Help Please! Chicken can not stand up and has yellow diarrhea

[kperki]

Hi,
Not sure why this part didn't post earlier, sorry I am new to this..

I am new to the chicken world as an adult. My neighbor had to move recently and asked me to take his 23 chickens. They looked in bad shape to me. Some bare backs from roosters but also mites and lice. He had only been feeding them dried whole kernels of corn. They seemed very skinny. I started feeding them lots of veggies I made smaller in food processor and scrambled eggs. They devour everything. On July 24th I dusted them with permatherin powder I think it is called. I sprayed, dusted, scoured the coop. Then on Friday the 1st. I dusted them with Sevin and also have been cleaning spraying coop with oil/dawn/h20 and dusting it also in nest boxes. Today when I was looking at the hens I thought wow they are actually putting on weight and looking better. There are a couple hens that stay more inside the coop area. The one that is sick, I had seen her in a nesting box, on top of a nesting box and she came down and ate some scrambled eggs and tomatoes at about 3pm. after she ate I saw her kind of laying on her side and we were working in coop and I told my husband oh look at her lay there she must be going to dust. She didn't act sick, just was laying to one side then the other. Nothing seemed odd about it. When my husband went to shut the coop door tonight about 7:30 she was down below laying under some stuff. He picked her up and she couldn't stand. She had diarrhea We put her in a box with shavings and she seemed tired. I made up the electrolyte recipe I saw online (minus salt substitute) and got her to drink a little of that. I scrambled and egg for her and she ate that up, she was eating it out of the electrolyte water. She ate about a TBS of ground raw hamburger as well as another half scrambled egg. When she was eating she looked very alert, looking at her you would not know something is wrong. She would look if there was movement or the dog did something. She let me feed her and pet her and was not flinching or acting scared. These chickens have not been handled. I lifted her and felt near her vent to see if I could feel and egg or anything and I did not. I cleaned up her vent area and I do not know how this works or if it is normal but when I was cleaning that area it seemed like there was some contracting. I watched her and she seemed then more labored all of a sudden after I did that. She seemed tired and was opening her mouth. Her comb felt very warm as well as her crop. I do not know if she layed an egg or not as that is a favorite nest and there were eggs in it. I definitely noticed after I cleaned that area and moved her she was worse. When I held her up and put her on my lap and tried to see if she could stand there was yellow diarrhea. I put a little vetrx under each wing. I really don't know if I was suppose to. I read it somewhere sometime and maybe it is for something else...Anyhow I will post her pic and diarrhea as I read before someone asked for it. I hope it ok...She is panting more now too. I do not know how old she is either.
thanks for any help anyone can give me. I really want to save this sweet girl and give her a good life...
oh and she has scaly leg mites, I am waiting for what I ordered(camphor) to come. we tried the Vaseline and had a huge mess everywhere and all over them...

 

[hllewellyn]

Hi! Try researching Marecs disease to see if it sounds like that. And in the meantime separate the bird from the rest, Marecs is a horrible illness and is incurable so it really important to separate her ASAP just in case! Good luck!

 

[Suzie]

Yellow poop can also be a sign of worms...when was your flock last de-wormed ?

I doubt they were ever de-wormed by the previous owner...thankfully they have a great, caring new home with you.

She may benefit from a warm bath...maybe she is having problems in passing an egg..bathing will relax her and you can also gently massage her stomach area towards her rear end...

Could also be a bacterial problem...antibiotics would be needed if that were the case

So many things to consider...

Hope she improves for you very soon...keep us updated on how she is doing..

 

[kperki]

I read about Mareks and it didn't sound like that but I really am not sure of any of it at this point.

I was reading more info last night trying to learn what I could and on Tillys nest she said if crop is full in morning still, which it is, then give her some bread soaked in oil. I did, she ate some, I was able to get a little bit of grit in it. I also gave her some scrambled eggs with more oil on it which she ate some of. She did not eat as much as last night. It seems as she is more tired this morning and then all of a sudden she becomes really alert and looking around. She did try to stand but could not. I have cleaned her vent area.

Do I put anything in her bath that I give her? Epsom salts anything? If her crop is impacted would that cause her not to be able to stand up? Anything specific I should be doing for that? Also I have really been trying to check the chickens poop daily when I clean the board and look for worms as I was worried about that but I have not seen any. I put the flashlight on my phone and look close to and have not seen anything unusual that I think is a worm but again I am new to this. I am sure they have never been wormed...

Thanks for any help.

