Lost 2 hens to similar symptoms. Looking for advice

[Wyorp Rock]

Wow! Much easier @Wyorp Rock Thank you! And @Eggcessive, thank you both... Ok... I'll go back out and feel her again... where would the swelling be exaclty? I'm not sure where her abdomen is... under the crop?

Feel between her legs under the vent. Feel a few of your other girls too, this way you get a good comparison.

 

[FiddleChics]

Ok... googled it... I"m heading out to the coop... ugh... Google images - can be awful...

 

[Eggcessive]

Blackhead or histomoniasis is more of a turkey disease according to many sources on poultry diseases. One member says that she has had a confirmed case in a chicken, but I would look more at the yellow being egg matter or possible E.coli. E.coli is a bacteria found in droppings and all over the coop and barnyard. It is more of an opportunistic bacteria, and can be a problem if there is illness already going on. It can get up into the oviduct via the vent or cloaca where the vagina and large intestines come together. It is frequently a bacteria present in salpingitis, internal laying, and egg yolk peritonitis. Most chickens end up with one of those as a common cause of death.

 

[FiddleChics]

Ok, she is generally not too easy to pick up, but today she wasn't as quick as usual... probably because she's got something going on.. but I felt around below her vent & under/behind her legs... but I didn't feel anything hard, or distended... the other girls felt the same... She felt a little thin though... But nobody LIKED it much. Here's her just now... She's not looking 'heavy' or 'draggy' underneath... still pert... and her tail's up... she's walking fine, not squatting or odd...

 

[FiddleChics]

I will get a sample tomorrow, and order the goat wormer on Amazon. I never heard of a gram stain for infection... but I will have that done too for sure. I'll call my vet... good idea @Wyorp Rock! Thank you both, I am worried... But she looks healthy, and shiny... not bedraggled... or ratty looking... Red crop now... and not so 'down in the dumps' as she was... just this poop this morning has me worried...

 

[FiddleChics]

Blackhead or histomoniasis is more of a turkey disease according to many sources on poultry diseases. One member says that she has had a confirmed case in a chicken, but I would look more at the yellow being egg matter or possible E.coli. E.coli is a bacteria found in droppings and all over the coop and barnyard. It is more of an opportunistic bacteria, and can be a problem if there is illness already going on. It can get up into the oviduct via the vent or cloaca where the vagina and large intestines come together. It is frequently a bacteria present in salpingitis, internal laying, and egg yolk peritonitis. Most chickens end up with one of those as a common cause of death.

View attachment 1642155

Ok... this is informative thank you! I have a big 30' x 24' enclosed run off the main coop & run... so they don't free range... but we do get turkeys around here, but they can't go in the closed run... Will a gram stain confirm an E.coli infection... and is there anything I can do for it?

Would making a mash to flush her system help? Dandelion greens, and other things like that?

 

[Eggcessive]

Gram stains identify bacteria, such as a coccus or bacillus, but not the specific bacteria. A culture might be done to identify a particular bacteria. Most vets do not do gram stains or cultures without a good reason. Most just do fecal floats for worms and parasites.

Turkeys are at risk of getting blackhead from chickens, not the other way around. Chickens are reparely infected with it. The pressence of cecal worms should be treated, since cecal worms can be infected with blackhead and are one way that blackhead can be spread. Here is a an article that explains that:
https://articles.extension.org/pages/68108/blackhead-in-poultry

 

[FiddleChics]

Thank you @Eggcessive (I'm not sure how to use the "quote" thing... but since both you and @Wyorp Rock are helping me here... I wanted to address you both in context... and can't say again, how grateful I am for both your inputs.

I need a plan... that's for sure. So my first step is fecal float tomorrow, and beg the vet will do a Gram stain.

Fecal float will rule in or out - worms.

The Gram stain will determine bacteria or not.

And reading the article on blackhead... i'm bewildered as to a next step with that, but having blackhead, though rare... seems pretty much - a death nell.

I looked up internal laying - (I had NO idea really what that means this was the first I've ever encountered the term) and was happy to learn that a hen can lay internally and the yolk will be absorbed back into her body, without complications IF there is no bacteria present... so THAT would be the BEST scenario... but it gives me hope. (I need some hope)

If it's an E.coli infection... it's kinda doom too... ugh... but a gram stain may show that... Am I on the mark here?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes that sounds like you have a good understanding. I really doubt that you are seeing blackhead, but it is one of those things that can cause bright yellow droppings, and I just wanted to nention it. Since the yellow was in the midst of green droppings, I would just guess that it is more like egg material. Here is a list of reproductive disorders that you may click on in for interesting short articles from Merck Vet Manual:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/disorders-of-the-reproductive-system/internal-layer-poultry

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you @Eggcessive (I'm not sure how to use the "quote" thing... but since both you and @Wyorp Rock are helping me here... I wanted to address you both in context... and can't say again, how grateful I am for both your inputs.

I need a plan... that's for sure. So my first step is fecal float tomorrow, and beg the vet will do a Gram stain.

Fecal float will rule in or out - worms.

The Gram stain will determine bacteria or not.

And reading the article on blackhead... i'm bewildered as to a next step with that, but having blackhead, though rare... seems pretty much - a death nell.

I looked up internal laying - (I had NO idea really what that means this was the first I've ever encountered the term) and was happy to learn that a hen can lay internally and the yolk will be absorbed back into her body, without complications IF there is no bacteria present... so THAT would be the BEST scenario... but it gives me hope. (I need some hope)

If it's an E.coli infection... it's kinda doom too... ugh... but a gram stain may show that... Am I on the mark here?

I agree with Eggcessive, you have a good understanding.
Let us know what you find out with your testing.