Nice spreadsheet, was helpful. You are right...sometimes there is nothing you can do. I wish everyone good luck in this winter season!
hen w/ruffled feathers,lethargic...advice?
- Thread starter corrae
- Start date
Lost my favorite hen tonight
(my little porcelain d'uccle that would ride on my arm/shoulder) to symptoms like these, but she had atleast 3 full blown seizures with post ictal events. On the last seizure she stretched her neck out and died. It was horrifying. She acted ill (just mildly lethargic) earlier in the week so we brought her in and gave her "chicken gatorade" as I call it and extra vitamin b-12 and e. We returned her to the coop Thursday and she was flying around fine, perching, meeting me at the door and eating very well. She was fine then we came home and found her laying on her side. I can't help but think she may have been injured by trying to escape the roo that is in the coop with her that chases her around.
On o fmy hens died tonight very similar symptoms. Lethargic, head drawn in, ruffled feathers, refusing to eat or drink, pale looking. Gave diarolyte via a syringe but no good. Her symptoms started on Christmas eve gave her some diarlyte and she perked up and started to eat and drink but then went down hill quickly today and died in my arms. Over the last couple of days she got dramatically thin you could feel all the bones in her chest. Her crop was empty apart from the fluid we pumped in to her.
At a loss as to what was wrong and hoping it wont spread to the others.
At a loss as to what was wrong and hoping it wont spread to the others.
- Mar 21, 2009
- 50
- 1
- 29
What is going on?????? I had the same thing?? This is a terrible thing. I live in Cedartown GA. Why would my chickens who don't have contact with other chickens have the same thing all these others have????
I am worried now. Is this going to affect us...humans? I see a pattern here with chickens.
A bunch of us have this problem. All the symptoms are here the same....
Someone here who really knows chickens needs to come in here an tell us what the heck is going on. I am very worried. I have two Cochins left but I must say...they have soft purple combs/etc on their heads...they are very slow in moving. I have never seen this behavior before with them. My Cochin who died recently had the very same symptoms as these two are now going through.
Please SOMEONE tell us what to do??
Quote:
I am worried now. Is this going to affect us...humans? I see a pattern here with chickens.
A bunch of us have this problem. All the symptoms are here the same....
Someone here who really knows chickens needs to come in here an tell us what the heck is going on. I am very worried. I have two Cochins left but I must say...they have soft purple combs/etc on their heads...they are very slow in moving. I have never seen this behavior before with them. My Cochin who died recently had the very same symptoms as these two are now going through.
Please SOMEONE tell us what to do??
Quote:
OK THIS IS SOOO WIERD !! my daughters OEGB Roo .. has same thing wrong with him and I live in Florida !!! I have right beside me with a heat lamp on him and I do have to say his comb (which is dubbed) has turned back a nice red color ... I got with my daughters 4-H leader who is dixiechick on here.. and she said upper resp. infec. so I have been giving small drops every once in awhile .. He acts just like if your child was running a high fever and was sick ... just lays there and opens his eyes or 1 eye every soo often and might flap his wings around !! CAN ANYBODY FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GOING ON HERE !!! Please KEEP "big al" in your chicken prayers 2night
.. I dont want to lose him
this is really to wierd with our chickens ...diff. breeds, age, and locations ????
My third is likely dying, with similar symptoms, but I think I know what it is--internal fungal condition. I believe they got it from eating some corn on the cob I fed them that I'd trimmed some black mold off of, plus possible mold on a dirty, pressboard coop floor.
The fungus uses up calories and nutrition, plus causes damage in guts causing poor digestion, and perforations in the walls of guts so contents are leaked out into the rest of the chicken's body. The fungus also produces bad toxins.
My hens have been emaciated despite the fact they usually had free access to food and ate well early on. They had bad diarrhea that went through different phases. They became increasingly lethargic.
I did not spot problems with my first hen until it was too late to help.
With 2nd, I wasn't sure what the condition was.
With the current one, I didn't know what I needed to do to treat early on, and it may be too late now.
If it can help anyone else's chickens who have a fungal condition, though, here are treatment guidelines based on my research on the internet:
Diet is critical!
No grain, or less that 15% of diet at the very least. Oat bran or other low-carb grains are preferable. (This means you have to restrict using lay mash, grower feed, etc. and give no scratch grain.)
