Hi - this is a long post for which I apologise.
We have a couple of coups. One has only 4 birds in it, is large and until recently all has been well. I have given flubenvet back in early Jan as part of our normal 6 month de-worming regime. However about 7 weeks ago, one of our oldest hens, Flick (4 years old), became unwell. No diarrhoea but just very unhappy. She had poop samples taken - although a bit loose there was nothing to report. She then had a blood test and only some markers about cells that looked like they were defending against something - no bacterial infection. The vet said to give her time and for a while she picked up. She is now just hunched up with the occasional burst of energy when you give them treats (greens). He did say that he thought she had picked up a virus and that time would be the solution.
Then about 2 weeks ago, one of our rescue hens, Scarlett, started to have very runny poop. Her backside was caked and I cleaned her, took her to the vet and then, on his suggestion, just kept her clean. It didn't work. The whole of the cleaned area (her skin) was covered with white (urates?) and although she was full of energy and eating well, I took her back. She is now on antibiotics for a week. She's still fine, laying (but eggs discarded) and you wouldn't think anything is wrong. Her diarrhoea is subsiding but not totally gone.
However 3 days ago, I noticed one of the original chickens, Betty (3 years old - light sussex) had messy backside feathers. When I checked her yesterday, she was soaking and stank really badly - almost like cat poop. So she went to the vet today. She is very lethargic and hunched up. Her diarrhoea is very watery - just a mass of clear liquid and a few bits in it - lots of it and boy does it stink.
And here's the dilemma where I need advice.
We are in the UK. The vet was trying to get Baycox but was struggling. He was also told it is not easy to administer and so has changed his mind. So next on his list was Baytril, which he is ordering in for tomorrow. This guy is good and an avian specialist, but even he is struggling what to give because in the UK, these things are not licenced for laying birds. So if we give them this, we are not meant to eat the eggs - ever again (apparently). Clearly, we do not want this to happen. The thought of throwing eggs away for ever is not a good one.
So, please could anyone, particularly in the UK, give some advice. To those in the US or beyond, your advice is equally helpful, particularly if you think there is something we can do to treat her or calm the diarrhoea down. If you have any hunches as to what it might be, that would help. I told the vet I would be asking the community for help.
We are very concerned that this seems to be something affecting these birds in this cage as the other cage is OK. Also one of them has no signs at all.
Again, sorry for the long post.
We have a couple of coups. One has only 4 birds in it, is large and until recently all has been well. I have given flubenvet back in early Jan as part of our normal 6 month de-worming regime. However about 7 weeks ago, one of our oldest hens, Flick (4 years old), became unwell. No diarrhoea but just very unhappy. She had poop samples taken - although a bit loose there was nothing to report. She then had a blood test and only some markers about cells that looked like they were defending against something - no bacterial infection. The vet said to give her time and for a while she picked up. She is now just hunched up with the occasional burst of energy when you give them treats (greens). He did say that he thought she had picked up a virus and that time would be the solution.
Then about 2 weeks ago, one of our rescue hens, Scarlett, started to have very runny poop. Her backside was caked and I cleaned her, took her to the vet and then, on his suggestion, just kept her clean. It didn't work. The whole of the cleaned area (her skin) was covered with white (urates?) and although she was full of energy and eating well, I took her back. She is now on antibiotics for a week. She's still fine, laying (but eggs discarded) and you wouldn't think anything is wrong. Her diarrhoea is subsiding but not totally gone.
However 3 days ago, I noticed one of the original chickens, Betty (3 years old - light sussex) had messy backside feathers. When I checked her yesterday, she was soaking and stank really badly - almost like cat poop. So she went to the vet today. She is very lethargic and hunched up. Her diarrhoea is very watery - just a mass of clear liquid and a few bits in it - lots of it and boy does it stink.
And here's the dilemma where I need advice.
We are in the UK. The vet was trying to get Baycox but was struggling. He was also told it is not easy to administer and so has changed his mind. So next on his list was Baytril, which he is ordering in for tomorrow. This guy is good and an avian specialist, but even he is struggling what to give because in the UK, these things are not licenced for laying birds. So if we give them this, we are not meant to eat the eggs - ever again (apparently). Clearly, we do not want this to happen. The thought of throwing eggs away for ever is not a good one.
So, please could anyone, particularly in the UK, give some advice. To those in the US or beyond, your advice is equally helpful, particularly if you think there is something we can do to treat her or calm the diarrhoea down. If you have any hunches as to what it might be, that would help. I told the vet I would be asking the community for help.
We are very concerned that this seems to be something affecting these birds in this cage as the other cage is OK. Also one of them has no signs at all.
Again, sorry for the long post.
