Extremely stinky dark poop with high moisture content (not cecal) and swollen abdomen

Amelia Egghart

Songster
Jul 8, 2015
684
288
196
Fallbrook, CA
Ok, here goes! She's a two year old marans and I've noticed a higher foot temperature when I pick her up than the others. The poop is dark, gnarly stinky with high moisture (like a slurry) and her abdomen seems swollen. I'm thinking she has a gut infection. Enteritis? But what do you think?


1) What type of bird , age and weight - Black french marans, two years old, normal weight

2) What is the behavior, exactly - she's been stressed from flock dynamics (top hen died and then her sister who protected her was killed), so the rooster has been mounting her a lot and the hens have been picking on her. Additionally, there was a recent infestation of roundworms that I treated with Safeguard. She pooped a knot of worms after treatment and I haven't seen any since.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? - She's been stressed for 3-4 months now. The treatment for worms was two weeks ago. The slurry stinky dark poo has been exhibiting for about a week.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? - No. One is laying down a lot, she has bumblefoot though.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - no

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - stress and recent roundworm treatment

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. - she eats when she gets away from the others but she eats enough to poop throughout the day. her drinking seems normal.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - stinky, slurry, dark

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - None for the poop. Safeguard for the worms.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? - The vet is a long drive. Hoping it's treatable with OTC drugs or the following antibiotics, I have amoxicillin, penicillin, tetracyclin in soluable powder for drinking (bought everything before it got pulled from the shelves). I don't know how to do injections but if that's all that will work, I can take her to a vet but not until monday or tuesday.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - I can't even post from my phone anymore. Too many glitches. Had to find a computer to type this in! :(

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use - dirt floor for the run, I removed all bedding from the coop and remove/check the poop every day. They're running around on a fenced acre of fruit trees all day, only in the coop/run at night.
 
Try using the browser on your phone and not the app.
 
According to Merck Vet Manual, enteritis is a disease of young birds. You cannot diagnose it (enteritis) without getting a gram stain by your vet performed. A fecal float should be done at the same time to look for chronic coccidia which may be a precursor to enteritis, as well as looking for worms. Does she lay eggs? A swollen abdomen is sometimes a sign of a reproductive disorder such as internal laying. Those hens can also have runny droppings. The antibiotics you have may treat enteritis, but I would not treat for it unless I knew what was wrong. If you cannot get a vet to do the fecals, then they might be a good idea. Here is some reading on enteritis if you haven't seen it:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/184/necrotic-
enteritis/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/necrotic-enteritis/overview-of-necrotic-enteritis-in-poultry
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis/
 
Her last egg was a week ago, I want to say. I can verify in a few hours. It's the season to slow down, so I'm not sure if that's why she stopped or for some other reason. I noticed the abdomen size before she laid her last egg though. Prior to that, she's been a regular layer. So I don't think there's internal laying going on. Plus, it's squishy, like my hen who had an ovarian tumor. What gets me is the color, consistency and smell of the poop. It's screaming bacterial at me. I work in fermentation and it's not a smell like any of the strains I'm used to, but it definitely has the same stink-intensity! :(
 
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she eats when she gets away from the others but she eats enough to poop throughout the day...two years old....The poop is dark, gnarly stinky with high moisture (like a slurry) and her abdomen seems swollen.

I agree with @Eggcessive getting fecal float and gram stain would be a good idea, this will give you more information on what's going on.

Check her crop to make sure it's emptying overnight. You mention that she eats when she gets away from the others. From your description she is under a lot of stress due to flock dynamics, overmating and possibly being kept from food/water. I would separate her out so she can rest and eat/drink in peace. Provide her with poultry vitamins and some extra protein like egg, tuna or meat in addition to her normal feed.

Internal laying/reproductive disorders are very common in laying hens. Even if she is/was laying eggs within the last week or so, it doesn't mean that the swelling of the abdomen can't be something like Peritonitis, Ascites, salpingitis, cancer or tumors. Sometimes hens can lay somewhat normally while still having an underlying condition.

Coccidiosis overload in adult birds presents pretty much the same as it does in juveniles - lethargy, loose stool with mucous or blood, huddled/fluffed up and unkempt looking, going off food/water and weight loss - these symptoms except for blood in the droppings can look like a number of things, this is why a fecal test is important to rule out Coccidiosis overload.
 

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