Hard-boiled egg yolks.
Green vegetables. Cauliflower. Pumpkin and pumpkin seeds (mash up).
No carrots or other sweet vegetables.
No cooked or canned tomatoes. Unsure about fresh tomatoes?
Flax and sunflower seeds.
Freshly hulled nuts (except don't feed walnuts)--Nuts that aren't freshly shelled are more likely to have fungus in them (especially peanuts).
No fruit except maybe a little unsweetened applesauce.
No sugars--This rules out Poly-Visol, Nutri-Drench, and other supplements that have sugar ingredients (dextrose, sucrose, molasses, cherry flavoring, etc.)
Xylitol sweetener is actually helpful, however.
Vi-Tal (vitamins, minerals and electrolytes) powder in water is good.
Conflicting info on apple cider vinegar--It seems to be good if it is raw, unfiltered and given "not at same time" as electrolytes (Does this just mean same time of day? Or different days? or ??)
Natural unflavored yogurt with probiotics. (Be a bit conservative--excessive yogurt gives stomach-ache and extreme diarrhea). Chickens with a fungal condition have a hard time processing fat, so I'm not sure which "fat" is best. Probably "lowfat" is the safest bet.
No other dairy products, except maybe a little non-aged cheese.
Pure meat or fish (not processed meats like ham, bacon, sausage, etc.). Cut into tiny pieces so it's easy to digest.
Insects
Raw garlic
It is SO IMPORTANT the chickens have constant access to water.
Chickens do not eat as much and don't feel as well when they can't drink.
Water will help prevent dehydration, which is a big danger with diarrhea.
Water will help with digestion, plus help toxins to get flushed out of the chicken's system.
Dipping your chicken's beak into water can "remind" it to take a drink on its own.
DO NOT GIVE ANTIBIOTICS! They kill the good bacteria, and then the fungus flourishes even more.
Copper sulfate is useful. Be careful with dosing. Giving every other day instead of every day may be best for weak chickens. (I can give more details if you PM me.)
Deworming/de-miting
I found out my chickens were anemic, as well, initially from a Northern Fowl mite problem I hadn't spotted. I used an internal dewormer (moxidectin + praziquantel) and external powder (Sevin dust) to treat. From what I've observed, the m+p dewormer didn't help much with this kind of mites; but the Sevin dust was effective.
Do not use diamataceous earth while a chicken has this problem. Their guts are sore and DE would potentially cause more soreness.
Tips to help get your chicken to eat better:
* Chickens eat better where they can see well and there is good lighting but not too dazzling of lights or too dark contrast from shadows.
* If your chicken's eyes are sunken in, it may help to CAREFULLY trim the feathers right in front of its eyes so it can see better.
* Picking up and dribbling food from your fingers (and making rooster "meal call" clucks occasionally) can help a chicken take interest in food.
* Some chickens don't like some food combinations. However, they may eat the foods either separately or combined with different foods.
* Force-feeding some food into an undernourished but reluctant-to-eat chicken may help it get feeling better enough to eat some more on its own after a few minutes.
* Try to give a fairly balanced diet, but not too much variety in each meal. The chicken's system can digest individual foods more easily, plus if your chicken eats something while it has a stomach-ache, it may associate that food with feeling unwell--so it's better for fewer foods at a time to get crossed off its "I-will-eat" list.
* You can try a suppository (Mix some warm water with chopped, garlic, xylitol, Vi-Tal) to get some nutrients absorbed into the chicken's system if needed.
To conserve your chicken's strength
Keep your chicken in a warm area or put it in a cage with a heat lamp over it, so it doesn't have to burn calories trying to keep its body temperature up. This will also keep the chicken's drinking water from freezing, which will be a big help.
This condition can stretch on for weeks or months, and can be fatal. Correct treatment may not yield good enough results, or not for quite a while. I have 2 other hens and a roo in my same coop who might have had the condition to some degree--I'm not sure whether they got much of the corn--but, if so recovered pretty much without special care, though.
Best wishes.
The fungus uses up calories and nutrition, plus causes damage in guts causing poor digestion, and perforations in the walls of guts so contents are leaked out into the rest of the chicken's body. The fungus also produces bad toxins.
