Help asap! Sick hen with possible aspiration

[MomJones]

Well, I lost another chicken today. This time it was one of the new black chickens. I noticed this week that one of the black chickens was having the same symptoms as my Rhode Island Reds when they became sick, and I made an appointment to have her euthanized on Thursday and sent in for a necropsy. I did not separate her because I thought for sure I could tell her apart, but when I went to get her for the vet appointment they were all acting the same and I could not tell which one was sick. Apparently I had the wrong chicken euthanized because when I went outside today I found the one that actually was sick dead by the chicken coop
I'm putting her on ice and sending her tomorrow for a necropsy. This is killing me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong because both flocks were fine before I combined them. I hope I get some answers soon and I will share as soon as I get them in hopes that it might help my fellow chicken keepers

God that's hard. I feel sick at heart just thinking about it. I'll be looking for the necropsy results when you get a chance to post. Hang in there girl.

 

[MomJones]

Hi, it's possible that you might be dealing with an enteritis intestinal infection....sounds very similar to what two of my pullets had one of them (the first one) didint make she died just as I was getting baytril from my vet but the other girl made a full recovery with a 7 day course of baytril. I caint even believe what that vet did to you're poor hen....just WOW really make my blood boil just how uncaring and incompatant he is!!!!! You whould think he whould take the time to prepare himself on how to administer antibiotics to. A bird! That is just unacceptable! I soo sorry you had to deal with such a teribble person, they shouldn't even be a vet! I can help you on how to give the antibiotics if you need me to do that?

 

[BigMoma3]

Hi, it's possible that you might be dealing with an enteritis intestinal infection....sounds very similar to what two of my pullets had one of them (the first one) didint make she died just as I was getting baytril from my vet but the other girl made a full recovery with a 7 day course of baytril. I caint even believe what that vet did to you're poor hen....just WOW really make my blood boil just how uncaring and incompatant he is!!!!! You whould think he whould take the time to prepare himself on how to administer antibiotics to. A bird! That is just unacceptable! I soo sorry you had to deal with such a teribble person, they shouldn't even be a vet! I can help you on how to give the antibiotics if you need me to do that?

Thank you. I have some baytril left. I think 5 days worth. Is enteristis contagious? And if so, what can I do to possible prevent it or stop it from spreading?

 

[BigMoma3]

I’m
So sorry you are going through this. I had a similar situation when I introduced some pullets to my existing flock last year. They brought in infectious bronchitis. I insisted on having more testing done and they had brought in Mycoplasma too. I unfortunately did not quarantine properly but then I also realized that even if I had, they would have recovered from the IB but still harbored the myco and whenever I combined them they would have silently infected the girls anyway. I culled my flock with a heavy heart. I hope you find a happier ending.

I'm so sorry you had to do that. My deepest sympathy. I'm really praying I don't have to. I've had my reds from chicks and they love us almost as much as we love them! When my husband put the roof on our coop when they were pullets, they flew up there with him and watched from his shoulders as he used the loud nail gun! I'm way too attached. Can't wait for answers!!

 

[MomJones]

I'm so sorry you had to do that. My deepest sympathy. I'm really praying I don't have to. I've had my reds from chicks and they love us almost as much as we love them! When my husband put the roof on our coop when they were pullets, they flew up there with him and watched from his shoulders as he used the loud nail gun! I'm way too attached. Can't wait for answers!!

Wow, really? That's too sweet. Yes we're all pulling for you BigMama!

 

[BigMoma3]

UPDATE!! I got my first necropsy results today. It's from my chicken that was actually sick. She just arrived this morning and I already got a call about her. Haven't heard about the euthanized chicken yet...probably because she was the wrong one and they can't figure out what was wrong with her The vet from Kord labs called and said my sick chicken died from impaction in the intestines. She said it looked like small roots were bound up in her guts and caused major blockage in her whole system.

So...while it is great to know what happened, I am at more of a loss now than before! Obviously impaction is not contagious, and I see nothing in their run the whole flock could've gotten into to cause a widespread problem. So what happened to my other two girls??

Good news is she said she saw no signs of Marek's but they would do more extensive testing if they think necessary. So my initial panic of the new flock bringing in Marek's has subsided.

I'm finishing up treatment for coccidiosis, which was a "just in case" treatment, and my next step is to do a worming treatment of Safeguard and and treat the whole flock for lice and mites. I know something is up more than eating a mess of roots, so I will continue to do the best I can to keep them healthy.

 

[15WildTurkey]

I’m glad for you it doesn’t seem to be Mareks. And then I can only imagine your frustration. It’s so mysterious.

 

[BigMoma3]

Finally!!! I now know what has been happening to all my sweet chickens!

I had another chicken euthanized on Monday and sent in for a necropsy. I had been nursing this chicken back to health since early May after my first chicken died. She rebounded for a couple weeks but then started declining fast. The vet from the lab called and said she had egg yolk peritonitis which is common in high production breeds starting around 2 years old. She also said the light colored yellow fluid I drew from the abdomen was due to the peritonitis and not from ascities or water belly. I have Rhode Island Reds that are 2 and 1/2 years old and those are the ones suffering from this. Which makes sense as to why the Black Australorp I had die and necropsied only had an impaction as the cause of death and the Black Australorp that I had euthanized and sent for necropsy came back as perfectly healthy.

This has been a ridiculously frustrating, stressful, and slightly traumatizing chicken keeping experience, but I am glad this part of the journey is resolved and I have learned so much from it. And I am praising the good Lord that it was nothing contagious and that when I introduced the Black Australorps they did not bring anything with them. Thank you all for your help, encouragment, and advice along the way

 

[MomJones]

So it's resolved. Thank you Lord. Egg yolk peritonitis. And it's over and now we can all breathe. Bless you for keeping us updated through this horrendous journey of yours.