It was Cocci . She died .

[flymamma]

1) What type of bird , age and weight. BO , 7 ish months [ got her as a well start , no hatch date ] , MAYBE 1.5 lbs She is tiny , I thought she was a Bantam Buff for a while , but she has grown a bit larger than a bantam .. She was given to me by my chicken dealer , she felt like she would have a better chance of thriving in a smaller flock . She has barely grown in the 6 months I have had her .
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Bad balance , wobbles when standing , prefers to sit or lay , droopy wings , "puffy" feathers ,watery poo , crop feels firm no change from last night .She did have live lice on her , I dusted her with Sevin and treated the coop too .
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No signs of injury or trauma
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. She has had a dirty butt and diarrhea off and on for the 6 months I have had her .
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Yesterday and the day before she had 1 hard boiled egg , with acidophilus powder , and a few drops of cod liver oil ... today I gave her 1/4 tsp in her beak of ACV and in her water , I have her Isolated so she can only drink .
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.Watery with green stuff in it .
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? 1/4 tsp AVC by beak and 1Tbsp of ACV in 1 quart of water , I brought her inside to keep her warm and rest .Dusted her with sevin for lice
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would like to treat all by myself.
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use She is in a tote in the bathroom with a towel to sleep on , no bedding .

 

[sammi]

poor little girl... she sounds in poor shape.

crop should be full at roost time if she's eaten.
should feel empty in the morning before she eats..
feel for any lumps, grainy feeling, or doughy mass.
use a small flashlight and check the mouth and throat for any whitish or yellowy sores, lesions or plaque, or sour smell from crop..
post back what you find.

here is some info about crop problems;

http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1188

more info about treatment and tubing out the crop:

http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=natural&action=display&thread=5257

she also sounds like she had something else going on from before..such as cocci or worms...or both.
and probably poor diet and not able to compete for food.

the best course of action is to take a fecal sample to a vet for a test for worms and cocci..sometimes called a fecal float. not expensive..any vet can do it.
Wazine 17 is good for treating round worms..

what all do you feed?
has she ever laid an egg?

have you ever wormed her? if so when? and what was used?
the Sevin can help with the lice..but a poultry dust such as Ectiban-D by Durvet (active ingredient..permathrin) might be better if you can get it.
a warm bath using diluted Adams dog and cat flea shampoo or diluted cat shampoo for fleas..
she might be too sick for that right now..
the lice will cause anemia.

I think I'd be tempted to get liquid Sulmet 12.5%..at most farm/feed stores..
directions on bottle..
give by drops on beak if necessary.

see if she will eat this mixture..
1 cooked egg yolk
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
3-4 tablespoons regular or quick oatmeal, or baby oatmeal..
drizzle of honey or a teaspoon of very finely grated apple
try to make mix puffy.
this is for 1 day..divide into 3 feeds for the day..give for 5 days.


also..try and get some Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins, Enfamil brand, NO IRON..give 3 drops on beak once a day for 5 days, then taper off for a week.
also some Vitamin E from a capsule.

good luck..
fingers crossed for the hen...
will wait for your reply.

 

[sammi]

I've seen some recent posts where people have given their sick birds blueberries..and they seem to eat them when they won't eat anything else..
fresh or frozen..thawed...by themselves and putting them in food mixes.

 

[tulie13]

Since you have her by herself, can you tell if she is drinking any of the ACV water? If not, you can squirt some more down her throat - if she has a "mass" in her crop, you might be able to loosen it with some massage and at the very least figure out what it might be.

Then you could try some olive oil with massage to try to get it to go down (if it's something like a wad of grass or hay) or the baking soda water flush to get it out (if it's some food sitting on top of a small rock or something like that - an object blocking the crop exit).

Good luck, keep us updated!

 

[LynneP]

And can you tell what is in the crop- fibre, grit, other? The green poss indicates she is not getting much nutrition at this time, she is probably light for her size?

As sammi says she has been ill for some time, nutrition essential. If entrance to gut is blocked by a pebble, there is a way to lift crop to let oil get through, also in link.

Had two crop experiences that I have described here (scroll)-

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen

Oil is best way to get major calories in, and to lubricate the mass. Diced tomato is acidic and will help break down fibre. Do you know about admnistering oil in 5 ml amounts? Described in link...good luck with this girl and be aware you may have to work hard over several days to get her back to normal...

 

[flymamma]

Quote:
Okay , I checked the mouth no sores or sour smell . Her crop had been hard 2 mornings in a row , this morning it is still about half full but has gone from firm to to feeling soft .. so I think that is good . I did give her a little dish of olive oil last night and she drank about 1Tbsp. This morning I gave her a few chunks of oil soaked bread , in addition to the ACV water . She has pooped 3 times in the last 12 hours . I have never wormed her , nor has she ever laid an egg . I had her on layer pellets since the rest of the flock is laying ,and then I would separate her a few times a week and give her a hard boiled egg for added protein . Last week I had been feeding them a bit of extra scratch , 2 cups a day for 12 chickens .. I was trying to re-integrate my one eyed chicken back to the flock and had read that extra treats as a distraction would help with less pecking .Competing for food has never been an issue , even though she is by far the smallest and very tame she is my Alpha female , if anything she is food aggressive . I have never seen any worms in her poo , since she is the smallest her poo is also the smallest and easy to identify .That was my first concern . I have not found any vet that will test any samples without seeing the bird and we only have 1 avian vet in the valley ... he is pricey to say the least . The state lab will test but the lab is 3 hours from here and they want a fresh sample ... ironic hah ? I do have a gallon of sulmet , I could give her some . Help me understand why , if you would .

 

[flymamma]

Quote:
Thank you , I had read your page last night while searching , I have been giving her Olive oil and masaging her .. it is helping .Very good information , great details , you may have helped in saving my girl . Little Buffy is greatful .

I am prepared for a long few weeks if need be , I had one bird lose an eye to a repiratory illness and have succesfully nursed her back to health ... which has taken MONTHS .

 

[flymamma]

Update ***
I dosed her by beak with Sulmet yesterday , and added some to her water . She does not seem to have eaten or drank at all yeasterday . This morning she is limp , and breathing through her mouth , I am sure that can not be good . I think she does have Cocci, when they free range she is my hole digger . She will stay in one spot the whole time just digging up bugs . Sould I try to get some Corid , and discontinue the Sulmet .. or with the mouth brething / gasping is it already too late ? I suspect the latter . Any info would be great ,I do not want to have to drive cross town in a blizzard to get meds for a chicken , just to come home and find her dead ... and I am pretty sure her hours are numbered .