HELP! My Lop-sided Lucy is vomiting!!!

[vixchix]

Lucy is a leghorn, about 3 years old. She's been having diarhea trouble for weeks. I've treated the flock for mites, lice. I've had them on a 7 day course of Terramycin. Lucy's the only one who's still having problems. When she started vomiting yellowish liquid this morning, I separated her from the rest. Not sure what to do from here. Her comb is full and feels a bit hard. She's not eating. She's standing, but not energetic or interested in anything.
HELP!

 

[vixchix]

Please help!

 

[*GEL*]

Just giving you a bump, as I have no idea how to help, but if we keep the post up there, maybe someone who does know will see it and be able to share their good advice!

Good Luck!

 

[vixchix]

Thanks for the bump. I sure hope someone knows what to do about my poor Lucy. I've simply got to do something to help her!

 

[Brahmagirl]

Is it possible that Lucy has a problem with her crop - either impacted or sour? If it is impacted you will need to try and empty the contents or she will deteriorate quickly. Does her crop feel full in the morning? --- when it should be empty.

 

[vixchix]

Thanks so much for responding!
Her crop feels full right now and I know she didn't eat this morning. I've been through this before with one of my reds, the My Rhode Island never vomited or had relentless diahrea as Lucy has. I'll go back out and give her another look over and see if her breath smells sourish.
Thanks so much for helping!

 

[birdlover]

You know, I'm one of the crazy ones who takes my chickens to the vet when I'm up against a serious problem and don't want to lose them. But I realize many people live where there aren't any vets that do chickens and/or can't afford it.

I had an EE with an impacted crop and it took a long time to get her right again. At first, the problem was her crop and, then, she had diarrhea for a long time after her crop problem was over. The vet emptied her crop and gave her some medicines for it. Then he gave her medicine for her diarrhea. She finally recovered but I don't think she would have made it if I'd tried to treat her myself.

I know what a worry it is to have a favorite girl sick. I pray you can help her to get well.

 

[vixchix]

Thank you. Maybe trip to the vet is in order. She hasn't been vomiting, but she's making strange throat sounds. Almost like hiccuping. Dropping are dry, dry, dry. Now she's holding one wing lower than the other. No interest in food.

 

[threehorses]

When you treat birds with antibiotics, particularly if for a digestive issue, you *must* replenish the good bacteria that are unfortunately killed with the bad. To do so, you give "probiotics" - some substance containing live beneficial bacteria which will recolonize the gut.

The common choice (unless you're medicating with mycins or cyclines) is plain yogurt. 1 teaspoon per day per bird during medication at the opposite time of the day from when the meds are given initially. Then every other day for two weeks.

If you use cyclines/mycins, then you must use a non-dairy choice. For that, it's easy enough to find acidophilus tablets/capsules from the grocery store (crushed and mixed with water into a paste), or a livestock probiotic containing live bacteria such as Probios or Fastrack. Make sure they contain live bacteria, not just by products. Live Bacteria will either be denoted by CFU and a number for colony forming units, or will literally say Live Bacteria.

Your bird likely had a secondary bacterial imbalance due to the initial illness and antibiotic treatment. She developed sour crop because the bacteria weren't there in her hind-gut area to keep the digestive tract running well. It backed up causing her crop to sour. She passed it up (as birds don't technically vomit and chickens don't regurgitate).

You'll want to make sure the crop is empty. Then she must remain on easily dissolved foods only for at least a week if not two. This means pellets or crumbles, mashed boiled egg yolk, yogurt, applesauce (great for cleaning that crop and feeding the newly colonizing bacteria you're providing in the yogurt) made into a daily treat mash of about one dixie cup in size. Feed it first thing in the morning when she's out of food and hungry. Then when she's done, give her only pellets for the rest of the day. NO grains, NO breads, NO solids that wouldn't fall completely apart in a glass of water.

That way she'll actually get nutrition.

