Help with diagnosis - sick delaware hen

[petrel]

I copied the questions from the diagnosis thread:

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Delaware hen, 9 months old, can feel keel in breast she is light, comb droopy and pale, almost purple in places
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Lethargic, moving around some, but mostly just standing or sitting in one place on roost
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? 2 days
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No signs of trauma
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. Nothing that I know of, bird had a long bout of pasty butt as a chick, two separate instances
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Some layer feed, water
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Runny and yellow
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? yougurt with raw egg and rolled egg mixed in it.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Self treat only.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: Housed in a 16 x 6 chicken tractor with 12 other hens. coop bedding is coarse pine shavings. tractor is moved on lawn every day. Chickens also fed wheat/barley fodder.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens this age should be immune to coccidia in their own soil by this age, unless a new strain was brought in by a new chicken, or some other way. Corid or amprollium for 5 days in the water can treat that. Diarrhea can also be a sign of worms, or enteritis. I would probably worm her with SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer 1/2 ml orally to start with, then repeat in 10 days. Enteritis is a disease of the intestines caused by clostrium perfringens, and can be treated with penicillin, erythromycin, amoxicillin, and doxycycline. I would put probiotics in her food or water, and check her for lice and mites. Here are some links to read: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis
http://www.jefferspet.com/safe-guard-dewormer-for-goats/camid/LIV/cp/I6-SK/cn/3300/

 

[petrel]

I haven't introduced any new birds to the flock. I guess my children could have tracked something in from our neighbor's farm, but they have been going back and forth for months. Theirs is a free range flock, not confined. I checked around her vent for any signs of mites and found none.

Thank you for the recommendations, I am unclear on the sequence: simultaneously worm, antibiotics, and probiotics, or one at a time and wait for the results?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would worm first, and probiotics can be given immediately too. Buttermilk and a small amount of yogurt have probiotics, as well as a prodduct called Probios at farm stores. Then I would read the links about cocci or enteritis (which can occur after cocci) and decide if either of those fit. So many chicken illnesses can look similar, and you are the best judge. She also could have an internal organ problem, but worms can make a chicken pale and damage the intestines.

 

[petrel]

Thank you. I've reviewed both links and still can't decide. No fluffing or dark runny stools (stools are pale yellow), not inactivity, but lethargy. I think the strongest candidate is the cocci. Still has some appetite. I'm going to watch her for the rest of the day and make the call this evening. Will try to post a video of her.

 

[petrel]

Well she was drinking when I went out to check on the flock this morning. I put some cantaloupe rinds/seeds and strawberry caps in the run and she almost got knocked over in the rush before she dove in herself! I thought she was on the mend until half an hour later when she was back on a roost, hunkered down with one wing appearing to droop. I'll pick up the wormer tomorrow.

Should I isolate and treat just the sick hen, or treat the entire flock?

 

[Eggcessive]

If you are suspecting cocci, I wouldn't wait on starting treatment. They can have the disease 3-4 days before showing symptoms, and can stop drinking before you starts the medicine. Whenever cocci or worms are there, everyone should be treated at the same time. Try to keep droppings out of feeders and waterers by raising them up on bricks.

 

[petrel]

Thank you so much for your assistance! The feeders and water founts are suspended from chains, and positioned at back height. Fortunately, no other members of the flock have demonstrated any symptoms that any of us can notice. I finally found Corid in a farm center a half hour away today. I also took a combined flock fecal sample to a vet that confirmed your diagnosis. I dosed a three day supply in the run at 12% for the whole flock, and my daughter was able to get the afflicted hen to accept about a tsp/tbs of 24% solution directly.

The delaware hen ("Mildred") is in pretty bad shape. She is emaciated, but still takes water and a bit of food (yogurt, raw egg, buttermilk & cut oats). It will be a testimony to her resilience if she shakes this off.

Is there a way to treat the ground for parasites instead of the chickens? My chickens are moved about in a tractor on my lawn. I'd happily spray the whole lawn with whatever would beat these bugs down, so long as it did not damage the beneficial stuff in the soil.

 

[Eggcessive]

By parasites, do you mean worms, or the coccidiosis? By moving your tractor every day with fresh grass underneath, they should be fine. You can't clean coccidia out of the soil, nor worms. Worms are much worse on chickens intestines than the small amount of SafeGuard used on them. It is a very safe wormer. Be sure and check them for lice and mites. With Corid dosage, most people use the severe outbreak dosage of 2 tsp liquid (or 1.5 tsp of powder) per gallon of water. I hope they have a good recovery. Here is a link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/818879/updated-corid-and-amprol-amprolium-dosing

 

[petrel]

By parasites I was referring anything that can afflict my chickens. The thread to which you provided the link was the one I used for my dosage. I deliberated over the dosage. With one hen near death and 12 others absolutely full of themselves, I figured I would split the difference and did 1 tsp. liquid per gallon, except for the afflicted hen who got the equivalent of two. Are you recommending that I dose them all at the maximum rate?

Many other threads indicated that there were no health risks associated with human consumption of the eggs produced during Corid treatment. Do you agree?