Egg bound or ...?

[Firefoot]

Good evening all,

My 7 month old EE pullet, Sallie, has been laying inconsistently for about 4-5 weeks and has had a bit of a poopy butt for a couple days. She has seemed to be eating and drinking normally and acting fine even with the crazy weather we've had, but two days ago someone got in the nesting box and there was what seemed to be an egg without a shell -- it looked like just yolk squashed into the shavings. Today I found what I think was her egg with a super duper soft shell wrinkled up in the shavings but it could have been laid yesterday. It looked like she laid it while roosting -- they usually lay in a smaller coop elsewhere in their run and sleep in another coop cause they're just silly. This egg was dropped in the sleeping coop. She lays a super similar color egg to my two Ameraucanas but I think it was hers. This afternoon she separated herself a bit from the rest and was looking a bit lethargic with her tail a bit down.

I brought her in this evening and gave her a soak, cleaned her bum feathers, and trimmed them up. When I picked her up from her roost a bunch of liquid projected out of her mouth. Her crop is fullish but I'm honestly not totally sure what it should or shouldn't feel like after a day of eating. She wasn't bothered by me massaging it and no more liquid came out. Inside her mouth looks normal, her comb is bright red, there is one minuscule spot on an eye that looks pox-y but I could be being hyper paranoid. While I was cleaning her up she projectile-pooped what was nearly water with a little bit of white. The skin under her vent is a bit red but probably from diaper rash. Her abdomen did not feel weird as far as I could tell.

I've dealt with Marek's and some diseases but not ailments like this. Does this sound like sour crop, egg binding, respiratory, parasites ...? I gave her some oregano oil and have withheld food until tomorrow to assess the crop. Appreciate any guidance!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

@aart @Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Good evening all,

My 7 month old EE pullet, Sallie, has been laying inconsistently for about 4-5 weeks and has had a bit of a poopy butt for a couple days. She has seemed to be eating and drinking normally and acting fine even with the crazy weather we've had, but two days ago someone got in the nesting box and there was what seemed to be an egg without a shell -- it looked like just yolk squashed into the shavings. Today I found what I think was her egg with a super duper soft shell wrinkled up in the shavings but it could have been laid yesterday. It looked like she laid it while roosting -- they usually lay in a smaller coop elsewhere in their run and sleep in another coop cause they're just silly. This egg was dropped in the sleeping coop. She lays a super similar color egg to my two Ameraucanas but I think it was hers. This afternoon she separated herself a bit from the rest and was looking a bit lethargic with her tail a bit down.

I brought her in this evening and gave her a soak, cleaned her bum feathers, and trimmed them up. When I picked her up from her roost a bunch of liquid projected out of her mouth. Her crop is fullish but I'm honestly not totally sure what it should or shouldn't feel like after a day of eating. She wasn't bothered by me massaging it and no more liquid came out. Inside her mouth looks normal, her comb is bright red, there is one minuscule spot on an eye that looks pox-y but I could be being hyper paranoid. While I was cleaning her up she projectile-pooped what was nearly water with a little bit of white. The skin under her vent is a bit red but probably from diaper rash. Her abdomen did not feel weird as far as I could tell.

I've dealt with Marek's and some diseases but not ailments like this. Does this sound like sour crop, egg binding, respiratory, parasites ...? I gave her some oregano oil and have withheld food until tomorrow to assess the crop. Appreciate any guidance!

If you can get a picture of her poop that would be good.
Good idea about checking the crop first thing in the morning before eating/drinking. She may have spit up water from the way she was picked up, but she also may be having some crop issues.
Let us know what that's like in the morning.

When you gave her a bath, did you check inside the vent about 1-2" to feel for an egg?
She may be having a hard time laying a soft shell egg, those are very hard to expel.
If she were mine, I would give her some extra Calcium. You can give 1/2tablet Caltrate or 1 TUMS. I also give mine a direct dose of poultry vitamins at 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.

Let us know how she is doing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Here's some information about egg binding:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

Re-check the crop first thing before she eats/drinks - if it still full, then read the following article. We will help you try to get things moving.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Firefoot]

If you can get a picture of her poop that would be good.
Good idea about checking the crop first thing in the morning before eating/drinking. She may have spit up water from the way she was picked up, but she also may be having some crop issues.
Let us know what that's like in the morning.

When you gave her a bath, did you check inside the vent about 1-2" to feel for an egg?
She may be having a hard time laying a soft shell egg, those are very hard to expel.
If she were mine, I would give her some extra Calcium. You can give 1/2tablet Caltrate or 1 TUMS. I also give mine a direct dose of poultry vitamins at 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.

Let us know how she is doing.

Thanks for the reply! Do they sometimes spit up from being picked up? Never had that happen before ...

I don’t have any Tums at the moment but will be at the store tomorrow and I’ll get some or liquid calcium for chickens. I have goat nutri-drench but that’s probably not high enough in Ca?

I will report back in the morning!

