Intestinal distress

[perse]

Purchased my Barred Rock hen (Daisy) in May from local feed store when she was a week old. Got her home and realized her picky cavity was impacted, didn't think she would make it. I nursed her with chick butt baths and she seemed to clear up.

I had been told by a feed store to give antibiotics (Duramycin-10) in water - did this during the month of May. She has runny, urine smelling stool, covering lower region of feathers under belly and picky region. I have not seen any type of parasite or worm. She seems healthy and happy. Just really dirty, smelly. Love her, don't know what to do.

My course of action will depending upon cost of services, but I am interested in what you think might be the problem.

Her cloacal diameter is enlarged and when I had given her the butt baths before it returned to normal size, but now it is enlarged and crusty/fecal covered again. Long story short, I have cleaned and healed her cloacal diameter many times, got it to normal size and healthy look, but this keeps returning to the current unhealthy condition.

I have found a mobile vet who can test her fecal matter, depending upon the cost of services, I am worried that if she is infected with a parasite, maybe it can be spread?

thank you in advance for any info you might be able to provide,

 

[PunkinPeep]

By picky region, you mean her vent? I'm just clarifying. Never heard that term before.

I'm wondering if you're describing a slight prolapse. Does the vent seem to become sort of inverted when this happens?

Alternatively...

If this is the same condition she had when you got her at one week, worm infestation doesn't sound right to me.

And the antibiotics aren't going to do much to balance her gut flora . I'm being sarcastic. Antibiotics are horrible for gut flora.

If i were you, i would cut the antibiotics and start giving her plain yogurt and organic apple cider vinegar in her water and see if her condition improves.

 

[perse]

Not sure where the word picky came from, think my original word was replaced, her cloacal area is what I was talking about - sorry about that. So yes it is inverted and enlarged. I have tried vinegar in the water, didn't help.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I had a girl who had a prolapse like that once. At the advice of users here, i used honey to help ease the swelling and a q-tip to push her vent back in repeatedly. It sounds like you are doing something similar. I'm not sure exactly how it happens, but with mine i was never able to get things to permanently stay in place.

However, since it sounds like your chicken is continuing to eat and process food, which mine did not, i would hold out hope.

I have not ever heard any treatment for this problem other than repetitively pushing the parts back where they belong and hoping that it eventually stays.

One other thing that i tried, that seemed to bring some relief, was warm water enemas. I was trying to clear whatever blockage might have been there. But as i said, in the end, i was unsuccessful.

I hope that someone else here has a better success story with better advice.

 

[perse]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and guidance. I love her, she is so beautiful, but the constant butt baths are tough to deal with and the condition keeps returning. I have done some tiny water enemas like you talked about, I have used olive oil as a lubricant and healing property with much success, but like I said the condition always returns. I have a vet that will test her poo, she thought it might be some type of parasite, but the other chickens are fine, and wouldn't it have spread?

Did your chicken ultimately pass?

 

[PunkinPeep]

I really don't have any practical experience with parasite problems, but i would have expected that more than one would be wormy if any were.

Yes, my chick was ultimately starving to death - and didn't look nearly as good as your pretty girl. She looked pretty bad. Ultimately, i had to make the decision to put her down when she didn't improve. Also, it's important to note, that i eventually figured out that she was having crop issues (maybe impacted) in addition to her prolapse, so it kind of seemed to me that her whole tract had grown twisted or something, not allowing her to process food. I didn't open her up after she passed, so i don't know for sure. These days, if something like that happens, i usually open them up and see what's what, so i can be sure and so i can learn from the experience.

Here is a link to my old thread. I didn't re-read the whole thing; there may be information in there that could be helpful to you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=269714

 

[perse]

Thanks so much for the info, I just looked at your page, what a beaufiful coop you have. I am new to all of this, but love this website and really look forward to looking at some of your pages, if you don't mind!

Just realized which one of my americaunas started laying! It is Louise, from the first two chicks I purchased, Thelma and Louise! Louise started out dark, but is now kind of a strawberry blonde!

Oh, my baby Louise, I am sooo excited! Six eggs this week so far, what a producer! I feel so blessed. Anyway, thank you, and I hope you don't mind if I keep in touch?

Darci is original name, perse is my webname.

Hugs

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I think it is probably either mites or lice. Many are microscopic, so you do not necessarily SEE them.

Nevertheless, I would also treat for coccidia with either sulmet or corrid, and with ivermectin pour-on to treat both worms and mites/lice. Give probiotics, either powdered or live-culture unsweetened, plain yogurt. Add a little powdered baby rice or powdered mashed potatoes to her feed. Not a lot, maybe a 2 teaspoons per day. Discontinue the duramycin.

Bathe her in a dog flea/tick shampoo that contains an insect growth regulator according to directions, and keep her caged on wire if you can. If you do this, make sure there is a droppings pan so you can check her feces, and also prevent access to the feces by her or other birds. Rebathe her every couple of weeks for a month (3 baths: 1 now, one in 2 weeks and again 2 weeks later)--you're trying to break the cycle.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
Nice to meet you, Darci! You are, of course, more than welcome to visit any of my blogs. That's whey they're there. I certainly hope you will keep in touch and also let us know how your darling fairs. I would love to hear a success story!

 

[MotherJean]

A good, clear photo of your hen's vent area would be helpful. By my calculations, she's about 4 months old. Is that right? Were you feeding her medicated feed to prevent coccidiosis? If not, what have you been feeding? Have you had any problems with diarrhea or watery droppings in any other birds?

If this is not coccidiosis, another possibility would be necrotic enteritis. The reason I'm thinking this is because it sounds like this bird's vent has been the site of an extraordinary amount of "treatment" (you mentioned butt baths, tiny water enemas, olive oil, etc.). One of the drawbacks to undertaking such treatments frequently is that you can unwitting destroy the natural good bacteria that prevents bad bacteria and fungi from taking over. It's like when you take strong antibiotics for a sinus infection and you end up getting diarrhea and/or a vaginal yeast infection because the antibiotics killed off the good microflora in your body, too.

In necrotic enteritis, for example, the Merck Vet Manual says that the bacteria, "C perfringens is a nearly ubiquitous bacteria readily found in soil, dust, feces, feed, and used poultry litter. It is also a normal inhabitant of the intestines of healthy chickens. The enterotoxemia that results in clinical disease most often occurs either following an alteration in the intestinal microflora or from a condition that results in damage to the intestinal mucosa (eg, coccidiosis, mycotoxicosis, salmonellosis, ascarid larvae). High dietary levels of animal byproducts (eg, fishmeal), wheat, barley, oats, or rye predispose birds to the disease. Anything that promotes excessive bacterial growth and toxin production or slows feed passage rate in the small intestine could promote the occurrence of necrotic enteritis.

Stop the bathing and enemas and just try to get the diarrhea under control. If you haven't been giving medicated feed to prevent coccidiosis, start it now. If you wish to treat for cocci, use Corrid. Do not use Sulmet since it could cause additional intestinal irritation. Provide probiotics either by purchasing a supplement from your feed store or feeding your bird a couple of tablespoons of yogurt daily. Wouldn't hurt to add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 1 quart of drinking water. The organic ACV with the "mother" is the best. Don't feed any cracked corn or scratch grains. These are low in nutrition and hard on the gut. In fact, go easy on treats of any kind. Until her health is showing improvement, I think you'd be wise to stick with feeding a good commercial feed and plenty of water with ACV.

Good luck with your beautiful bird.