My hens have been emaciated despite the fact they usually had free access to food and ate well early on. They had bad diarrhea that went through different phases. They became increasingly lethargic.
I did not spot problems with my first hen until it was too late to help.
With 2nd, I wasn't sure what the condition was.
With the current one, I didn't know what I needed to do to treat early on, and it may be too late now.
If it can help anyone else's chickens who have a fungal condition, though, here are treatment guidelines based on my research on the internet:
Diet is critical!
No grain, or less that 15% of diet at the very least. Oat bran or other low-carb grains are preferable. (This means you have to restrict using lay mash, grower feed, etc. and give no scratch grain.)
Hard-boiled egg yolks.
Green vegetables. Cauliflower. Pumpkin and pumpkin seeds (mash up).
No carrots or other sweet vegetables.
No cooked or canned tomatoes. Unsure about fresh tomatoes?
Flax and sunflower seeds.
Freshly hulled nuts (except don't feed walnuts)--Nuts that aren't freshly shelled are more likely to have fungus in them (especially peanuts).
No fruit except maybe a little unsweetened applesauce.
No sugars--This rules out Poly-Visol, Nutri-Drench, and other supplements that have sugar ingredients (dextrose, sucrose, molasses, cherry flavoring, etc.)
Xylitol sweetener is actually helpful, however.
Vi-Tal (vitamins, minerals and electrolytes) powder in water is good.
Conflicting info on apple cider vinegar--It seems to be good if it is raw, unfiltered and given "not at same time" as electrolytes (Does this just mean same time of day? Or different days? or ??)
Natural unflavored yogurt with probiotics. (Be a bit conservative--excessive yogurt gives stomach-ache and extreme diarrhea). Chickens with a fungal condition have a hard time processing fat, so I'm not sure which "fat" is best. Probably "lowfat" is the safest bet.
No other dairy products, except maybe a little non-aged cheese.
Pure meat or fish (not processed meats like ham, bacon, sausage, etc.). Cut into tiny pieces so it's easy to digest.
Insects
Raw garlic
It is SO IMPORTANT the chickens have constant access to water.
Chickens do not eat as much and don't feel as well when they can't drink.
Water will help prevent dehydration, which is a big danger with diarrhea.
Water will help with digestion, plus help toxins to get flushed out of the chicken's system.
Dipping your chicken's beak into water can "remind" it to take a drink on its own.
DO NOT GIVE ANTIBIOTICS! They kill the good bacteria, and then the fungus flourishes even more.
Copper sulfate is useful. Be careful with dosing. Giving every other day instead of every day may be best for weak chickens. (I can give more details if you PM me.)
Deworming/de-miting
I found out my chickens were anemic, as well, initially from a Northern Fowl mite problem I hadn't spotted. I used an internal dewormer (moxidectin + praziquantel) and external powder (Sevin dust) to treat. From what I've observed, the m+p dewormer didn't help much with this kind of mites; but the Sevin dust was effective.
Do not use diamataceous earth while a chicken has this problem. Their guts are sore and DE would potentially cause more soreness.
Tips to help get your chicken to eat better:
* Chickens eat better where they can see well and there is good lighting but not too dazzling of lights or too dark contrast from shadows.
* If your chicken's eyes are sunken in, it may help to CAREFULLY trim the feathers right in front of its eyes so it can see better.
* Picking up and dribbling food from your fingers (and making rooster "meal call" clucks occasionally) can help a chicken take interest in food.
* Some chickens don't like some food combinations. However, they may eat the foods either separately or combined with different foods.
* Force-feeding some food into an undernourished but reluctant-to-eat chicken may help it get feeling better enough to eat some more on its own after a few minutes.
* Try to give a fairly balanced diet, but not too much variety in each meal. The chicken's system can digest individual foods more easily, plus if your chicken eats something while it has a stomach-ache, it may associate that food with feeling unwell--so it's better for fewer foods at a time to get crossed off its "I-will-eat" list.
* You can try a suppository (Mix some warm water with chopped, garlic, xylitol, Vi-Tal) to get some nutrients absorbed into the chicken's system if needed.
To conserve your chicken's strength
Keep your chicken in a warm area or put it in a cage with a heat lamp over it, so it doesn't have to burn calories trying to keep its body temperature up. This will also keep the chicken's drinking water from freezing, which will be a big help.
