Lethargic hen with runny nose and watery poo

[jlahoward]

20 week BR unvaccinated hen has stopped laying and become increasingly lethargic. Now just standing with eyes closed. Comb had been very pale in the last few days.

Here are her symptoms: Sneezing and runny nose, lethargy, watery green poo maybe some blood in the last day or so, tail down. Does not seem to have lost large amount of weight. Was eating guardedly last night.

What I've done so far: isolated her in crate in the house, rubbed Vet RX on head and under wings, given kefir (which she drank a good amount of), replaced acv water with Corid water (9.6% solution at 2t per gallon). Tried to drip some Corid water over her beak but she started sneezing and I didn't want her to aspirate.

Other ideas are worming and antibiotics, but I didn't want to throw too much at her and thought the Corid was the most dire.

Other hens: poo looks normal, no sneezing, eating and acting like chickens.

I am still new to chickens and trying to figure out what else I can do to help her. I've read so many of the sick posts to try to diagnose but its hard to say what matches up. Thank anyone for help!

 

[austinclarksf]

This sounds a lot like what took two of my hens and almost a third. Sneezing and snot were minimal in my case though. Blood in the stool usually indicates cocci but it was not evident in my hens.

Cocci was my culprit. Lost two hens in two days. I noticed a third bird acting lethargic, sleepy, pale, tail down, watery droppings, not eating much, etc like #2 was acting. I tried holistic ideas, but the forums narrowed my search to possible cocci.

Treated with Sulmet, made sure my hen was drinking enough water. An eye dropper of treated water down the beak shouldn't choke her out, I've treated orally for respiratory diseases once before and didn't have an issue. After 2 days she was acting better, and I went to half dose for 2 more days and by day 5 they were off the meds because she was acting fine. I treated my whole flock at the same time, and after the meds my egg production tripled! All of my other girls were acting fine but may have been fighting off cocci and slowly losing.

btw- corid will kill all probiotic bacteria in her system. kefir is fine for fat and protein, but it's not going to build flora is her system is full of corid.

 

[jlahoward]

Thanks Austinclarksf. So do I just keep up with the Corid? I am not offering food. Is that ok or should I give her something? I'll try dropping some water in beak but last time she had a major blow out sneeze. Should I do anything for the resp symptoms? Thanks so much!

 

[austinclarksf]

I would make sure she has access to chicken food and Corid treated water. My experience is limited, but I'd say if she does not begin to turn around in 24-48 hours after introducing corid to her system, it may not be cocci. If she does not seem at least a little better by three days, it could be time to take her to a vet, or switch meds to a respiratory antibiotic...

 

[Fancychooklady]

The stress on the birds system brought on by the cocci, will be causing the upper respitory issues. Doxycycline is very effective for upper resp disease. The corid ( amprolium ) belongs to the B vitamin group, so you should be able to administer them together.

 

[dpennington01]

Reading several posts as I too have had an issue with cocci in my approx 5-6 week old chicks. One died last Friday and immediately got corrid. I put 4teaspoons in 1 gallon of water as the clerk at farm supply store said I should do. Then did some more reading and thought that amount was to much so I dropped down to 2 teaspoons the next day. Saw bloody poops only right after the first chick died. So thought maybe they were ok. Noticed another chick lethargic and she kept to herself. She stayed away from other chicks but then all of a sudden she started eating and drank a little but still seemed to stay away. Tuesday night she died. All seem to be ok but I still see some diarrhea in poop and according to the label I was to treat only five days which was Tuesday. Last night gave them fresh water with electrolytes packet since it is around 90 plus degrees here in GA. Just gave them more fresh water with ice to try and cool down as temps show 94 in there coop. Should I start back on corrid if I have not given enough? Or wait a couple days on just cool fresh water. They have been on the medicated chick feed since I got them two weeks ago.

 

[austinclarksf]

The stress on the birds system brought on by the cocci, will be causing the upper respitory issues. Doxycycline is very effective for upper resp disease. The corid ( amprolium ) belongs to the B vitamin group, so you should be able to administer them together.

