Help! 5 month old pullet lethargic and not eating nor drinking

[FoxySonia]

This morning I noticed that one of my 5 month old pullets, a white crested black Polish bantam, is lethargic, not eating nor drinking, and when I touch her she gets up and move away a little. Don't seem to have any foot or leg unjury. She hasn't started laying yet and isn't walking as she would if she was egg bound. When I pick her up she closes her eyes as if too tired to keep them open. Her crop feels empty. She just pooped (at around 3:30pm today) a greenish wet poop. I have 37 other juveniles that are between 4 and 5 month old, and none of the others are acting lethargic nor pooping green, though one of my cockerels was acting lethargic for a couple of days, but though he ate less, he still ate and drank and went to roost with a mostly full crop, so I didn't worry too much about him, he's much better now, acting normal and eating his fill.

Over 2 months ago, before I had moved the chicks from their indoor brooder tent to their outdoor coop and pen, when one of my Appenzeller Spitzhauben pullets pooped blood twice, I started all the chicks on Corid 20% soluble powder, first in the outbreak dose for 10 days, then the moderate dose for 2 weeks, then the maintenance dose for 3 weeks. Can they still get coccidiosis? Should I treat her/them again? Or does the green poop and lethargy be caused by something else?

Across my yard there's a wild apple tree and many of its small apples have fallen into my yard and the chicks have been eating them. I worried that they might get sick eating the seeds and hoped they wouldn't. Could that be what's made the pullet sick?

Here's a photo of her next to my molting rooster:

Here's a photo of her most recent poop:

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably start some Corid just in case of coccidiosis. Get her drinking water right away.

 

[FoxySonia]

I would probably start some Corid just in case of coccidiosis. Get her drinking water right away.

I have some Corid left. What dose should I give and for how long?

Just read another post of another juvenile pullet that was lethargic and not eating (23wk EE Lethargic/Watery poop. corrid? By Thread starter[COLOR=inherit]afwifey[/COLOR]). SSadly, she ended up passing away after her owner tried for days to save her, treating her with Corid and Safeguard paste, Nutri-Drench, electrolytes, vitamins, coconut oil, ecetera, and even paid for a veterinarian to come to her home, he did x-rays and tested her poop but found no parasites or coccidia. She may have been a bit blocked/constipated due to eating too much oyster shells and grit.

Anyway, the person that suggested she treat the sick EE pullet with liquid Corid said to give the approx. 3 lb. Pullet with the drench dose - .5ml a day for 3 days, in addition to the Corid water (1/4 tsp. mixed with a quart of water), but didn't say for how long. What would be the dose for a 5 month old Polish bantam pullet?

Here are the comments from that post that I found helpful, which may help others:

If it were my hen, and I'd gone through all of the above and a vet was not in the cards, I'd have her on some Water with Electrolytes (Gatorade in the water or Sav-A-Chick brand Electrolytes from the feed store will work, even Sugar Water) for the next few days, and mix some Vitamins in with her feed, while reducing her scratch grain intake (no nutritional value to scratch). Watch her for the next 12-24 hours and see how it goes. You could start Corrid, but short of a vet's confirmation that she's afflicted with Coccidiosis, I think you're throwing a dart at a board in a dark room. It won't hurt her however.

When we have a lethargic hen and there's been significant heat, we'll often bring them into the A/C for an hour or so (bathtubs are good for this) to let them cool down and give them Water with Electrolytes (even sugar mixed with some lukewarm water works). They do seem to appreciate the relief and will bounce back pretty quickly.

Vitamins can be administered a number of different ways, and we'll move quickly to get some vitamin therapy in a lethargic bird too. Here are a few options we've used:

A) You can pulverize 1/4 of a human Vitamin B-Complex tablet and mix that with about 1 TBSP of her Feed (is she still on Starter Feed? if so, use that), a bit of Yogurt to moisten the mix (ours like Mixed Berry flavor), and some Fried Egg. Mix all of that up to a moist paste and feed to her.
B) You can put some Poultry Nutri-Drench into a mix of their Feed with a little Yogurt and Fried Egg also.
C) Even Poly-Vi-Sol (liquid baby vitamins WITHOUT Iron) mixed with Feed, Yogurt, and Eggs works for us.

In short, you're trying to boost her energy and get nutrients in her that it appears she's short of. This could be heat related too, or it could be a disease or other sickness, but only a vet can tell you for sure.

Has she been vaccinated against Mareks or Newcastles? I failed to ask that in my first post, but her symptoms, so far, don't seem to be presenting like those...

My chicks have been vaccinated for Merek's.

Nurtri-Drench can be given directly per the label at 1ml (same as 1cc) per 3 lbs of body weight, or mixed with drinking water. If given with drinking water, pare the ratios down to make about a quart or so. You're not going to need GALLONS! Provide fresh water as well.

