Hi there. I'm sorry - I saw this post but saw a few answers (maybe they were bumps) and thought it was being handled. It's the end of summer cleaning week here for me so I've been off more than usual.
On the molasses, yes - it's a flush. It's useful whenever there's a bird that has toxins possibly. Applesauce makes a more gentle cleanser and will help with constipation issues.
As for worming, I'd like to say a bit. WOrms are FAR more harmful to a bird than any worming will ever be. Wormings are only harmful because there are loads of worms that shouldn't be there in an immune compromised digestive tract all leaving at once. Done carefully*, worming can be of benefit and never a real harm to a chicken. Worms are never ever diagnosed (or rather ruled out) by visual inspection of the droppings as worms have to stay IN the bird to live - so they're not going to leave. Instead, they shed ova. And they can still get worms in a run. Sometimes more often as they're confined to a spot where they're more continually exposed to the shed ova in a more concentrated spot. Word to the wise.
OF course, with a run, you don't have the added exposure to as many earthworms, beetles, etc - but they do still get in there.
On the liquid out of the mouth, I'd think that perhaps the crop was slowed by a possible slowness of the entire digestive tract. Did the crop begin to empty more normally? Does the throat smell more fresh now?
On her droppings, are you seeing any? I assume she's up where you can monitor her droppings, yes? If you see any, what is their state today?
On the molasses, I usually give about a few drops - no more than1/8th of a teaspoon of that, 1 teaspoon of applesauce, 1 teaspoon of yogurt, maybe some honey to sweeten, and then crumbles. Mix that for about 1 hen. That makes a nice gentle one-time cleansing feed with a little flush action, but not enough to stress or dehydrate. I do like to give electrolyte water afterwards as their drink just in case, and anything that warrants a flush/cleansing usually requires a day or two of probiotics thereafter anyway (yogurt, acidophilis, Probios powder, or otherwise). This is good after worming to cleanse away the paralyzed worms, any digestive tract 'gunk', while the applesauce pectin makes the beneficial bacteria happy, helps them colonize. The yogurt provides good bacterial for the new 'clean slate' that the flush/cleanse caused. The honey tempts them to eat it, and the crumbles (or pellets made into a crumble) provide a good base.
On egg laying, is Lady Marmalade (adorable name btw) on a layer feed for at least 90% of her diet? Is she provided oyster shell free choice, show any interest in it? Is her complete feed good and fresh, used within the month (vitamin D concerns), etc? If any of the above are "no" I'd adjust and give her 1 tums tablet crushed in something tempting for her to eat - like applesauce, oatmeal, yogurt. I'd also consider a few drops of cod liver oil (2-3 drops) twice weekly. Or you can get the liquid cod liver oil (First State sells a good kind of it) and spray that on their feed once to twice weekly. The vitamin A will help immunity, the vitamin D will help with calcium absorbtions. More is not necessarily better - which is why I recommend spraying it with a hand-held mini sprayer like you'd get for oils or for gardening or cosmetics, only the tiny bottle. Keep in a dark place, and cool, so the vitamins stay good. That way you're just giving a bit - not overdoing it.
Also check her protein levels of her feed. 16-20% total is good.
I'd see if you can solve any egg shell/calcium issues first - perhaps eggs will follow. Also remember that illness causes a drop in production, a possibility here. It's a case of which came first - the sick chicken or the lack of egg? (Bad pun).
Hens, because of the stess on their specialized reproductive tracts, do have a higher incidence of reproductive tract cancer. (And that's another reason to worm regularly - to decrease the over all inflammation in the body, which is a pre-cursor to precancerous cells). We've bred them to lay even heavier than they were designed "at the factory", which adds to issues. But usually that is accompanied by a loss of weight despite a good appetite and often signs of internal laying.
I'd say giving ginger could help. I love things like that - tumeric being another for you to investigate. It's of the ginger family and has long been touted as not only an anti-inflammatory but also a cancer 'prevention' agent.
I'm a sort of hybrid between "all natural" and "chemicals only really do the job". I like to take advantage of both Eastern and Western methods of thinking as far as health is concerned. I believe in worming twice a year to prevent the chronic inflammation, lowered immunity, intestinal scarring, etc that worms do. And yet I like natural things inbetween to decrease the number of times I worm annually, and particularly like things like herbs, more natural foods toat take advantage of the natural design of the bird's body.
By the way, on Baytril, please be sure to use it as little as possible. It's very easy for bacteria to grow resistant to it and it's a terribly important antibiotic, one of the most important that we have. Using it for the wrong cases or in the wrong manner might make it impotent as has happened to terramycin, which used to be as important as Baytril is now - except for constant misuse over the years. So be careful with the 'big gun'. In the case of internal infections, if you're thinking internalized eggs, Penicillin injections are usually more the appropriate antibiotic if you feel you need to treat for that. I have instructions on how to use it if you ever nee.d
=========
My program:
Use a more narrow spectrum wormer first - to paralyze and expel the majority of roundworms. Piperazine 17% (sold as Wazine 17).
I use that if the bird meets ANY of the following qualifications:
- The bird is thin or has diarrhea
- A worm has been found in any of my flock's droppings
- The bird has an unknown worming history
- The bird hasn't been wormed with a broad spectrum wormer in over 6 months
- The bird is under four months of age (then I only use Wazine unless otherwise directed)
IN 2-6 weeks, I follow up with a broad spectrum wormer which kills the remaining adult rounds, as well as larvae and other species. Fenbendazole (sold as 10% safeguard) or 5% ivermectin pour on for cattle (generic only - I don't pay for someone's brand name)
Then I worm twice annually with one or the other broad spectrum wormer, preferring to rotate.
