Emergency advice needed for BCM

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Kes

Kes

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Hello,

I'm in need of some advice for my BCM. I believe she has stopped eating and is probably in her final days if I can't figure out something. She is only a little over a year old.

Last fall after molting she ended up with leg mites. I've tried treating her with vaseline/etc a few times to no avail (I think my problem has been stubborn nits). I've since sanitized the coop and used DE around the run. None of my others have had any problem with mites or lice of any sort because she's the only one with feathered legs.
I noticed last week that she was looking lethargic and her comb very pale. I caved and tried a gasoline dip and diaper ointment and separated her. She had a bit of a dirty bum too and I cleaned that up as well and trimmed her feathers there.

Since separating her, I could tell that she's barely eating. I was able to tempt her with some strawberries and I believe she picked at her food the first couple of days but she seemed largely uninterested in much of anything. I thought the smaller confines might be depressing her so I put her back with the others but today she's mostly been standing in place with her tail drooped and her eyes shut. The last time she pooped it was looking a bit too green. Today I can't get her to eat at all.

I realize it may be too late but I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a hail mary, even if there's only a slim chance that it will help. I don't know of any vets around here that will work with chickens. I have Tylan 50, Vet RX and Denagard but I'm not sure what would be recommended in this case, if any of them.
 
Sorry about your young hen. Has she ever laid eggs? Are you sure that she is only a year old, because you said she molted last fall, and they usually don’t have their first yearly molt until they are 1 1/2 years old? If she has not been laying, she could have a reproductive problem making her ill.

DE does not do much in treating anything, and may be dangerous to breathe for chickens and people. Have you looked under her vent and belly for moving lice or mites, or lice eggs? Ivermectin pour-on can be helpful with leg mite treatment, 0.1 ml per every 2 pounds of weight, and repeated in 14 days. But I usually would use permethrin 10 spray for body lice and mites. Treatment should be repeated every 7-10 days until all lice or mites are gone. Bedding, and nest boxes should be cleaned out, treated, and new bedding added.

Have you tried treating your hen for possible coccidiosis with Corid? Worming ber might be helpful as well. Has she had any symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as watery or crusty eyes, sneezing, or gasping?
 
Eggcessive said:
Sorry about your young hen. Has she ever laid eggs? Are you sure that she is only a year old, because you said she molted last fall, and they usually don’t have their first yearly molt until they are 1 1/2 years old? If she has not been laying, she could have a reproductive problem making her ill.

DE does not do much in treating anything, and may be dangerous to breathe for chickens and people. Have you looked under her vent and belly for moving lice or mites, or lice eggs? Ivermectin pour-on can be helpful with leg mite treatment, 0.1 ml per every 2 pounds of weight, and repeated in 14 days. But I usually would use permethrin 10 spray for body lice and mites. Treatment should be repeated every 7-10 days until all lice or mites are gone. Bedding, and nest boxes should be cleaned out, treated, and new bedding added.

Have you tried treating your hen for possible coccidiosis with Corid? Worming ber might be helpful as well. Has she had any symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as watery or crusty eyes, sneezing, or gasping?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. She was hatched the first week of March last year. She laid some in late summer/fall of last year, when she was old enough. It was a fairly hard year in general for my chickens, we had constant rain which resulted in a mosquito boom and they contracted dry fowl pox as a result. She was one of the few to have laid all through it. However, as soon as they started getting over that, they began molting- most of them didn't lose many feathers and some didn't molt at all. There was also a dog that attacked my flock around the same time.

Because of her (really mild) molt and the possible stress from the dog, I wasn't too concerned about it when she stopped laying- most of them weren't at that point. But when her feathers in her legs started to push back through, I noticed that the scales looked odd and I've been fighting leg mites on her ever since.

I check my chickens periodically for lice and mites and have never found anything. Also when I was trimming the feathers around her vent area just recently I looked her over really well and everything looked good.

I would be afraid to try deworming at this point since I don't think she could handle the additional stress. I haven't seen any signs of respiratory infection if any of them. I may try to see if I can find anything to treat coccidiosis just in case. Looking it up, it seems like it might be the most likely cause? Do you know if there's any reason to worry about treating them if that's not the issue? I can't even find a vet to do a float test much less test their dropping for disease.
 
If you are in the US, Corid can be found at most feed or farm stores in liquid or powder. Liquid is sometimes cheaper. Call around locally to make sure they have it in stock. It runs around $18. If you have a dog vet, and go in for shots or an exam, just bring along a sample of the chicken’s droppings to see if they will run a fecal test as a favor.

Corid is very safe, not an antibiotic, and you can treat all birds at once, even if they don’t have coccidiosis. There is no egg withdrawal time. Try getting her to eat some cooked egg, tuna, canned cat food, or feed made wet with Corid water.
 
Eggcessive said:
If you are in the US, Corid can be found at most feed or farm stores in liquid or powder. Liquid is sometimes cheaper. Call around locally to make sure they have it in stock. It runs around $18. If you have a dog vet, and go in for shots or an exam, just bring along a sample of the chicken’s droppings to see if they will run a fecal test as a favor.

Corid is very safe, not an antibiotic, and you can treat all birds at once, even if they don’t have coccidiosis. There is no egg withdrawal time. Try getting her to eat some cooked egg, tuna, canned cat food, or feed made wet with Corid water.
Click to expand...


I've tried asking my vet that I use for my cats and dog about the fecal test, but they won't. It's a very small clinic and they send their tests away to a lab, I believe. I'll keep looking though because it would be nice to find someone who does.

Thanks again, I'm going to try giving her some electrolytes tonight and will see if I can tempt her with some eggs or something and tomorrow I'll try the feed mill for the Corid. I tried Tractor Supply but they were out. Our other local pet store only had it in a huge quantity for $140.
 
You need to figure out the underlying cause of her lack of appetite. Was she handled by the dog in the attack? An internal injury could stop laying and suppress appetite. Does she have a bloated abdomen? Does her crop empty overnight? Have you checked her over for external parasites? More info might help us help you.
To stimulate her appetite, I’d offer a variety of her favorite. Try egg, meal worms, sunflower seeds... whatever she loves.
 

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