An EE at 23 weeks should be right at about 3 lbs, but check to be sure you're close on her weight and give her the appropriate dosage once per day along with fresh water. Electrolytes in the "fresh" water are ok for a day or two, but afterwards go to straight water for her.

Both the Nutri-Drench and any other liquid you're administering directly to a bird needs to be done with an eye-dropper with graduations for ml or cc on it, OR with a syringe of appropriate size. We use a 3/10cc syringe with the needle discarded (duh!) to give liquids.

Here's a great description on how to give liquids to a chicken:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

@Swbertrand1 has given you some excellent advice. Yes, trying to diagnose a chicken over the internet is really like shooting at a target in the dark. We try various things and hope one will make a difference.

Do you know if this pullet is getting grit? It sounds like she could be constipated or has an impacted gizzard. I would try that coconut oil right now. A full teaspoon broken into pea size pieces and chilled hard so it's easy to slip it all into her beak. Within an hour, your should see more solids in the poop if she had been constipated. She would instantly feel better, too.

As @Swbertrand1 mentioned early in the thread, coccidiosis is a possibility. It does no harm to treat for it just in case. I suggest you get some liquid Corid today and mix it TWO teaspoons into a gallon of water or quarter teaspoon into a quart. Treat the entire flock.

Most important, give her the drench dose for three days in addition to the Corid water for five days. The drench is .5ml undiluted directly into the beak with a syringe or dropper. If it's coccidiosis, this should produce a marked improvement within hours.

Blood in the poop is only present with some strains of coccidia. Lack of blood in the stools is not a green light. All Corid does is to block the uptake of thiamine to deprive coccidia of nourishment they require. Be sure to withhold b-vitamins during Corid treatment.

 

[FoxySonia]

Since Wednesday afternoon I've kept the sick pullet indoors in a dog crate, gave her some Nutri Drench and water with vitamins and electrolytes and cmCorid Nextafternoon, I saw her bantam Polish sister getting picked on by the Salmon Faverolle that kept pecking her head and trying to pull out feathers from her Crest, and noticed that she just stood there and didn't try to get away, so she was most likely coming down with the same thing that has made her sister so lethargic. So I brought her in and put her with her sister. I gave bought of them a dose of Nutri Drench and the water with vitamins and electrolytes and Corid. Afterwards they perked up a little and started eating, they ate a little of the mashed made with chick feed, and a bit of scrambled eggs mixed with sardines. This morning they both looked quite lethargic even after giving them water with Nutri Drench, electrolytes and Corid, they ignored the fresh food. I don't know what else I can do for them. And this morning I heard one of my 4 month old Silkies sneezing.

 

[Eggcessive]

You aren’t supposed to use vitamin B 1 (thiamine) when chickens are on Corid. They can be on Corid for 5 to 7 days at full strength, and for another 5 days, you may give 1/4 dose. Are the 2 chickens having runny poops or any blood in them. Make sure they are drinking enough.

 

[FoxySonia]

You aren’t supposed to use vitamin B 1 (thiamine) when chickens are on Corid. They can be on Corid for 5 to 7 days at full strength, and for another 5 days, you may give 1/4 dose. Are the 2 chickens having runny poops or any blood in them. Make sure they are drinking enough.

Thanks for the info. Their poop is watery and dark green, with no blood. I don't think they are drinking on their own or getting enough to eat, they spend all day sleeping. I give them the liquids with a syringue but they fight me, and I'm afraid they aspirate a bit.

 

[FoxySonia]

I just discovered lice on the 2 sick bantam polish pullets. Now I know what was crawling on my scalp last night and today. Just saw a few on the pullets when I examined the vent. Had to cut a blob of poop stuck to one of them over their vent so I was able to see a couple of lice that look long, thin and brownish in color. The poop stuck on the sickest pullet was more white and light green instead of dark green.

Would the lice be causing their illness, or their being sick and weak cause the lice to infest them? What do I use to kill the lice? These girl are about a pound each. Will I need to treat the entire flock of 38 juveniles and 3 adults? I have 36 other chicks (12 standard size and the rest are bantam), mostly pullets between 5 and 6 months old, plus 3 adult standard size - 2 hens and 1 rooster. The juvenile bantams are approx. between 1 and 2.5 lbs. and the adults are approx. between 3 and 6 lbs. What's the best way to treat all of them for lice? Do I also have to treat their roosting bars and coops?

