Hen Vomiting

SHP

Chirping
Sep 12, 2021
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I hope someone knows what's up and it isn't serious!

Came to sit out on the deck, watching the chickens and my 3yr old leghorn is walking around, scratching, pecking ,energetic, acting normal, red comb. Then vomits milky looking liquid, then moments later does it again! I've never seen this before!

I will say, we were away visiting family for a few weeks and the people watching our chickens disregarded all of my instructions on feeding and water! And they gave them WAY too many mealworms (kicking myself for not hiding the bag, even though I specified they were a very infrequent treat)

It's been hot here and just cooled down today, been around 20c/71f almost all day

I also have a couple of hens pooping liquid, almost clear when you see it come out, but looks like wet grassy bits of green or something on the ground. They're still eating from what I can see.

One favourite hen seemed to be doing this after the same people watched our flock in June, but was doing fine overall except these wet poops. She died in their care while we were away this last trip through August.

What's going on? Could they be related? Or separate issues? The leghorn is not one of the ones with runny poop.

I had 2 hens die this spring, both had severe prolapse, one got better, was doing great and the weather turned cold for a week or so and she went downhill fast and passed away, the other we euthanized because the prolapse was so severe and none of my efforts to help her we're making a dent in the issue and she was in pain. She particularly always had weak shells and maybe never made use of the oyster shell I keep out for them. (Both were 3yrs old)

After this we switched feeds from the local guys layer grain mix we have always used, seems to have diminished in quality as of late and maybe not enough calcium, to an 18% pellet layer feed with built-in calcium in July after lots of reading up on things.

I wormed them in the spring and they always (when we're home) get ground herbs and DE in their feed and ACV and fresh garlic in their water.

I dusted the whole chicken run and dust baths with DE in June/early July, as well as the coop, perches and nest boxes.

I usually give them scraps from my plants, weeds like chicory and grass that get out of control and kitchen veggies as well as having a mesh bag of hay for them to pick away at because I can't free-range them where we are.

I've given them colloidal silver in the past during periods of stress or if I had concerns but in 3.5 years of chicken keeping, I've never seen so many issues!

Everyone is acting normal except my broodies and the one hen who thinks she's a roo and keeps mounting the other hens! (This is new behaviour since bylaw said we can't have roos even though we're rural and had to get rid of both of ours in June)
 
Everyone is acting normal except my broodies and the one hen who thinks she's a roo and keeps mounting the other hens! (This is new behaviour since bylaw said we can't have roos even though we're rural and had to get rid of both of ours in June)
Sometimes a hen may spit up after they have been eating/drinking, then engage in a vigorous activity and bend over.

Check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. If it's not emptied, then begin treat the crop symptoms according to the article below.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Photos of poop are always welcome.
 
Sometimes a hen may spit up after they have been eating/drinking, then engage in a vigorous activity and bend over.

Check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. If it's not emptied, then begin treat the crop symptoms according to the article below.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Photos of poop are always welcome.
Thank you! I'll do that!

I checked them again, and found some kind of bugs on my broodies, but not like what we've seen in pictures for mites or live, kind of flat, really small little brown bugs further up the shaft of the feathers. They didn't move very fast but I still couldn't get ahold of one one-handed.

We dusted the coop and nest boxes again and all of the chickens at bed time. Didn't see bugs on the others, or even evidence of eggs, but did it anyways concentrating around the wings, neck and tail/vent area.

A couple seemed to have squishy crops, but they weren't the ones I was most concerned about ...the leghorn'crop felt fairly normal, but they're all feeling quite underweight except for a couple.

I took poop picks this morning. The one whose poops were the wettest was actually a little bit better today, thicker, though still too loose. Two had these gunky yellow ones and others were totally normal
 

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The one beside the stick is the now thicker one from the hen who was squirtin' watery poos. She's also molting?! Started looking more ragged yesterday especially and when we were dusting her, she has new feathers coming in all over.
 
I caught one! Most pictures I've seen online are blurry, so not even sure, but this is what I just pulled off of one of my broody hens!

What is it? Mite? Flea? Something else? Could this be the source of the other issues we're seeing? Or something else altogether? 🙈
 

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I checked them again, and found some kind of bugs on my broodies, but not like what we've seen in pictures for mites or live, kind of flat, really small little brown bugs further up the shaft of the feathers. They didn't move very fast but I still couldn't get ahold of one one-handed.

We dusted the coop and nest boxes again and all of the chickens at bed time. Didn't see bugs on the others, or even evidence of eggs, but did it anyways concentrating around the wings, neck and tail/vent area.

A couple seemed to have squishy crops, but they weren't the ones I was most concerned about ...the leghorn'crop felt fairly normal
I caught one! Most pictures I've seen online are blurry, so not even sure, but this is what I just pulled off of one of my broody hens!

What is it? Mite? Flea? Something else? Could this be the source of the other issues we're seeing? Or something else altogether? 🙈
It's a Poultry Louse, similar to Lice.
Use a Permethrin based poultry dust to dust your broody hens and the others. I'd clean out the broody nests, dust the new bedding that you replace it with.

For your coop/housing, use Permethrin Poultry Spray, it's easier to apply to hard surfaces and get into the nooks/crannies than using dust (and a bit more economical).

If possible take a sample of poop to your vet to check for worms. The poop is not too bad overall. A bit mucousy, but there's so many things that can affect color, consistency and texture of poop, it's hard to know.

If you are checking crops while the hens are up, moving around and have been eating/drinking, you will not get an accurate gauge of crop function. It's best to check first thing before they eat/drink.
 
It's a Poultry Louse, similar to Lice.
Use a Permethrin based poultry dust to dust your broody hens and the others. I'd clean out the broody nests, dust the new bedding that you replace it with.

For your coop/housing, use Permethrin Poultry Spray, it's easier to apply to hard surfaces and get into the nooks/crannies than using dust (and a bit more economical).

If possible take a sample of poop to your vet to check for worms. The poop is not too bad overall. A bit mucousy, but there's so many things that can affect color, consistency and texture of poop, it's hard to know.

If you are checking crops while the hens are up, moving around and have been eating/drinking, you will not get an accurate gauge of crop function. It's best to check first thing before they eat/drink.
Thank you! I couldn't find what these bugs were anywhere online! Friends with chickens had never seen them before either!

Thanks for your help! I'll see if I can track those products down!
 

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