Helpful advice

[Carrie Michele]

Good morning everyone
Yesterday, we had one of our hens who suddenly changed and stopped eating to rest. We attempted for a few days to try and improve her but she wasn't getting any better. Some of her symptoms were :
Lethargic behavior
Wanting to be alone
Standing in one spot quietly
Sitting sideways but alert when I checked on her
A rather very red area below her vent that had no feathers but felt like a sack
Slow or no walking

Before all this...
A couple weeks ago, I went outside to find my side door to my garage open. This hen always went indoors if a door was open. Well, she was in there when the rest of her flock were outside. I shooed her out.
This past weekend I noticed her in her egg box for a long time. I assumed maybe egg bound. Have her several soaks, oiled her vent to non avail. She stopped eating, and became lethargic before I tried anything (how I knew she wasn't herself) . I locked her in her own coop in the run with others outside the coop. She would drink but not eat. Her poop was a bright yellow green diarrhea whenever she did poop. Yesterday she was less alert and miserable so we had her put down quickly. I did not find anything in there yet that is liquid that may have poisoned her but still looking. Also a spider or something in there caused it? It was only her thats why I remembered.

My question is should I continue to quarantine the flock she was in just in case whatever it was may have been contagious? Again, no idea what it was that caused her distress. They seem themselves and happy. #2 I have new chicks that are inside the house at night, but go out during the day in an enclosed area in the yard that flock would roam in before. Is that a bad thing? The old flock is in a fenced in area in the same yard away from the new babies. Wasn't planning on introducing for a few more weeks anyway because they are still little.

We live in forest but have mainly dirt in the yard so will that hurt the new ones if the others were in it before and happen to be ill?

Thanks!

 

[wynn4578]

Without knowing why she was sick, I would keep her flock separated from the rest of my birds for at least a week. If you see any symptoms I would immediately separate the sick from the healthy. That being said birds sometimes just get sick just like people do. if I see a bird that's not acting themselves, sneezing, discharge, or otherwise has symptoms and I'm not sure what's causing it, I will move them to a small run I have just for sick birds and start them on nutra drench. If they become worse then treatment becomes a matter of what symptoms they are showing at that point.

Doesn't seem contagious at this point or I would expect that you would already have other sick birds but better safe than sorry.

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

Well in my experience the hen had a severe case of E.Coli.
The hen needed some cleaning up of the gut problem.
How old are the chicks?
Chicks can't be with older chickens, they will not survive.
You will have to take care of two separate groups of chickens.
The answer I have is this
It is a definite case of needing my
WET MASH PROBIOTIC to cure the E.Coli condition.

 

[Carrie Michele]

I also have no idea her age so may have been her time to go.I heard it can be months before symptpms arrive. Are there any preventatives I can use just in case? They have apple cider vinegar in feed and drop in water, raked out the run, and all still laying.

Without knowing why she was sick, I would keep her flock separated from the rest of my birds for at least a week. If you see any symptoms I would immediately separate the sick from the healthy. That being said birds sometimes just get sick just like people do. if I see a bird that's not acting themselves, sneezing, discharge, or otherwise has symptoms and I'm not sure what's causing it, I will move them to a small run I have just for sick birds and start them on nutra drench. If they become worse then treatment becomes a matter of what symptoms they are showing at that point.

Doesn't seem contagious at this point or I would expect that you would already have other sick birds but better safe than sorry.

 

[Carrie Michele]

It was ecoli? Really? Crud. My chicks are about 5 weeks and currently not with my older chickens because I am waiting for them to be bigger. They have their own spaces but in the same yard.

Well in my experience the hen had a severe case of E.Coli.
The hen needed some cleaning up of the gut problem.
How old are the chicks?
Chicks can't be with older chickens, they will not survive.
You will have to take care of two separate groups of chickens.
The answer I have is this
It is a definite case of needing my
WET MASH PROBIOTIC to cure the E.Coli condition.

It was

 

[Carrie Michele]

Just to clarify

My new chicks are not merged with the flock but are in the same backyard but separate spaces. They also sleep inside at night.

 

[rebrascora]

My advice would be to have a necropsy done on her or cut her open yourself and see what you find and take photos of her insides and post them on the forum here. There are a few threads where we post photos of them and discuss possible causes. There are some of us who have a little bit of experience as to what is normal and what is not and we share thoughts and ideas to identify the illness.

