Lalachickens
Songster
- Jul 10, 2020
- 60
- 62
- 108
Hi all,
One of our favourite hens, Karen, has been battling diarrhea for months now. She is a mixed Wyandotte - a beautiful, mild-mannered girl. We estimate her to be around 2.5-3.5 years old (we got our mixed age flock this past spring). We noticed towards the end of the summer she started having very loose poops - nothing concerning in them, just really really wet, but it was incredibly hot, so we chalked it up to that and gave the flock electrolytes. This required us to bathe her often to avoid further problems. She stopped laying about then as well.
She then went through a never-ending moult - she started a bit in October, then lost a bunch of neck feathers in November, and now those are mostly in. Her colour is good - her comb and wattles look a bit drier, but that might be because she's "of a certain age". Weight-wise, she did dip down a bit, but now seems to be back where she usually is - she's quite a bit bird (she probably weighs 5-6lbs).
We then, in October also, had to de-worm as we saw evidence of roundworm and tapeworm - though none in her really specific-looking poops... we treated the whole flock with Ivermectin and Praziquantel as suggested.
She is at the top of the pecking order, so when I treat them with sunflower seeds, she lets the other hens know, she gets first choice!
Our flock is contained in their coop and run for the winter - we have way too large of an assortment of predators to free range unfourtunately. She is often puffed up, but as are the rest of the flock since it's below 0 celcius locally.
Anyway, she just continues to have diarrhea, it looks exactly like the rest of the flock's stools, just more liquid. And her vent area is ALWAYS dirty. We have thought about isolating her, but since this has been going on for so long and no-one else seems to be affected, we are comfortable with the risk of leaving her with the flock. A vet visit is not easy in any way to arrange these days with avian flu, and we are in the middle of no where.
Suggestions?? I'm wondering if she needs some fibre? Or probiotics? Or supplements? I am debating starting fermenting feed and/or growing fodder for the winter months.
This photo is of Karen mid-September, as you can see she is a beauty, and we would love to make her feel better if we can!
thank you for reading
One of our favourite hens, Karen, has been battling diarrhea for months now. She is a mixed Wyandotte - a beautiful, mild-mannered girl. We estimate her to be around 2.5-3.5 years old (we got our mixed age flock this past spring). We noticed towards the end of the summer she started having very loose poops - nothing concerning in them, just really really wet, but it was incredibly hot, so we chalked it up to that and gave the flock electrolytes. This required us to bathe her often to avoid further problems. She stopped laying about then as well.
She then went through a never-ending moult - she started a bit in October, then lost a bunch of neck feathers in November, and now those are mostly in. Her colour is good - her comb and wattles look a bit drier, but that might be because she's "of a certain age". Weight-wise, she did dip down a bit, but now seems to be back where she usually is - she's quite a bit bird (she probably weighs 5-6lbs).
We then, in October also, had to de-worm as we saw evidence of roundworm and tapeworm - though none in her really specific-looking poops... we treated the whole flock with Ivermectin and Praziquantel as suggested.
She is at the top of the pecking order, so when I treat them with sunflower seeds, she lets the other hens know, she gets first choice!
Our flock is contained in their coop and run for the winter - we have way too large of an assortment of predators to free range unfourtunately. She is often puffed up, but as are the rest of the flock since it's below 0 celcius locally.
Anyway, she just continues to have diarrhea, it looks exactly like the rest of the flock's stools, just more liquid. And her vent area is ALWAYS dirty. We have thought about isolating her, but since this has been going on for so long and no-one else seems to be affected, we are comfortable with the risk of leaving her with the flock. A vet visit is not easy in any way to arrange these days with avian flu, and we are in the middle of no where.
Suggestions?? I'm wondering if she needs some fibre? Or probiotics? Or supplements? I am debating starting fermenting feed and/or growing fodder for the winter months.
This photo is of Karen mid-September, as you can see she is a beauty, and we would love to make her feel better if we can!
thank you for reading