 

[FoxySonia]

Been treating the pullets with Corid (powder mixed with water, the outbreak dose) for the past 3 days and still no improvement yet, so don't know if the Corid is helping. They eat way too little and drink only when I give them the Corid water using a syringe. They spend all day sleeping. Their poop is lighter, mostly urates. They both have lice but didn't see too many on them, nor any eggs, so they haven't had them for too long. Some of the lice have gotten on me the past 2 days when I've handled them, never before while I hold any of my other chicks, so hopefully none of the others have a bad infestation, but I will treat the whole flock and their coop with Elector PSP, which I ordered from Circle C Supply hardware store for $140.95 with free shipping and no tax. It will take several days to receive, so wondering if I should also buy something else from Amazon that would arrive within 1 or 2 days. It has to be something that is safe to use around cats.

 

[FoxySonia]

I thought I posted an update this morning on this thread, but I posted it on my Lice post instead. Posting the update here too.

Update on the 2 sick pullets. The 1st one seemed to be feeling better, her appetite is slowly returning, have seen her go to the food dishes to eat a little and have seen her drink water on her own. I'm still giving both water with Corid using an oral syringe. Her poop appears more normal, more brown and solid instead of dark green and watery, so the Corid has been helping her get better. The 2nd pullet, she got sick at least a day after the 1st pullet, so she still seems to not be feeling well, has no appetite and is lethargic, only wants to sleep all day. Haven't seen her poop yet today, so don't know if it's still dark green and runny. She still fights me a little when I try to make her drink the water with Corid, which I give her with syringe. She pecks at food when she sees her sister eat, but barely eats anything. Both are pretty skinny and covered in lice. I purchased the Elector PSP on October 3 and this morning got the notification that it shipped, so I should be receiving it in a few days.

I don't have much Corid powder left so will have to get more right away. 2 days ago I started the rest of the flock on the intermediate or moderate dose. Yesterday another pullet (4 month old Appenzeller Spitzhauben) was lethargic and slept most of the day, I gave her the outbreak dose and today she seems a little better. It sucks that these chicks are getting sick and need to be treated again with Corid, after having been treated with it for 7 weeks ( 10 days the outbreak dose, 2 weeks the moderate and 3 weeks the maintenanc), not that many weeks ago. I'm concerned that the Corid use for so many weeks will or have caused a thiamine deficiency. What are the signs of thiamine deficiency? Should I give them thiamine after the Corid treatment? If yes, how much and for how long?

 

[FoxySonia]

On my other thread, I received the following reply:

Usually treatment consists of 5-7 days of the severe outbreak dosing (2tsp of liquid Corid or 1.5 tsp of powder Corid to gallon of water) and then if needed another 5 - 7 days at the reduced dose (1/2 tsp of liquid or 1/3 tsp of powder per gallon of water). I've never actually had birds with a deficiency post treatment, but it's possible. Once treatment is complete you can give a 1/2 a B complex tablet or capsule (human ones) for a few days or a week, the B's are water soluble and any extra will be excreted. If you have a bird that has symptoms of a deficiency I would give to that bird until it's symptoms resolve. Don't give thiamine at the same time as treatment since it could reduce the effectiveness of the corid.
Since you seem to have it running through your flock, I would just treat them all at the same time, rather than one here, one there, as they become ill. For very sick birds that are not eating or drinking I would give them a stronger oral dose once a day for up to three days, instructions for that are here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/
That will help get the medications in them until they are eating and drinking well enough on their own to take it in. You can still give them the corid water via syringe also. You give the drench in addition to the regular treatment.
Depending on the lice load and how long they've been there, that can seriously weaken them also.

I did not know about the Corid oral drench, so Thank you so much. I don't have a weight scale so not sure how much the 2 bantam Pollish pullets weigh, they are very light, so I guessed each weigh no more than a lb. Because they weren't drinking much on their own, so 2-3 times a day I've been giving them water with the outbreak dose using a syringe, I think supposed to be .1ml per lb? Since they spill more than they drink, I fill the syringe up to .3ml, so I think they've probably been getting close to the drench dose amount. I think today is day 5 of the Corid treatment.

This afternoon the 2nd pullet seemed a bit improved, saw her eating on her own and with her sister on 2 separate occasions, so appetite slowly returning. And I didn't see watery poop. Since they are still not well, I'll continue the outbreak dose of Corid in their water for up to 5 more days. Should I then stop and repeat 2-4 weeks later, or should I continue with the intermediate/moderate dose or the maintenance dose for a couple of weeks? I'll give them, and the rest of the flock which is now also getting Corid water (the moderate dose), the B-Complex and probiotics (plain Greek yogurt ok?) after the Corid treatment is finished.

The lice don't seem like they've been on the chicks for long, not a huge infestation, haven't seen any eggs clusters on them. But there are enough lice for some to get on ne each time I handle them. It's quite annoying to feel lice running around on me. The live that get on me are supposed to die in 24 hours, but each day new ones get on me. Ugh!