I use more natural methods inbetween - one of the following are good: DE( food grade only), cayenne, VermX could be used.
On the molasses, yes - it's a flush. It's useful whenever there's a bird that has toxins possibly. Applesauce makes a more gentle cleanser and will help with constipation issues.
As for worming, I'd like to say a bit. WOrms are FAR more harmful to a bird than any worming will ever be. Wormings are only harmful because there are loads of worms that shouldn't be there in an immune compromised digestive tract all leaving at once. Done carefully*, worming can be of benefit and never a real harm to a chicken. Worms are never ever diagnosed (or rather ruled out) by visual inspection of the droppings as worms have to stay IN the bird to live - so they're not going to leave. Instead, they shed ova. And they can still get worms in a run. Sometimes more often as they're confined to a spot where they're more continually exposed to the shed ova in a more concentrated spot. Word to the wise.
OF course, with a run, you don't have the added exposure to as many earthworms, beetles, etc - but they do still get in there.
On the liquid out of the mouth, I'd think that perhaps the crop was slowed by a possible slowness of the entire digestive tract. Did the crop begin to empty more normally? Does the throat smell more fresh now?
On her droppings, are you seeing any? I assume she's up where you can monitor her droppings, yes? If you see any, what is their state today?
On the molasses, I usually give about a few drops - no more than1/8th of a teaspoon of that, 1 teaspoon of applesauce, 1 teaspoon of yogurt, maybe some honey to sweeten, and then crumbles. Mix that for about 1 hen. That makes a nice gentle one-time cleansing feed with a little flush action, but not enough to stress or dehydrate. I do like to give electrolyte water afterwards as their drink just in case, and anything that warrants a flush/cleansing usually requires a day or two of probiotics thereafter anyway (yogurt, acidophilis, Probios powder, or otherwise). This is good after worming to cleanse away the paralyzed worms, any digestive tract 'gunk', while the applesauce pectin makes the beneficial bacteria happy, helps them colonize. The yogurt provides good bacterial for the new 'clean slate' that the flush/cleanse caused. The honey tempts them to eat it, and the crumbles (or pellets made into a crumble) provide a good base.
On egg laying, is Lady Marmalade (adorable name btw) on a layer feed for at least 90% of her diet? Is she provided oyster shell free choice, show any interest in it? Is her complete feed good and fresh, used within the month (vitamin D concerns), etc? If any of the above are "no" I'd adjust and give her 1 tums tablet crushed in something tempting for her to eat - like applesauce, oatmeal, yogurt. I'd also consider a few drops of cod liver oil (2-3 drops) twice weekly. Or you can get the liquid cod liver oil (First State sells a good kind of it) and spray that on their feed once to twice weekly. The vitamin A will help immunity, the vitamin D will help with calcium absorbtions. More is not necessarily better - which is why I recommend spraying it with a hand-held mini sprayer like you'd get for oils or for gardening or cosmetics, only the tiny bottle. Keep in a dark place, and cool, so the vitamins stay good. That way you're just giving a bit - not overdoing it.
Also check her protein levels of her feed. 16-20% total is good.
I'd see if you can solve any egg shell/calcium issues first - perhaps eggs will follow. Also remember that illness causes a drop in production, a possibility here. It's a case of which came first - the sick chicken or the lack of egg? (Bad pun).
Hens, because of the stess on their specialized reproductive tracts, do have a higher incidence of reproductive tract cancer. (And that's another reason to worm regularly - to decrease the over all inflammation in the body, which is a pre-cursor to precancerous cells). We've bred them to lay even heavier than they were designed "at the factory", which adds to issues. But usually that is accompanied by a loss of weight despite a good appetite and often signs of internal laying.
I'd say giving ginger could help. I love things like that - tumeric being another for you to investigate. It's of the ginger family and has long been touted as not only an anti-inflammatory but also a cancer 'prevention' agent.
I'm a sort of hybrid between "all natural" and "chemicals only really do the job". I like to take advantage of both Eastern and Western methods of thinking as far as health is concerned. I believe in worming twice a year to prevent the chronic inflammation, lowered immunity, intestinal scarring, etc that worms do. And yet I like natural things inbetween to decrease the number of times I worm annually, and particularly like things like herbs, more natural foods toat take advantage of the natural design of the bird's body.
By the way, on Baytril, please be sure to use it as little as possible. It's very easy for bacteria to grow resistant to it and it's a terribly important antibiotic, one of the most important that we have. Using it for the wrong cases or in the wrong manner might make it impotent as has happened to terramycin, which used to be as important as Baytril is now - except for constant misuse over the years. So be careful with the 'big gun'. In the case of internal infections, if you're thinking internalized eggs, Penicillin injections are usually more the appropriate antibiotic if you feel you need to treat for that. I have instructions on how to use it if you ever nee.d
=========
My program:
Use a more narrow spectrum wormer first - to paralyze and expel the majority of roundworms. Piperazine 17% (sold as Wazine 17).
I use that if the bird meets ANY of the following qualifications:
- The bird is thin or has diarrhea
- A worm has been found in any of my flock's droppings
- The bird has an unknown worming history
- The bird hasn't been wormed with a broad spectrum wormer in over 6 months
- The bird is under four months of age (then I only use Wazine unless otherwise directed)
IN 2-6 weeks, I follow up with a broad spectrum wormer which kills the remaining adult rounds, as well as larvae and other species. Fenbendazole (sold as 10% safeguard) or 5% ivermectin pour on for cattle (generic only - I don't pay for someone's brand name)
Then I worm twice annually with one or the other broad spectrum wormer, preferring to rotate.
I use more natural methods inbetween - one of the following are good: DE( food grade only), cayenne, VermX could be used.
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