Listless Pullet with White Stool - 6 Hours In

[CoopBoots]

Hi All,

One of my 15 week old pullets is laying around, refusing food of any kind, and passing white stool/droppings. She seemed fine this morning (everyone showed up for breakfast scraps) but has been this way since I checked on them this afternoon. I've given her a little nutridrench after checking up on dosing by weight, and I'm starting them on Corid since coccidiosis was my first panic self-diagnosis. She has no sign of physical injury, no crop issues, and while her poop is weird, her butt is perfectly clean. They eat chick starter with a little scratch, and get some kitchen scraps like my leftover scrambled eggs, the occasional banana, old toast etc. Scraps are not a primary diet component in any way.

Just looking for better advice than my own googling, haha. Anything I should start/stop/continue? Any info I've left out that might be of help? I can't afford an avian vet but will do whatever I can to support her recovery or prevent her suffering.

Thanks for your time.

 

[azygous]

Your location would help us figure out if climate is a factor. Hot weather can cause white poop and lethargy. First try electrolytes with a little added sugar to see if she responds to that.

Check her pelvic points on each side of her vent, the protruding knobs. If you can fit two fingers between them, she may be getting ready to lay her first egg and having trouble.

 

[CoopBoots]

Your location would help us figure out if climate is a factor. Hot weather can cause white poop and lethargy. First try electrolytes with a little added sugar to see if she responds to that.

Check her pelvic points on each side of her vent, the protruding knobs. If you can fit two fingers between them, she may be getting ready to lay her first egg and having trouble.

Thanks for your reply and advice!

We're in the Southeastern USA. It has been a hot, humid summer. Entirely possible I've overlooked the white poop happening before if it's only been an incidental thing. Glad to hear this isn't necessarily cause for alarm.

I've done some electrolytes in the meantime and she was well enough to drink on her own and put herself to bed with the flock. No one's picking on her yet thankfully. I'll try a pelvic examination first thing tomorrow to see if I can gently figure out if it's egg related.

 

[CoopBoots]

Morning update: She didn't come out on her own. Stayed comfortably perched on a roost. I got her up for some nutridrench and tried a gentle rear end exam. She feels kind of circular/round near the vent, with a softer lower abdomen, and in my inexperience I couldn't find any knobs. However, I checked a healthy girl for comparison and they feel the same to me, so hopefully that's a good sign.

She's still just finding sheltered, cosy areas to lay around, so I'll go ensure she takes water breaks and see if I can tempt her with some cooked eggs when I get a chance.

 

[maryn7]

The egg is a good idea (some canned tuna or cat food is also usually a good motivator). If you get a chance, maybe post a couple photos so we can see what she looks like.

You say she was resting comfortably this morning - are her eyes bright and alert? Or dull and sad? What's her comb looking like (if she has much of one at 15 weeks)? Is she hunched up and looking miserable? Or just hot and trying to take it easy?

Pictures might help give a sense of how bad she's feeling, which could help folks tell you to be more aggressive in treatment(s) or to wait it out.

 

[CoopBoots]

The egg is a good idea (some canned tuna or cat food is also usually a good motivator). If you get a chance, maybe post a couple photos so we can see what she looks like.

You say she was resting comfortably this morning - are her eyes bright and alert? Or dull and sad? What's her comb looking like (if she has much of one at 15 weeks)? Is she hunched up and looking miserable? Or just hot and trying to take it easy?

Pictures might help give a sense of how bad she's feeling, which could help folks tell you to be more aggressive in treatment(s) or to wait it out.

Appreciate the questions, let me see what I can do to answer. Pictures will be more true to life than my descriptions:

Spoiler: Tired pullet pictures:

Behavior wise, she is sitting quietly (unfluffed) on the ground in the back of this igloo. She approach the waterer I brought and drank pretty well. I used moist egg to get a taste in her beak but she completely ignored it / showed no interest on her own. She moseyed out, again on her own, to see the flock and then settled back down inside. Her body language is just lowered head / reduced head movement, no real fluffing or hunching, pretty much as pictured.

 

[maryn7]

Hmm, she looks pretty good to me. It's good news that she looks pretty alert and the tail is up. Usually when I've got a sick chicken - I've got a *sick* chicken. But it is weird that she won't eat (but good that she's drinking).

Bumping so more experienced folks can have a gander.

 

[CoopBoots]

Quick update:

Friday was about the same. I got concerned that the nutridrench might cancel out or not work well with the Corid, so discontinued nutridrench. Monitored to ensure she was still drinking well on her own, which seemed to be the case. Still no eating.

Today we might have turned a corner. She actually came out of the coop on her own in the morning, just slowly. She shows minor interest in the grass, pecks ponderously at things, and I've caught her spending time alone at the feeder. She's just in slow motion and isn't eating much.

I still have no idea what a proper diagnosis might be. No egg straining, no weird poop beyond the first, almost no ruffling, no injury I could find. As she seems to be recovering, just slowly, I'll refrain from further updates unless she takes a turn for the worse.

Huge thanks for the advice, everyone!

 

[maryn7]

I'm guessing lots of folks are away for the holiday in the US, which is why there hasn't been a lot of advice.

Don't feel like you shouldn't continue to update or ask further questions; beyond being possibly helpful for you, it'll be a resource for others when they search for a similar problem.

It's good that she's come out on her own and is engaging. Honestly, maybe she just ate something that didn't agree with her, etc. Since she seems to be slowly improving, seems to me like you're on the right track and doing good farmering/parenting. Let us know how she goes.