit of something is good. Watermelon/melon usually seems interesting to them (good call!) Try bits of scrambled egg - sometimes that's appetizing. A small amount of tinned cat food might look good too -but if it's fruit/melon for a few days, so be it.

I would check her crop to make sure it's emptying. The crop is to the right of her breast and you should be able to feel a bit a bulge there when she's been drinking and eating. In the morning it should feel empty or flat before she's had anything to eat/drink.

https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/amoxicillin-250mg-jar100-fish-mox

 

[gohappy]

She's pooping though correct?

Hard to know if she's got something like a lash egg that she's trying to pass or maybe even an egg. The feeling of blockage may be a tumor too.
If she's not lethargic, then giving her a soak in a warm epsom salts bath may help sooth her and help her pass something if it's passable.
The swelling of the abdomen is concerning as well. Is it hard or can you tell if it's fluid?

An antibiotic may help with inflammation, but if she's got a reproductive disorder, then it's not a cure. A lot of times medication can help them improve for a period of time. If that's something you want to pursue, then Amoxicillin would be the least I would try. Baytril would be the strongest, but it's banned for use in poultry - some vets and others do use it, just know that it would be off label use. Sometimes Amoxicillin can be found in feed stores like Tractor supply, depending on where you live (Fish Mox). Baytril would need to be ordered online.

For de-worming. Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Valbazen (Albendazole) would be good choices.

When they don't feel good like this, keeping them hydrated and eating a bit of something is good. Watermelon/melon usually seems interesting to them (good call!) Try bits of scrambled egg - sometimes that's appetizing. A small amount of tinned cat food might look good too -but if it's fruit/melon for a few days, so be it.

I would check her crop to make sure it's emptying. The crop is to the right of her breast and you should be able to feel a bit a bulge there when she's been drinking and eating. In the morning it should feel empty or flat before she's had anything to eat/drink.

https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/amoxicillin-250mg-jar100-fish-mox

View attachment 2211311View attachment 2211312

She is pooping (diarrhea) about 4-6 times a day, but three times just in the last two hours this morning. Still yellow yolk looking stuff with dark poop color mixed in. The smell is over the top.

Happy is very lethargic. The swelling in her abdomen area is hard, it does not feel like fluid. The shape of it feels like the side of a large egg with a smaller egg behind it. When I say behind I mean closer to heard. I’ll have to sketch it out and upload later.

I keeping going back and forth on giving her antibiotic as antibiotics destroy the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria (if it is bad bacteria). I saw Fenbendazole (Safeguard) at our local hardware store but ignored it because it says its for goats. Would the directions for weight to ml does still be the same for a Hen vs a goat??

For the last few days I was giving her pro biotic water and today I started Vitamin Water. I plan on switching between the two types every few days. Every half hour or so my daughter or I are checking on her and while with her putting the water and food closer to her face to see if she will eat or drink, since she is not moving much. But this morning I saw her drink on her own!! I will be trying the eggs and cat food today.

Happy’s crop is filled during the day, but very little compared to before she was sick. She ruled the hen house so her crop use to be very full. I hate what Happy is going through but I know that some of the other chickens are glad shes not with them. Tomorrow morning I will feel her crop first thing to see if it has flatten out/emptied.

Thank you and Hugs

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I saw Fenbendazole (Safeguard) at our local hardware store but ignored it because it says its for goats. Would the directions for weight to ml does still be the same for a Hen vs a goat??

Fenbendazole (Safeguard ) dosing for chickens is:
For Roundworms Only - give 0.23ml per pound of weight once, then repeat in 10 days.

For other worms, including roundworms - give 0.23ml per pound of weight once a day for 5 days in a row.

The hardness and you being able to feel something like a mass in there, I would suspect reproductive issues. Always hard to know exactly which one unless you lose them and perform a necropsy. Even then it might be hard to give a definitive name - Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Salpingitis, Internal Laying, etc. since all of the have the potential to have caseous exudes (and/or fluid) in the abdomen.
Reproductive issues are pretty common in laying hens, but that doesn't mean it's not heartbreaking. I try to offer as much supportive care as I can, then if they continue to fail, I put them down.

