I just can't pin this down

[AccidentalFarm]

I've got a 9 week old pullet that has been acting very tired/sleepy and just generally blah. She seems to stay mostly by herself. Her eyes and nose are clear. She's been eating and drinking, although I do not know if her appetite has declined from the norm. Today she had a very light yellow, watery poo-no solids/no white. This is the first poo i've seen like that. It could be the only one, or not- I just don't know. I know it's not a normal poo, but is it one of the normal 'other types' of poo? (If that made any sense.) I was able to hold and cuddle her, which is not normal behavior for her. She did not struggle, but rather seemed to enjoy the attention. She was very relaxed. She also seems to be breathing heavy. I cannot hear her breath, and her beak remains closed, so she's not stuffed up. I can see her chest move a little more than the other birds do. I noticed she seemed 'off' yesterday, but she is the lowest in the pecking order, so i'm unsure as to whether she is just keeping to herself for that reason or if she's sick.
Here she is:

I'll be separating her from the flock and I'll try and give her some yogurt. I don't have apple cider vinegar at the moment, but will get some tomorrow. I've searched for info here and went through dlhunicorn's links on 'poo-ology', but nothing really seems right. She is not overly 'dirty' - white birds just can't stay clean, can they? And she looks more alert than what she seems in the picture. She is steady on her feet, when she is on her feet. No signs of mites or lice or sores.

On edit: In reading another post, someone mentioned inadequate ventilation could cause respritory distress. There's plenty of ventilation in the coop, but it is new (untreated) wood- could this be a contributing factor? And another thought: Do chickens suffer from allergies?

 

[kstaven]

Are the shavings in the photo Kiln dried? The oil in raw ones can cause problems with some birds.

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Hi, What kind of feed does she get? From my view, it looks like she has a really pale comb. Maybe her nutritional needs are down? I have a hen (lowest on totem pole too) and the others don't allow her to eat with them so she gets special feed time.

Hope someone can come along with some ideas.

Best wishes

 

[AccidentalFarm]

She's still on starter/grower. A few treats here and there and has grit available 24/7.

I've never heard of the kiln dried or raw shavings! I guess I'll have to read the package- bought it at Walmart. It is Aspen shavings.

I haven't noticed her comb being more pale than the other girls, but I will look again.

 

[dlhunicorn]

I am so sorry to hear your bird is ill...you have the link to the thread on poo I saw so please go back and you will see that yellowy poo usually indicates worms (if left untreated then secondary complications will set in...intestinal damage may occur etc etc etc). Take a faecal sample in to your vet and find out what type of worms you are dealing with and get the appropriate med... Give a good poultry formulated vitamin (only give the electrolytes if you see she is not drinking sufficiently or is panting)... I recommend AviaCharge 2000 as it is one of the few that is a complete nutritional supplement but I know there are also others sold at feed stores like rooster booster (even if it is not worms , tho I highly suspect it is , when your bird is this ill then malabsorption of nutrients to one degree or another occurs and this begins a downward spiral leading to secondary complications).

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Thanks, dlhunicorn- worms seemed the closest in symptoms from what all I read - there are so many similar symptoms for different ailments..it's quite overwhelming! Most of the poo descriptions on the various illnesses did not fit with what I was seeing as hers was almost so pale as to not even be yellow. I'll get in touch with the vet today and sort this out. Honestly, I was afraid I was being paranoid that what I thought was illness could have been nothing more than the 'low-man-on-the-totem-pole' stressed behavior. I'll also start the AviaCharge, as she is breathing a little heavy and I suspect that she may not be drinking enough.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Ok, the vet was un-reachable today (emergency of some sort), so I picked up some Wazine anyway but have not given any to the birds yet.

What I did do was mix some plain yogurt with some steamed rice and crushed garlic and sprinkled some starter in with it. ALL the girls loved it. The girl in question ate quite a bit, too. She has lost some weight and was off by herself again when I got home today. So, seeing her eat was a good sign. She still has the watery very lightish yellow liquid-only poo, though.

I am adding some acv to the waterer and have a vitamin/electrolyte mix that I can add, as well.

My question is if I should go ahead and give the Wazine since I was unable to get with the vet today and I have no idea about tomorrow either. If so, the Wazine instructs 1 tsp per gallon of water for 100 birds. 100 birds!!! Is it the same for 5 birds?
Then, do I mix Wazine, ACV, Vit/Elec, crushed Garlic all in the water together? Feed store said the Wazine + Vit/Elec together was okay. What about the rest? I have two waterers, a one gallon and a 1/2 gallon, so I could fill each with separate things if necessary.

The bird still has clear eyes, no runny nose, clean feathers. She still coos and chirps as usual. Her comb is nice and pink-maybe even more so than the other girls. Her legs and feet appear clean and normal colored. Crop appears normal.

I am currently disinfecting the waterers and am about to go out and spread some Sweet PDZ in the bedding. I am also going to put a fan in the coop to help ventilate in case the dust, or 'new wood' smell is irritating her. I'll wait to hear what the experts have to say before administering any meds.

Thanks a bunch, everyone.

 

[dlhunicorn]

sorry it took me so long to get back to this (you know you can always email me...I dont mind a bit)
you should not mix acv with the vit/electrolytes...I would suggest you leave the acv until she has completed the first round of "treatment" as acidification can be helpful but also be contrindicated with some forms of medications.
Your feed concoction is great as long as they all like it (please try to have the concoction composed of mainly the feed though as this contains the important balance between all the different elements). I would give the yhogurt also free choice. (my birds get yhogurt free choice on a daily basis),
Regarding the medication through the waterer...the water with the meds needs to be the only source of water as medicating through water is always problematic becuase you are unsure if the bird gets the proper amount of med necessary to adequately treat (and worse...too little is not only ineffective but can possibly induce resistance)... so make sure the med is made up daily and that the birds receive the advised amount and actually drink it.
Wazine is not a broad spectrum wormer...if it had been me, I would have gone with ivomec eprinex
http://shilala.homestead.com/ivomec.html
(use the spot on method and not in the waterer)
and if this was not possible I would have chosen valbendazol...(you can get this from firststatevet>he will ship it overnite>the phone number and email are at the bottom of the NEWBIE FAQ at my board...Peter Brown is very knowledgeable on meds and extremely helpful to those in need)

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Thanks dlhunicorn. You're a godsend!

I have not given the Wazine yet. I did see the Eprinex, but opted for the Wazine only because I have seen it mentioned so much here. I'll get the Eprinex tomorrow and just hold off on the Wazine altogether.

I put some Vit/Electrolyte in the waterer and stayed until I was sure she'd drink it.
The feed concotion I gave her was just a small amount and I removed the excess that was not eaten. Other than that my girls have starter/grower and grit free choice. I was trying to be sure she got plenty of the yogurt, as this is the first time I have offered it. I will also start providing it free choice.

I also mixed Sweet PDZ in the bedding in hopes of keeping it as dry as possible and added additional ventilation.

I just read the article on Eprinex you provided the link to. One question: Do you use the spot on method just once? If it said, I didn't notice.

Thanks again. I really appreciate the help.

On edit: I came home today and found the poor little girl had died. My vet has been away on a family emergency, so was never able to get with him. I sure wish I could have done something to save her. Everyone else is as chipper and happy as usual, i'm happy to report. Thanks everyone, for trying to help, it's much appreciated.