+1
One of the two hens I lost had a history of respiratory illness. It was the onset of respiratory stress that made the cocci take her faster than the rest of my flock. If you finish treating with cocci meds, begin the respiratory treatment. Or, begin them together... I am nervous about giving a sick bird too many meds at once (sometimes 1+1=5, even if compatible) but it still might be the best option to save yours.

Reading several posts as I too have had an issue with cocci in my approx 5-6 week old chicks. One died last Friday and immediately got corrid. I put 4teaspoons in 1 gallon of water as the clerk at farm supply store said I should do. Then did some more reading and thought that amount was to much so I dropped down to 2 teaspoons the next day. Saw bloody poops only right after the first chick died. So thought maybe they were ok. Noticed another chick lethargic and she kept to herself. She stayed away from other chicks but then all of a sudden she started eating and drank a little but still seemed to stay away. Tuesday night she died. All seem to be ok but I still see some diarrhea in poop and according to the label I was to treat only five days which was Tuesday. Last night gave them fresh water with electrolytes packet since it is around 90 plus degrees here in GA. Just gave them more fresh water with ice to try and cool down as temps show 94 in there coop. Should I start back on corrid if I have not given enough? Or wait a couple days on just cool fresh water. They have been on the medicated chick feed since I got them two weeks ago.

Just be careful with overdoing it- mixing antibiotic classes (i.e medicated feed plus corid) could cause a negative or a neutralizing reaction. Also- electrolyte or fortified vitamin additives can neutralize certain antibiotics. Do your research when treating with more than one product at once.

If after one 5-day treatment of Corid then you should rule out cocci... I believe corid treats all 9 types of cocci. I don't have personal experience with it working as I have not tried it. I used Sulmet, which only addresses the most common 3 types of cocci.

 

[jlahoward]

Our hen died today. She had extremely labored breathing with a clicking sound. Stopped eating and drinking. When I found her she was quite stiff with legs out straight. It had only been a few hours since I had checked on her. Is it possible this was Mereks? She was not vaccinated. Thanks for all the feedback.

Our problem now is that we lost 3 hens recently to a fox and now this replacement one to disease. My husband and boys are weary of the continued loss. Is this normal or are we not cut out to be chicken people? I've really done my best to educate myself with voluminous reading but I feel like I just can't be prepared for everything. I kind of feel like this is tough on the kids. Anything I can do to be a better chicken owner?

 

[dpennington01]

Austinclarksf--- thank you! I only gave them the electrolytes after I finished the corrid but I did continue the medicated feed while on corrid because I read it only had plant proteins, vitamins and minerals. I did not see where it had the same type of ingredients as the corrid... Nor did it have any "real" medications in it... I'll look into it more and have just given them fresh water today as well as the medicated started feed still. No bloody poops just a few loose ones... I have cleaned and colorized the coop and fresh shavings! Fresh clean everything!! Hopefully we are good here but keeping a close eye on them! Thanks again!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Our hen died today. She had extremely labored breathing with a clicking sound. Stopped eating and drinking. When I found her she was quite stiff with legs out straight. It had only been a few hours since I had checked on her. Is it possible this was Mereks? She was not vaccinated. Thanks for all the feedback.

Our problem now is that we lost 3 hens recently to a fox and now this replacement one to disease. My husband and boys are weary of the continued loss. Is this normal or are we not cut out to be chicken people? I've really done my best to educate myself with voluminous reading but I feel like I just can't be prepared for everything. I kind of feel like this is tough on the kids. Anything I can do to be a better chicken owner?

Sorry for your loss. It doesn't get any easier and you really can't prepare yourself for everything. I'd say that you have done the ground work, but you just can't help " bad luck ". Chickens that are stressed show symptoms of upper respitory disease . There is probably nothing you could have done to prevent that, so don't be disheartened by this loss. Keep researching, stock your first aid kit and try to find a really good avian vet in your area.