Additionally, because her crop has been sour,, you should use organic apple cider vinegar (OACV) at a rate of one ounce per gallon of water. The reason it must be organic is that organic is made by bacteria rather than chemically. The bacteria are replaced once the product is pastuerized. You can see them at the bottom of the bottle, along with some other nutrients that a bird could use. The bacteria also help recolonize the gut (and in turn ward off bad bacteria and yeast), as well as providing enzymes which will help break down any undigested food in her gut from this. They also make vitamins and the OACV acts as a healthy electrolyte.

The bacteria that you're re-providing literally are the workers that feed your bird.

This should get her started and back on track. Please let us know if it does not.

And one more thing: please, despite well-intentioned vets, do not give antibiotics unless the problem is certainly bacterial. Many vets don't have avian experience and don't remember how thoroughly dependent on bacteria the digestive system is for birds. In this case, it worked - and that's good. The vet must have heard something that indicated bacterial infection (let's hope). But just remember in case it comes up again. So many birds develop secondary bacterial infections from antibiotics unfortunately because of mis-prescription of it, and a lack of thought on vets' parts (or ignorance on feedstore personels' parts) about the need for probiotics during and after treatment.

I hope all goes well.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

BASICALLY YOU MEED TO FLUSH THE CROP AND FEED HER SOME WET MASH PROBIOTIC WITH vIT E

the flushing with baking soda water does the nulifying of the sour crop

FLUSHING FOR SOUR OR IMPACTED CROP IS THIS

very simple
mix the 1 pt of warm water
1/2 cup of baking soda
mix good and fill a child'sd ear syringe with the baking soda water

put the chicken on the table in front of you
if there is some one to hold the chicken it is easier to do

now take the filled syringe and put it in the back of the throat of the chicken
ex[ell all the water
now lay the syringe down
take your hand and bring it up tightly against the crop of the chicken
all the while pushing on the hand to breing up the spoiled feed etc out of the crop
the chicken will not hold it back but as chickens do not vomit you are the one bringing the spoiled feed out the beak

do not turn the chicken upside down
chickens do not throw up but you have to push it out the beak


do the flushing at least three times and let the bird rest

DO NOT FEED IT FOR 24 HRS
let it rest and then only feed it

one sliced of bread soaked in milk
into the milk cut a 1000 mg capsule of Vitamin E
feed this twice a day for a week

also have 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in qt of water
by now she is getting better

then you can see if she does alright on the crumble chicken feed
Do not feed any cracked grains at this time

now the
natural probiotic recipe is is:
1/2 qt of dry crumbles
3/4 QT of milk, sweet, sour, or buttermilk or a mixture of all or some
1/4 cup of non flavored yoguart ( no artificial sweetmer)
mix good
YOU CAN ADD LAST ON TOP OF WET MASH
1/4 CUP OF APPLE SAUCE AS THEY WILL EAT THAT GOOD

NOW THE IMPORTANT INGRIEDIENT FOR EACH CHICKEN FED
and add 1- 1000 mg of Vit E by cutting the end off the vit E capsule and 1 vit B complex for each chicken fed this wet mash
putting the vit's in the wet mash

WET MASH/VIT'S FOR ONE CHICKEN

2 tbsp of the dry feed crumbles
3 tbsp of milk
1 tbsp of yoguart
1 tbsp of apple sauce on top after mixing it with the vit's

this for each chicken your treating
so for each chick use 2 tbsp of mixture and 1-1000 mg of Vit E and 1 Vit B complex
to avoid feeding all the chicks the two vit's you could make one wet mash with vit's for the chicken that is having problems


make a small pen out of chicken wire that you can set down in the chicken house and put her in with her wet mash ans two vit's
it will then just be her getting the vit's


and feed each chicken
2 tbsp full of the wet mash probiotic and what they will clean up in 20-30 minutes
then clean wet feeders and restock dry crumbles

do this twice a day for a week
till the chickens is healed
then quit the Vit E and Vit B complexmake just the wet mash probiotic
then once a week for life

All the while after medicating the birds use ACV IN THE WATER
do not use ACV with medication


2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar per gallon of the chicken water so their gut flora wil be regulated they should have this at least 3-5 days a week
then three days aweek after they are over coccidiosis

the vit's are neccessary to clean up the damaged gut problem
email me any questions so you are not confused


any questions email me