Help! 6 mo Australorp will eat but can't stand, has mustard poo...

[HollywoodHillsHens]

I'm out of town, and just got an alarming email from my husband about our 6-month old Australorp Dorothy, who has been healthy and laying dependably but was sitting around outside much of the day since yesterday:

"She is pretty sick. She can’t seem to walk. Her poo is slimy mustard. I set her on the grass outside their enclosure for about 15 minutes to see if her legs had just fallen asleep,but she didn’t want to move. So I put her in the dog crate so the others wouldn’t pick on her. I gave her water and put in some of the sulfur antibacterial. i surrounded her with sunflower seeds and she was able to nibble those, and I put some food for her in a little cup. I’ll keep checking on her."

**Does this seem like an egg bound chicken? Is it worms or perhaps something else? The chickens have been eating snails recently - is that a problem?**

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!

 

[dretd]

Hi Hollywood Hills. Sorry to hear about your girl, especially since you are away. My hubby wouldn't have even noticed if one of mine was sick if I was gone.

Unfortunately its really hard to make a diagnosis without looking at the hen. What I will tell you is that it is unusual for pullets that young to become egg bound. The fact that she is too weak to stand up means she is a pretty sick little girl.

I am not sure what drug you have. When you say sulfur drug, could it be a sulfa drug? There are several on the market that we call sulfa drugs. Probably the most common one is Bactrim or Tribrissen (Trimethoprim-Sulfa). Its a really good broad spectrum choice for birds and has an added advantage of being good against coccidia. Do know the dosage and concentration of the medication and name? That would e really helpful.

It sounds like there is diarrhea present with the mustard poo, which can most likely mean bacteria or coccidia. So your choice is to keep her out of the elements with free access to water and food and continue the treatment you started, or to take her in to a qualified avian vet to check her out.

My hen Eva coincidentally is in a dog crate in my sunroom with almost exactly the same thing. I started her on TMP-Sulfa yesterday and she is really perking up. I would expect your gal to start showing improvement after about 2 doses of the medication provided it is the correct dose of the correct antibiotic for her condition.

 

[HollywoodHillsHens]

dretd, thanks so much for your reply - forwarded this to my husband, who is now bringing our hen inside the house.

Do you think we should throw away the recent dozen of eggs from the flock (pre-Sulmet treatment)? I just gave them to a friend (ate two this AM, and I feel fine).

Yes, a sulfa drug - Sulmet. So glad to hear that Eva is better!! Hoping for the best for both of our girls....

 

[dretd]

Hollywood,
Gosh I hope yours starts perking up. Remember to have your hubby make sure she's drinking adequate amounts of water! She could easily get dehydrated with the diarrhea, but also if the meds are in the water she needs to drink enough to get the right dosage. Thats why is really helpful to bring her inside until you know she's doing ok.

As for the pre-meds eggs. I would go ahead and eat them myself, but I am not sure I would give them away for friends. I doubt there would be any problems, but you never know since we don't know what type of infection she has. I guess I'd call my friend and either have her pitch the eggs or at the very least make sure they are really well cooked to kill off germs.

Now the drug you are using has not been cleared for use in laying hens so they haven't done clearance times for the drug in the eggs. The meat withdrawal time is 10 days. It is customary to err on the side of caution with unknown drugs so 28 days is recommended for you to pitch the eggs. Thats a lot of eggs to pitch, but to be cautious.... This drug also doesn't kill the bacteria off outright, but inhibits its growth. If your girl doesn't seem to start responding within a reasonable amount of time you'll want to consult your vet.

Good luck and I hope she starts feeling better soon!