Ecoli - Please help!

[Deerling]

One of my chickens has been puffed up (but otherwise normal, eating, drinking, running around, etc) for weeks now. They are 8 weeks old. I treated them for Cocci with no change. I took her poop to UC Davis for a fecal sample and got these results back:



(click to make bigger).

So a large number of ecoli. What does this mean? What do I need to do? I'm having a really hard time finding information on this, and I'm also dealing with a bee swarm right now

. I feel really at a loss here, and she's my very favorite chicken so I really want to save her. It's been a month at least that she's been puffed up, and she hasn't been seperated from the others. They just moved into a new coop last night. They spend a lot of time in a fenced in garden with our ducks and 6 bantams that still live inside. We also have 4 babies that have not been outside or around the others. I have also heard a few sneezes (just one or two, if that, a day from the entire flock. We use EcoFlake bedding.) and seen some watery poops - some of which look kind of like spit but with solids in it.

What do I need to do to treat the sick hen?
The other chickens that live with her?
The ducks?
The bantams?

What kind of disinfecting do I need to do?

Thank you so much to anyone who can help answer these questions. Sorry that I'm asking so much - I will continue to try and find information on my own.

Here is Alice, you can see how she is puffed up. She is lively and her eyes are clear and bright. She seems to be feathering a little slower than her sisters, though:

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

She really doesn't look sick to me. She is a Buff Orpington, which are a more roundish, fluffy breed with looser fitting feathers.

 

[Deerling]

Thanks! She seems much more puffed up than our six others, which is what made me worry. I do know that some amount of Ecoli is completely normal, but I thought with the puffiness and odd poops (from the flock, not just her) there may be a problem. I'm probably over reacting, but I just want to make sure I do everything I can for them.

 

[dawg53]

I've dealt with a severe case of ecoli bacterial infection in a rooster several years ago, verified by the University of Georgia vet school in Tifton, Ga.
You're correct, it's normal for chickens to have ecoli in their system. When it gets out of control is when it becomes a problem such as in your case. I recommend that you tube feed your pullet with a slurry mixture of baytril, probios, and poultry nutri drench to get the good bacteria going in the gut flora to balance out the bad bacteria (ecoli.) The sooner you do this, the better.... or she will slowly get worse and eventually die.

 

[Deerling]

I've dealt with a severe case of ecoli bacterial infection in a rooster several years ago, verified by the University of Georgia vet school in Tifton, Ga.
You're correct, it's normal for chickens to have ecoli in their system. When it gets out of control is when it becomes a problem such as in your case. I recommend that you tube feed your pullet with a slurry mixture of baytril, probios, and poultry nutri drench to get the good bacteria going in the gut flora to balance out the bad bacteria (ecoli.) The sooner you do this, the better.... or she will slowly get worse and eventually die.

Thank you so much! If she's eating on her own should she still be tube-fed? Does she need to be kept away from the other chickens?

 

[dawg53]

Ecoli bacteria is passed in feces. I would cage her and provide her the treatments I mentioned. If she is eating well, no need to tube feed her at this time. The key is not to let her deteriorate to the point where you'll have to tube feed her...time is of the essence.