Large crop green smelly poop up

[DianeB]

Hi
My 2 yr old hen has green smelly, watery poop, large crop and a cold comb with dark edges.

I cleaned out her crop last night and she seemed much better. Her comb was warm and red.

Then, this morning her crop was better, but still green watery poop and same comb issues.

She had a similar problem a few months ago during a some very wet weather. We had some late storms in our area. Is it possible she picked up something?

Also, just checked on her. Her crop is going down and comb looks better.
Thank you

 

[azygous]

Some other chronic health issue is likely causing the crop and poop problems. It could be anything from parasites to cancer. Unfortunately, many of these types of illnesses can only be accurately diagnosed after death through a necropsy.

Meanwhile, all you can really do is to treat the symptoms as you've been doing. You can begin by sending a sample of poop to a local vet for a fecal float test. That's not expensive, but if you want more answers than just finding out if parasites are present, ask for an additional test called a gram stain for bacteria. You may learn there is a bacterial infection that you can treat with the corresponding antibiotic.

The presence of green smelly poop, besides indicating clinical starvation, can indicate cancer, and the smelly part is a symptom of a digestive system that is slowly but surely ceasing to function, causing fermentation and bacterial growth in the undigested material.

The comb coloration also indicates possible tumors in organs that are affecting the distribution of oxygen. She could have many good months ahead if you can treat her symptoms successfully, though.

Overall, it does not look good for your hen.

 

[DianeB]

Thank you

I didn't think a hen so young could have tumors. The ones I had that died of tumors/cancer were 5+ years old.

I just checked on her. Her comb looks much better and her crop has gone down a lot. It's no longer bloated. She's been drinking water this morning.

So possibly tumor or massive infection?

 

[azygous]

Young chickens can die from cancerous tumors. I had an eleven month old cockerel with the same symptoms as your young hen. When his body was sent for a necropsy, his liver was found to have so many tumors that the liver weighed two pounds.

You cannot know for sure what's going on with your hen, beyond concluding she has health issues, until you start to treat some of the symptoms, thus ruling things out.

What I would do in your place is to begin with the poop samples and find out what's going on in her intestinal and digestive tracks. That will produce a lot of useful information that, hopefully, you can use to treat her and make her feel better. What you find out can help you decide if you should worm her or treat her with an antibiotic or maybe both.

If there is no overload of bacteria or parasites to treat, then you will be able to rule these out and you may begin to assume her problem is cancer or another incurable avian disease. If she dies, a necropsy can tell you what made her sick, and it might be that your other chickens are carrying the same virus.

So, it's wise not to assume the worst until you've ruled out the simple treatable stuff first.

 

[DianeB]

Her comb is back to normal and crop is much better. I got some corid, electrolytes and probiotics. Also, I will start calling around about fecal sample. Thanks again

 

[DianeB]

What about Newcastle Disease? Someone told me it's a problem in this state.

 

[DianeB]

Got her fecal done and a round of antibiotics.
Her comb looks soooo much better...back to normal. Crop is doing a little better. She's still quiet but alert.

 

[Trux]

What about Newcastle Disease? Someone told me it's a problem in this state.

What state are you in?

 

[DianeB]

What state are you in?

Northern California...I am pretty far from the locals that they found the disease but it still makes me nervous

 

[Trux]

Here is a link that has the symptoms of vND, it is about half way down the page. Just so you know what to look for
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...ease-information/avian/virulent-newcastle/vnd
If you think she has vND you should have a test done to be sure, to put your mind at ease that she doesn't have it. But till then you should separate her from the rest of your birds
And one other thing, some birds can survive this strain, but they still shed the virus, which means they can pass it on to other birds.