The red area below her vent that felt like a sack..... was that swollen? When was the last time she laid an egg? The yellow green diarrhoea is usually caused by bile because there is nothing going through the digestive system....because she had stopped eating. That could be due to a blockage in her crop, or a tumour or an infection somewhere in her digestive tract. Did she feel light or heavy, in good condition or skin, bone and feathers.... or normal. Internal laying and water belly makes them unusually heavy. Impacted crop can cause them to feel a normal weight but their crop is full and heavy but their body is emaciated.

I'm really sceptical about chickens getting poisoned.... I'm sure it does happen on rare occasions but in my opinion, not as frequently as people think....It's just an easy thing to blame when you don't look deep enough into the symptoms. That's just my opinion.

I hope this is just a one off and the rest of your flock remain healthy. Chickens are particularly prone to tumours and problems of the reproductive tract, due to their high productivity, so there is a good chance it is not something infectious, but unfortunately, without a necropsy, it would be very difficult for any of us to say for sure.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Carrie Michele]

I love probiotics! What do you do?

Well in my experience the hen had a severe case of E.Coli.
The hen needed some cleaning up of the gut problem.
How old are the chicks?
Chicks can't be with older chickens, they will not survive.
You will have to take care of two separate groups of chickens.
The answer I have is this
It is a definite case of needing my
WET MASH PROBIOTIC to cure the E.Coli condition.

 

[Carrie Michele]

Thanks Barb. Unfortunately her body is disposed of. Her weight seemed the same. As far as her area, I would say swollen and very red. It was hard to keep track of her laying because they all free range and lay similar eggs except my bantams. Only reason I assumed poison was because I narrowed down to an instance when it was jus her. I dont have poisons around so highly unlikely, I agree.

My advice would be to have a necropsy done on her or cut her open yourself and see what you find and take photos of her insides and post them on the forum here. There are a few threads where we post photos of them and discuss possible causes. There are some of us who have a little bit of experience as to what is normal and what is not and we share thoughts and ideas to identify the illness.

The red area below her vent that felt like a sack..... was that swollen? When was the last time she laid an egg? The yellow green diarrhoea is usually caused by bile because there is nothing going through the digestive system....because she had stopped eating. That could be due to a blockage in her crop, or a tumour or an infection somewhere in her digestive tract. Did she feel light or heavy, in good condition or skin, bone and feathers.... or normal. Internal laying and water belly makes them unusually heavy. Impacted crop can cause them to feel a normal weight but their crop is full and heavy but their body is emaciated.

I'm really sceptical about chickens getting poisoned.... I'm sure it does happen on rare occasions but in my opinion, not as frequently as people think....It's just an easy thing to blame when you don't look deep enough into the symptoms. That's just my opinion.

I hope this is just a one off and the rest of your flock remain healthy. Chickens are particularly prone to tumours and problems of the reproductive tract, due to their high productivity, so there is a good chance it is not something infectious, but unfortunately, without a necropsy, it would be very difficult for any of us to say for sure.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Carrie Michele]

Also, her crop was not impacted or different. In fact, I checked her yeaterday morning and it was empty. Evening before had some food in it.

My advice would be to have a necropsy done on her or cut her open yourself and see what you find and take photos of her insides and post them on the forum here. There are a few threads where we post photos of them and discuss possible causes. There are some of us who have a little bit of experience as to what is normal and what is not and we share thoughts and ideas to identify the illness.

The red area below her vent that felt like a sack..... was that swollen? When was the last time she laid an egg? The yellow green diarrhoea is usually caused by bile because there is nothing going through the digestive system....because she had stopped eating. That could be due to a blockage in her crop, or a tumour or an infection somewhere in her digestive tract. Did she feel light or heavy, in good condition or skin, bone and feathers.... or normal. Internal laying and water belly makes them unusually heavy. Impacted crop can cause them to feel a normal weight but their crop is full and heavy but their body is emaciated.

I'm really sceptical about chickens getting poisoned.... I'm sure it does happen on rare occasions but in my opinion, not as frequently as people think....It's just an easy thing to blame when you don't look deep enough into the symptoms. That's just my opinion.

I hope this is just a one off and the rest of your flock remain healthy. Chickens are particularly prone to tumours and problems of the reproductive tract, due to their high productivity, so there is a good chance it is not something infectious, but unfortunately, without a necropsy, it would be very difficult for any of us to say for sure.

Regards

Barbara