 

[gohappy]

Fenbendazole (Safeguard ) dosing for chickens is:
For Roundworms Only - give 0.23ml per pound of weight once, then repeat in 10 days.

For other worms, including roundworms - give 0.23ml per pound of weight once a day for 5 days in a row.

The hardness and you being able to feel something like a mass in there, I would suspect reproductive issues. Always hard to know exactly which one unless you lose them and perform a necropsy. Even then it might be hard to give a definitive name - Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Salpingitis, Internal Laying, etc. since all of the have the potential to have caseous exudes (and/or fluid) in the abdomen.
Reproductive issues are pretty common in laying hens, but that doesn't mean it's not heartbreaking. I try to offer as much supportive care as I can, then if they continue to fail, I put them down.

She is pooping (diarrhea) about 4-6 times a day, but three times just in the last two hours this morning. Still yellow yolk looking stuff with dark poop color mixed in. The smell is over the top.

Happy is very lethargic. The swelling in her abdomen area is hard, it does not feel like fluid. The shape of it feels like the side of a large egg with a smaller egg behind it. When I say behind I mean closer to heard. I’ll have to sketch it out and upload later.

I keeping going back and forth on giving her antibiotic as antibiotics destroy the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria (if it is bad bacteria). I saw Fenbendazole (Safeguard) at our local hardware store but ignored it because it says its for goats. Would the directions for weight to ml does still be the same for a Hen vs a goat??

For the last few days I was giving her pro biotic water and today I started Vitamin Water. I plan on switching between the two types every few days. Every half hour or so my daughter or I are checking on her and while with her putting the water and food closer to her face to see if she will eat or drink, since she is not moving much. But this morning I saw her drink on her own!! I will be trying the eggs and cat food today.

Happy’s crop is filled during the day, but very little compared to before she was sick. She ruled the hen house so her crop use to be very full. I hate what Happy is going through but I know that some of the other chickens are glad shes not with them. Tomorrow morning I will feel her crop first thing to see if it has flatten out/emptied.

Thank you and Hugs

 

[Wyorp Rock]

OK, so what you are saying is you feel the "eggs" or masses in the abdomen, correct? If so, then my best guess would be reproductive problem - as mentioned previously - hard to know which name to give it.
If you note in the image below - the ovaries, oviduct, etc. (reproductive system) is basically located against the back of the hen. The intestines/digestive system, etc. are along the lower half of the hen, you should not feel egg shapes in the abdomen. Egg material/whole eggs, lash material, yolks, etc. can actually travel up the oviduct (Reverse Peristalsis of the oviduct) and drop into the abdominal cavity. If it's too much for the body to reabsorb, then it will start trying to encase whatever it is in "caseous exude" - basically layers of cheese-like/semi-hard material. Sometimes this can cause infection as well.

Just my thoughts on that - the only way to really know is if you lose her and either perform a necropsy yourself or send the body to your state lab for one.

 

[gohappy]

OK, so what you are saying is you feel the "eggs" or masses in the abdomen, correct? If so, then my best guess would be reproductive problem - as mentioned previously - hard to know which name to give it.
If you note in the image below - the ovaries, oviduct, etc. (reproductive system) is basically located against the back of the hen. The intestines/digestive system, etc. are along the lower half of the hen, you should not feel egg shapes in the abdomen. Egg material/whole eggs, lash material, yolks, etc. can actually travel up the oviduct (Reverse Peristalsis of the oviduct) and drop into the abdominal cavity. If it's too much for the body to reabsorb, then it will start trying to encase whatever it is in "caseous exude" - basically layers of cheese-like/semi-hard material. Sometimes this can cause infection as well.

Just my thoughts on that - the only way to really know is if you lose her and either perform a necropsy yourself or send the body to your state lab for one.

View attachment 2212995

Abdomen area, yes.