 

[Suzie]

For an impacted crop...you are doing the right thing...also it is helpful to massage the crop after having given her the olive oil...massage in a downwards direction...gently.

If her gizzard may be a problem you can give her some tomato juice...anything is worth a try..

She may be weak from whatever it is that she is suffering from...you can give her some vitamins to help her...vitamin B is great for problems associated with the legs but I suspect that she is weak in herself and has little energy...sugar water may give her a temporary boost.

A bath in epsom salt solution would be relaxing for her...

If you EVER see worms in their droppings they will have a massive overload...you should not be able to see worms in their poop...it is prudent to de-worm as a matter of course, worms can and will kill if they heavily infest chickens and they are not given a chemical de-wormer such as Safeguard or Panacur...

So much for you to consider...

Keep posting....with any more progress or debilitating symptoms...lots of great people on here to give suggestions to help you and her..

Suzie

 

[kperki]

Thank You Suzie,
I gave her a warm bath for 30 min and massaged her crop gently. I felt around her body and did not feel anything else. She has tried to stand a couple of times but has not been able to. When I was blow drying her she went to the bathroom and I saw this below, I am not sure if it is a worm or what. I put a qtip next to it for size reference. It was not moving. Also there is another picture of her stool from when I picked her up and put her in bath. It was not yellow and much more solid. I dried her thoroughly and she is sleeping now.. I put her on a towel and paper towels under her vent. I did not know shavings are a big sticky mess..

On the worm medication is that something I need to get from the vet or can I order it online? Do you prefer one over the other? Do you throw away the eggs when they take this? I really want to do everything I can to get them all healthy and happy. They are acting happy now but who knows what is going on inside. I did not expect this from this one as she is the one with the most feathers and healthiest looking...

As soon as I get rid of the lice and mites I am going to see if I can find homes for the 3 roosters. They are really big and very hard on the girls. I am hoping a local winery or orchard will want them for pest control. After I deal with this little gal I will do a new post of pics of the others to get advice on their bare backs etc. to get them healthy.

thanks again for helping!

 

[hllewellyn]

That looks like a worm to me! These birds are so lucky to have you, I really hope this works out - god know you deserve to win this one! Great idea about the cockerels, they make great pets are a really good at keeping pesky insects at bay!

 

[Suzie]

Looks like roundworms...Safeguard or Panacur will deal with them...I guess you are in the USA...easily found at most Tractor Supply outlets...if you are in the UK you would need to ask a Vet for the treatment ..Fenbendazole.

Treatment is a pea sized amount of the paste for a fully grown chicken...using a syringe ( without needle) ..open mouth...you can pull on the wattles to get them to open their mouth...insert the medication and immediately release the wattles..they will swallow the medication....after 14 days...give a second dose...throw all eggs away during this period...i.e. 28 days...

You are doing an amazing job....all credit to you for the hard work you have been doing and are still doing....


Keep informing on their progress!

 

[kperki]

Thank you for the info, I am in California, Central Coast area.

I just had a gal I recently met that is more familiar with chickens come by. She said she has sour crop and she said also that it could be possible that she has Mareks or that possibly her horrible conditions with the worms, lice, mites and improper nutrition have weakened her to the state of not having the strength to get up.

I am going to try the monistat 3 on her like another poster did, 1/3 in am 1/3 in pm until all 9 are gone. I will get the worm medicine in her tomorrow when I get it. I hope she can hold on that long and can survive this.
She is not eating or drinking as much so I am going to try and get a little more creative for her.
She did try to stand a couple of times and kind of pushed herself up a little. It was her best efforts and she did pretty good.
Also when I pick her up and hold her or move her she goes to the bathroom. I am pulling worms out of her. It is awful. The smell is horrendous and it is the same smell that all the chickens have. I told my husband that this smell is bad and different than our flock. I think they are all in bad shape with worms too. So I will get worm medicine for everyone and hopefully get them all healthy soon, starting with this little lady.

Any additional tips and knowledge to share is greatly appreciated as I am eager to learn anything that will help them!

Thanks!

 

[kperki]

I was able to get an egg yolk down her slowly with a syringe and more water. She was not eating or drinking on her own. It seems like she has gone down hill. Her wattle has fallen over, she is closing her eyes more. I just seems like it is harder for her to keep her head up. I want to do what is right and best for her so how do I know when it is time to put her down. It is very sad but I don't want to make her suffer if the reality is there is no hope. I hope someone with experience in this can give me some guidance.
Thanks