Side question: does having an ‘active’ roo contribute to poopier butts? My roo is the same age as Sallie (hatch mates) and has a flock of 6 hens that he started breeding 2-ish months ago and I feel like some of them have gotten slightly messier bums than before. Is that a thing or am I missing a symptom in the whole flock? Nobody else is acting like Sallie.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she had a very full crop, it's possible if you pressed on it the right way when picking her up the crop contents could come up.
I would definitely check her first thing in the morning.

You could probably use the goat nutri-drench, but I'm not sure what dosage that would be.

A rooster should not contribute to poopier butts. There is no penetration involved with chicken mating, it is just a touching of the vents.
Diet, water consumption and parasites are some common causes of messy bums. Sometimes it just is what it is too - some hens have a LOT of fluff and it catches poop, but it's always a good idea to check these things out. One way to do this is get a fecal float through your vet.

 

[Firefoot]

If she had a very full crop, it's possible if you pressed on it the right way when picking her up the crop contents could come up.
I would definitely check her first thing in the morning.

You could probably use the goat nutri-drench, but I'm not sure what dosage that would be.

A rooster should not contribute to poopier butts. There is no penetration involved with chicken mating, it is just a touching of the vents.
Diet, water consumption and parasites are some common causes of messy bums. Sometimes it just is what it is too - some hens have a LOT of fluff and it catches poop, but it's always a good idea to check these things out. One way to do this is get a fecal float through your vet.

My EE and Ameraucanas have super duper fluffy bums (so soft!) but I'll get a fecal to the vet today.

Sallie seems like she emptied her crop normally overnight. Compared to what it felt like last night, it feels almost like nothing is there, just a very small soft spot. So that is awesome. She was roosting facing me and I was at an angle so I probably did just maneuver her weird and caused the spit up.

Her set up is a cat carrier inside a big dog crate and I am pretty sure she slept in the cat carrier. Because of this, her butt is all poopy again. When I look at her vent, it looks like it's really active but when she's standing and walking she doesn't look like she's straining much. She is still bright eyed and adorable. The feed store opens at 8 so I'll see if they have something for her and if not I'll get some TUMs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My EE and Ameraucanas have super duper fluffy bums (so soft!) but I'll get a fecal to the vet today.

Sallie seems like she emptied her crop normally overnight. Compared to what it felt like last night, it feels almost like nothing is there, just a very small soft spot. So that is awesome. She was roosting facing me and I was at an angle so I probably did just maneuver her weird and caused the spit up.

Her set up is a cat carrier inside a big dog crate and I am pretty sure she slept in the cat carrier. Because of this, her butt is all poopy again. When I look at her vent, it looks like it's really active but when she's standing and walking she doesn't look like she's straining much. She is still bright eyed and adorable. The feed store opens at 8 so I'll see if they have something for her and if not I'll get some TUMs.

When you have time, some photos of her poop would be good.

I'm glad to hear the crop seemed empty this morning!! I would watch that she's drinking well and eating. Re-check the crop again tomorrow morning. When I have a bird that is under the weather, I check the crop every morning for a while

It's good that she does not look like she's straining. Since she's got a messy bum again from sleeping, give her a cleanup and soak.
The vent if you take a look at it will be active so that is normal.

 

[Firefoot]

I syringed some water in her as I’m not sure she was drinking but she tucked into her breakfast pellets quite well. I was able to trim her poopy feathers without needing to bathe her. She is bright and alert so I’m leaning towards parasites ... having a real tough time finding a vet who will run a fecal float without also requiring a vet visit ($80 to walk in the office). My horse vet is too grossed out by chicken poop, about to go ask at the feed store. One vet said she thought they could do it but they send it out so it takes a few days.

If I can’t get a float done should I deworm with something anyway? I have Ivermec pour on and Fenbendazole paste but I think the paste will be impossible to dose. I know the dangers of over- deworming but...

Attached is pics of Sallie today. Her butt looks a little whiter and powderier because I poofed a little baby powder on her red skin yesterday.

Edited to say her poop on her bum looks more normal today to me, much less runny than whatever happened last night.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I syringed some water in her as I’m not sure she was drinking but she tucked into her breakfast pellets quite well. I was able to trim her poopy feathers without needing to bathe her. She is bright and alert so I’m leaning towards parasites ... having a real tough time finding a vet who will run a fecal float without also requiring a vet visit ($80 to walk in the office). My horse vet is too grossed out by chicken poop, about to go ask at the feed store. One vet said she thought they could do it but they send it out so it takes a few days.

If I can’t get a float done should I deworm with something anyway? I have Ivermec pour on and Fenbendazole paste but I think the paste will be impossible to dose. I know the dangers of over- deworming but...

Attached is pics of Sallie today. Her butt looks a little whiter and powderier because I poofed a little baby powder on her red skin yesterday.

Edited to say her poop on her bum looks more normal today to me, much less runny than whatever happened last night.

What a sweet face!
That's expensive for testing! If she has never been wormed, that may be a good idea.
You have Fenbendazole paste like pictured below? If you do, then you can use that. Dose is .23ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 days. Get some small needleless syringes and draw up the paste, then syringe it directly into her like this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...er-construction-check-back-for-updates.73335/

I would watch her for several days, hopefully she is going to be o.k. but I worry that she may be having some problems with laying. I would still give her extra calcium for a week too.