Help with Lethargic Pullet

[viragovirgo]

Her crop seems to be normal. It is down in the morning and in the evenings it is full. Not hard or anything. I will see if I can find the other wormer elsewhere. We are pretty limited here so I may be out of luck with that.

 

[robin416]

You can get most of what we use from the net, First State Vet Supply is a very good source for medications.

I'm very surprised that Wazine (piperzine) was not available in your feed store. It normally comes in a bottle about the size of a shampoo bottle and is white with a blue letters.

 

[viragovirgo]

I took the other stuff back, and I did find piperazine (D-Worm?) for cats and dogs. Will that work? If so, do you know how I would convert the dosage? I just went to check on her again and her crop is pretty empty tonight.....I did buy some plain yogurt for her and I put some apple cider vinegar in the water. In the yogurt, I added some vitamin E and some B complex. I don't know if I'm giving her enough because I'm so afraid to overdose her. I will start the worming tomorrow if it is the right stuff. Thanks again for the help.

 

[viragovirgo]

I thought I should add something else. Last night and tonight when I went out to check, the other four healthy pullets were on top of the coop, nestled up together. This one was alone under the coop in the dirt. They were all going into the coop (up the ladder) but for some reason this has started. I don't know if maybe she doesn't have the energy to go up the ladder??? And again, she feels very thin under the feathers. The feed store (two of them) were out of Corid and don't carry the other stuff (sulmet?) so I couldn't get anything in that regard. Is there anything else I should try???? Oh, and I'm going to be changing out the bedding also to something else, most likely straw.

 

[kathyinmo]

Here is a thread about worming....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2525157#p2525157

 

[Judy]

Really, it sounds to me like she is simply growing and maturing more slowly than the others. I wouldn't worm them under 6 months without more definite signs of worms, and I'm not seeing that. I certainly would not give Sulmet unless I had more definite indications that they need it, and I am not reading that. Corid won't hurt, but Sulmet is rather rough on them; necessary, sometimes, but not to be given lightly.

What I would most definitely do is give probiotics. Chicks raised by mama hens get good gut flora from the mama by eating some of their poo. Brooded chicks need us to provide this. You can buy probiotics at the feed stpre, or for humans in the drug store ("colon support" or some such), or you can simply give them about 1 tsp. of plain live culture yogurt per chick, mixed in with feed or scrambled eggs, or whatever they will eat. They don't digest milk well, so you need to limit this, but they will get the gut flora whether they digest the yogurt or not. A bit of baby applesauce in this mix is wonderful for them. Organic apple cider vinegar is, as well, added to the water. You could add a few drops of infant vitamins without iron to the yogurt/egg snack. As with people, a few supplements can make a lot of difference.

 

[Judy]

Wazine is a brand of piperazine. You could scrounge around on here and figure out the dose. Many on here do routine worming with Wazine and Ivermectin on a 4 or 6 month schedule. Chickens are going to get some worms, just as they are going to get some mites and lice. It is a matter of degree of infestation. You will need to choose a preventive program for both. But I still would not start either before 6 months without evidence she needed it.

You never did say where you live that I saw. Truth is, I suspect she simply does not deal with heat as well as the others. 100 degree heat can be lethal for a chicken. Shade, fans, frozen soda bottles, a swamp cooler if your humidity is low -- there are lots of ideas on here to deal with heat.

 

[viragovirgo]

We are in SW Idaho, it has been scorching hot, and we have pretty low humidity so its been like an oven!! I've thought for a while that it was heat, they all pant alot during the day. I try to go and mist them here and there but they don't care much for it. I will hold off on the worming for a while. After feeling around on her, I'm more concerned now about how bony she feels. So I will start tomorrow with the mash mixture with yogurt and give her the vit E and B complex directly in her beak. I usually pull her aside to feed her these things so the others don't eat it all and I'll continue to do that so she gets as much in her as possible. Is there something that is really good to help get some meat on her bones?? I'll keep the apple cider vinegar in all their water. Thank you again everyone! I really don't want to lose her, she is of course my favorite.

 

[dlhunicorn]

they all pant alot during the day

You need to add electrolytes in their water instead of aCV... panting will cause acidosis so do that pronto.​

 

[viragovirgo]

Thank you, I did that just now. Today is not good. I think she may be blind. I know she could see yesterday. I am having to feed her mash by moving the bowl where she is pecking because she isn't seeing the bowl. And she is also pecking way to close to her (like depth perception is off). While I was feeding her, she did a poo and it was kind of a solid green in the middle with a bunch of yellowish watery stuff around it. Could this be from the apple cider vinegar in the water?? I feel so bad now that maybe I caused a problem. Please help. Thanks