Egg bound? Please help (update: not egg bound)

[losylee]

Update: Lil girl is much more alert and spry today. Still no poops on the towel though. The vet called for an update, said bring her back in, we agreed it is probably a parasite issue. She gave me enough wormer for the flock, as well as two more doses of the antibiotics, and showed me how and where to inject. That was invaluable.

Not gonna mess with much food today but try to get a lot of water in her to hopefully get things moving.

Two things: she seemed to want water but the syringe was pretty annoying for her and she wouldn't drink out of the little plastic tub container of water, but when I filled up an old chick waterer she went to town on that. Chicken mind games! Second, I moved them both out of the tub just now to clean it and replace the towels...and voila! First poop in over a day! Is it possible she's holding it in so that she doesn't soil her immediate area? Should I remove her periodically to see if she'll go?

 

[animalgrl]

Quote:
There is no harm in removing her periodically if you think that would help. I think most chickens tend to go where there are without giving it much thought, I did have one that was sleeping in a crate in my laundry room at night for several months and once she realized the routine, she did not once soil that crate at night, so anything's possible. It is so frustrating how hard it is to tell what is wrong with a sick chicken! Hopefully worming solves your problem. Glad she is feeling better today.

 

[Teila]

Hey losylee

I am pleased to hear that your girl is doing better today. Did you notice if her crop was empty in the morning? A full crop in the morning is a sign of an issue/blockage .. the crop should pretty much empty overnight.

 

[losylee]

Teila, her crop was not empty but it was significantly more empty than last night. With her not seeming to be passing much I took that as a good sign. Focusing on a small amount of baby food carrots with some Greek yogurt and probiotics, but mostly water, for today.

2 questions for you experts:

1) if her crop is not fully emptying and she's kind of bottled up, will the oral wormer be effective?

2) would giving her an Epsom salt drench before the wormer be a good idea?

 

[losylee]

Lil girl passed last night, we are looking into a necropsy and will post the results.

 

[Teila]

Oh No Losylee I am so very sorry to hear that

 

[animalgrl]

Lil girl passed last night, we are looking into a necropsy and will post the results.

Sorry to hear your girl didn't make it. Let us know what you find out.

 

[losylee]

Thank you for your kind words. Here is what I know so far: the vet sent her to Auburn for the necropsy so no word yet, and 3 stool samples from hen #2 turned up no cocci or worms (although I imagine maybe if the worms weren't shedding they may not show up in a stool sample?) Tonight we are removing food from the coop so we can do a crop check tomorrow morning, and anyone with less than an empty crop will get an Epsom salt drench. There are currently 4 chickens I am concerned about that share the following symptoms: feather loss under the vent, feather loss at the back nape of the neck, droopy-ness underneath the vent (as if something is there, like backed up feces or maybe liquid) and tiny black spots on the combs only (nothing as bad as the pictures of pox I've been looking at). They also fluff up their saddle feathers periodically. Hen #2 is the only one acting a bit listless, the others are still behaving normally. I will take some pictures today to post. I've been feeding them as a treat Greek yogurt with crushed up probiotic tablets daily, and I have Tylan for their water which we'll start tomorrow (there's puddles everywhere today, doubt they'll touch their waterer.)

Tomorrow hen #2 (Elizabeth) is going to a different vet I just found that treats chickens (our vet has never worked with chickens before so she was doing what she could).

Seems like salpingitis or egg yolk peritonitis, but as I understand, both of those are a symptom of some underlying issue or are caused by something else. Dry pox is also a possibility, but probably not responsible for the intestinal issues.

I don't think it's ascites because the belly doesn't feel like a water balloon.

Sorry I'm being so wordy, I guess I'm hoping someone will read this and it may sound familiar and can point me in a direction for clearer understanding.

Here's some more info: they free range all day on an acre, 8 layers and 9 pullets (only layers are affected), being fed layer feed with a smaller feeder with grower feed. I've seen both ages of chickens eating from both feeders. They get scratch as a morning snack mixed with oyster shells, I also grow soldier fly larvae as a treat and periodic veggie scraps. We live in north Florida, the 5 month long heat wave caused almost all of the girls to stop laying, we went from 7-9 eggs a day to 1-3. It is just beginning to be in the low 80s but laying hasn't started back up. There have been no eggs since we wormed two days ago. Our local farmer's market chicken farmer has said her hens are the same way, little to no production. About a month ago we experienced what the Mosquito Control guy said was the worst outbreak of mosquitos he's seen in at least 5 years. Our yard backs up to acres of swampy area, and we couldn't go outside for almost 2 weeks without being swarmed by hundreds of mosquitos at once. I had to use a fogger which I wasn't thrilled about but used it at dusk when they were already in the coop and only did the perimeter of the yard (coop is in the middle). The four hens affected are two different ages, either 2 1/2 or 1 1/2. I use the deep litter method, with pine shavings in the coop itself. Not sure if this makes a difference, but the hen who died was the weak one in that group of babies 2 years ago. This is the first time we've had any illness.

Does anyone have a good way to keep mosquitos out of the coop? I'll probably get the pox vaccine as well.

If I am doing something wrong, or not doing something helpful (like maybe ACV in their water?) please let me know. Hoping tomorrow's vet visit will shed some light. My absolute favorite chicken is one of the four, and the thought of losing her is crushing. I appreciate everyone's help so far, it's hard sometimes to even know what to search for and you guys have pointed me in very good directions.

 

[losylee]

Sorry I wrote a book

 

[losylee]

Auburn finally has a preliminary diagnosis from the necropsy of infectious coryza, which is slightly confusing as no one has swollen eyes or face and this seemed like a GI situation rather than respiratory. They also said she had tumors on/in every organ of her body, poor girl. Good news is everyone seems to be on the mend thanks to daily doses of tylan and omeprazole.