My 3+ year old Black Australorp Cleo didn’t want to leave the run to free range late yesterday afternoon and this morning she would not leave her spot on the roost to go into the run. Thinking back, she was a little “off” the day before yesterday, too -- I noticed her feathers were getting really raggedy and she wasn’t enthusiastic about mealworms. But Cleo has had an extremely hard (near-naked type) molt for each of the past two falls and I thought she was maybe getting an early start on molting this year.
I brought her into the house and isolated her in the bathroom in an oversized crate with newspaper on the bottom. When I picked her up I noticed a very fowl, acrid, pungent - almost chemical - odor about her. That odor became very unpleasantly noticeable once she was confined in a small place and did a couple of explosive, mostly liquid poops. In those poops were short, straightish, pale worms or segments of worms. The newspaper made it hard to detect if the poops had blood in them but I put down doggy pee pads when I changed out her crate just now so I should know more on that soon.
In the crate with her I put high-protein crumbles, a dish of scrambled egg with full-fat plain yogurt and a small bread piece on the side, and water treated with Nutridrench. She has eaten nothing all day and if she’s drunk anything, it’s been very, very little. This afternoon I took her out of the crate to float her in a tub of warm water to remove most of the “matter” from around her vent. I have actually had to do this a couple of times in the past couple of months - both times she had a very hard, large whitish poop stuck in her “fluffy butt” feathers and I was afraid her vent would get blocked. However, it never looked this bad. Notice the green substance in the before soaking pic; also she has been holding her foot funny like this some:
And these two photos are after soaking. I think I see blood on her vent but when I dab at it with a cloth, it’s not showing red.
The only vet in the vicinity who would treat chickens retired a few months ago so I’m treating this myself but I’ve been lucky to not have any major problems in the time I have been keeping chickens.. I know Cleo has worms (tapeworms?) but I think there’s something else going on for her to go downhill this quickly. I have all the following remedies on hand (in my first aid kit) or available locally (farm stores and neighbors) - but I can’t figure out what approach to take with her or what to try to tackle first.
Ivermectin cattle pour on
Safeguard goat wormer
Wazine
Corid
Duramycin antibiotic
Permethrin dust
Probiotics
Electrolytes
Apple cider vinegar
VetRX
Nutridrench
Meanwhile, the rest of the chickens - 4 more Cleo's age and 7 almost-4-month-olds who were successfully incorporated with the older flock back in June - look OK so far. Bedding in both coop and run are the TSC pine shavings that are used in horse stalls. We have had an exceptionally wet summer, with more heat waves than these chickens have experienced before.
If this is a clue, Cleo has never been a reliable layer. She occasionally produces 4 or 5 pullet-sized eggs, usually in the fall. Her comb and waddles are large and red and she squats readily, so I’ve always felt that something just wasn’t “right” inside of her. She’s also very “farty” - usually passes wind when I pick her up. She’s always been like that. She is my #1 lap baby - anyone can pick her up and usually she’ll bill and coo and talk to you (though not today!)
OK, this may be way more than you wanted to know but I hope you more experienced chicken keepers can weigh in with some helpful advice. I am prepared for the worst but hoping for the best. Thank you!
I brought her into the house and isolated her in the bathroom in an oversized crate with newspaper on the bottom. When I picked her up I noticed a very fowl, acrid, pungent - almost chemical - odor about her. That odor became very unpleasantly noticeable once she was confined in a small place and did a couple of explosive, mostly liquid poops. In those poops were short, straightish, pale worms or segments of worms. The newspaper made it hard to detect if the poops had blood in them but I put down doggy pee pads when I changed out her crate just now so I should know more on that soon.
In the crate with her I put high-protein crumbles, a dish of scrambled egg with full-fat plain yogurt and a small bread piece on the side, and water treated with Nutridrench. She has eaten nothing all day and if she’s drunk anything, it’s been very, very little. This afternoon I took her out of the crate to float her in a tub of warm water to remove most of the “matter” from around her vent. I have actually had to do this a couple of times in the past couple of months - both times she had a very hard, large whitish poop stuck in her “fluffy butt” feathers and I was afraid her vent would get blocked. However, it never looked this bad. Notice the green substance in the before soaking pic; also she has been holding her foot funny like this some:
And these two photos are after soaking. I think I see blood on her vent but when I dab at it with a cloth, it’s not showing red.
The only vet in the vicinity who would treat chickens retired a few months ago so I’m treating this myself but I’ve been lucky to not have any major problems in the time I have been keeping chickens.. I know Cleo has worms (tapeworms?) but I think there’s something else going on for her to go downhill this quickly. I have all the following remedies on hand (in my first aid kit) or available locally (farm stores and neighbors) - but I can’t figure out what approach to take with her or what to try to tackle first.
Ivermectin cattle pour on
Safeguard goat wormer
Wazine
Corid
Duramycin antibiotic
Permethrin dust
Probiotics
Electrolytes
Apple cider vinegar
VetRX
Nutridrench
Meanwhile, the rest of the chickens - 4 more Cleo's age and 7 almost-4-month-olds who were successfully incorporated with the older flock back in June - look OK so far. Bedding in both coop and run are the TSC pine shavings that are used in horse stalls. We have had an exceptionally wet summer, with more heat waves than these chickens have experienced before.
If this is a clue, Cleo has never been a reliable layer. She occasionally produces 4 or 5 pullet-sized eggs, usually in the fall. Her comb and waddles are large and red and she squats readily, so I’ve always felt that something just wasn’t “right” inside of her. She’s also very “farty” - usually passes wind when I pick her up. She’s always been like that. She is my #1 lap baby - anyone can pick her up and usually she’ll bill and coo and talk to you (though not today!)
OK, this may be way more than you wanted to know but I hope you more experienced chicken keepers can weigh in with some helpful advice. I am prepared for the worst but hoping for the best. Thank you!
