I am treating a gaping chicken no worms no repsitory symptoms. Very hard chunk of poop inside vent.

[samanthaacbrown]

Hi, I am treating my friend's chicken. She came to me gaping but not gasping, not vocalizing at all, very lethargic, emaciated, and would not eat or drink with out being spoon feed. She is tucking her wing to sleep until she has to gape. After testing for gapeworms I narrowed down her symptoms to a reproductive issue. I soaked her in a bath and was then going to inspect in her vent for an egg. Her vent was so tight I took a while to finally get in, she pushed against me, honked and a huge gush of air came out.She started breathing easier immediately. The next day I bathed her and repeated the process. This time I felt something hard in there and I thought that must be why she was distressed, I got it out and it was a solid hard poop, almost like what you would see on the ground after it had dried. She is in pain when she poop or passes gas and is still having gas. Her comb was almost white when she came to me and now it is almost red again. She is drinking water mixed with a little crumbles to give it flavor and grit. Any ideas on what I'm dealing with, cloacitis is the best I can find.

 

[pnwoldie]

No idea but your description was fascinating. Amazing, good job, hope the hen gets better. It doesn't really sound like vent gleet (cloacitis) to me. Maybe some more experienced person will recognize what's going on.

 

[chickens really]

With out really knowing the Birds history?.....I will take a guess that she did not drink enough water and became constipated and dehydrated......You can give her a Tablespoon of margarine in her crumbles to get things moving and then purchase a probiotic for Birds....

Do not mix the grit with the feed, have it in a separate bowl....Do not feed her anything other than the crumble till she is back to good health....




Cheers!

 

[samanthaacbrown]

A little history: Wynonna is around 24 weeks of age but hasn't laid an egg yet. Over the last 2 months, her flock had been treated with Tylan, Corid and Oxytetracycline and had been wormed, the owner had cocci and a respiratory issue in new chickens brought in that spread to some of the others. I would say constipation but her owner has had her in diapers inside and says there has been normal poop. Apparently the gaping has been going on for well over a month. I was fairly sure it was gleet until that hard chunk of poo came out. There is also a lot of bile in there, it is so acidic it burned my finger. I mixed the crumbles in the water with a crushed calcium pill and probiotics and gave sand on the side as grit since it was Christmas and that was all I had. My flock free ranges except at bedtime so I don't buy grit. I wonder if she was so weak from whatever the issue was that her body had started shutting down? This morning she is eating and drinking on her own, still gaping but not nearly as much and no more hard poops. I am completely baffled by this one!

 

[chickens really]

With that much meds given in a 24 week period.....She need good gut health so the probiotic should help......Only feed Chicken food no snacks......Water, water, water.......Sand is not good as grit.....any little pebbles with rough edges work also...She sounds as though she got plugged up....

Keep an eye on her.....

 

[samanthaacbrown]

I am going out later to get grit but everything was closed yesterday and that was all I had. I set up an Icu that I call my "chic-U", lol! She is being babied, my 6yr old daughter loves it! Thank you for your feedback.

 

[chickens really]

I am going out later to get grit but everything was closed yesterday and that was all I had. I set up an Icu that I call my "chic-U", lol! She is being babied, my 6yr old daughter loves it! Thank you for your feedback.

lol.....Always nice to have little helpers....Good little Nurse to fetch things for you....lol


Best of luck...

Cheers!

 

[samanthaacbrown]

Well, I ended up adopting this sweet girl. She has spent the last month as an adopted mom to chicks my broody decided to leave to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, one of my roosters tore through the chicken wire to try and mate with her and sent her back to the sick ward. I have finally narrowed down the cause to gout.