This condition can stretch on for weeks or months, and can be fatal. Correct treatment may not yield good enough results, or not for quite a while. I have 2 other hens and a roo in my same coop who might have had the condition to some degree--I'm not sure whether they got much of the corn--but, if so recovered pretty much without special care, though.
Best wishes.
Last edited:
In looking at spreadsheet posted by Sunrise on last page of this thread, it seems that Blue Comb (Greens, Mud Fever, Non-specific Enteritis) would be the disease name for a fungal condition. Note--My birds haven't had a distended crop most of the time, but I think other symptoms match pretty much. Combs have gotten pale but not blue.
There is also some more info on that at http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1216. That page says cause unknown, but I do think fungus is often very involved, and in that case most antibiotics are very counter-productive.
Ascarids could be another possible contributor to problems.
There is also some more info on that at http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1216. That page says cause unknown, but I do think fungus is often very involved, and in that case most antibiotics are very counter-productive.
Ascarids could be another possible contributor to problems.
Last edited:
Sorry for your losses, here's one that ends well.
I found my Red Star the other day huddled in a corner of the coop next to the water. Like other people's descriptions, she was lethargic, comb tips were dark, she was fluffed out. Also, she was shivering. I picked her up and felt her crop - it felt like a water balloon. Took her into the shop and sat with her on my lap next to the fire to warm her up - her feet were really cold. Massaged the crop a bit, but no real change.
So I took her to the all-night vet clinic. Vet was clueless about chickens, but decided to shoot some fluids in her. Gave her 20cc sub-cutaneous saline, and she was perking up and pooped on the floor as the vet went for another syringe to give her another 20cc. Poop was mostly water, with some white. Kept her in the house for 2 nights, feeding her pellets-mash and plain yogurt. Gave her a soft piece of bread for some calories and bulk, too. Massaged the crop many more times, until it finally felt more like an organ than a bag, and she started pooping wet stinky green nastiness. Kept her inside and away from the others until that went away.
She seems to have recovered. The dehydration was the key. Whatever was wrong, she was thirsty but not drinking. That's the advice I'd give. Treat for dehydration. I'm pretty sure we would have lost her if we hadn't taken her in.
"Just a chicken" wouldn't justify spending $40 for some people, but Ginger is my wife's hen, and she's our friendliest.
I found my Red Star the other day huddled in a corner of the coop next to the water. Like other people's descriptions, she was lethargic, comb tips were dark, she was fluffed out. Also, she was shivering. I picked her up and felt her crop - it felt like a water balloon. Took her into the shop and sat with her on my lap next to the fire to warm her up - her feet were really cold. Massaged the crop a bit, but no real change.
So I took her to the all-night vet clinic. Vet was clueless about chickens, but decided to shoot some fluids in her. Gave her 20cc sub-cutaneous saline, and she was perking up and pooped on the floor as the vet went for another syringe to give her another 20cc. Poop was mostly water, with some white. Kept her in the house for 2 nights, feeding her pellets-mash and plain yogurt. Gave her a soft piece of bread for some calories and bulk, too. Massaged the crop many more times, until it finally felt more like an organ than a bag, and she started pooping wet stinky green nastiness. Kept her inside and away from the others until that went away.
She seems to have recovered. The dehydration was the key. Whatever was wrong, she was thirsty but not drinking. That's the advice I'd give. Treat for dehydration. I'm pretty sure we would have lost her if we hadn't taken her in.
"Just a chicken" wouldn't justify spending $40 for some people, but Ginger is my wife's hen, and she's our friendliest.
Okay--Another good resource on preventing and treating chickens for problems caused by mold:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3210691/Poultry-Diseases-Caused-by-Fungus
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3210691/Poultry-Diseases-Caused-by-Fungus
- Mar 21, 2009
- 50
- 1
- 29
I hope everyone reads this Fungus report. Thanks so much. I have one chicken left and I made sure she is now inside in a dog cage with clean newspaper each day. Fresh water each day. She is doing fine not like the other two....they died. I believe now it was due to a fungus of sorts. Both chickens had a purplish white instead of red comb, tired, not eating or drinking. I forced the water & food but after awhile they gave up and died. Thanks again for your info.
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