My dear house Chicken finished antibiotics but has gotten worse.Stopped eating. HELP :(

[tbourdon]

HI, I have a chicken that mostly lives in the house. She sleeps on our nightstand, has dinner with us every night, sits and watches tv on the couch. We are her flock. She does still get her time outside too. So recently she was acting weird and having watery yellow poops, which I'm assuming was bile as the vet said because she had stopped eating. Turned out She had roundworm and got a secondary infection from them. So The vet dewormed her, and we had her on a week of antibiotics twice a day for a week. At the beginning of the week right after the vet visit, she seemed better, eating a little bit and still hanging out on the couch with us. But she's getting progressively worse. Is staying in her nest at all times, sleeping through the entire day, not eating at all, but she is pecking everything we offer her, but it just falls out of her mouth. It seems like she's hungry but can't/ won't eat. She still drinks water, but nothing else. I know she is super sick, because she usually has the sweetest personality and follows us through the house and talks all day. But she hasn't talked to me in 3 days. I'm heartbroken and have been crying on and off all day. We will be bringing her back to the vet in 2 days, but until then I am DESPERATE for advice. OH now her poops are either clear and white goo or forest green slime. :/ And she won't even lay in front of the fireplace which is her FAVORITE spot. She only stands alone in the cold kitchen hunched over and puffed up

 

[Eggcessive]

She could possibly have coccidiosis, or a crop problem. Check her crop (especially in early morning when it should be empty) for impacted or sour crop. After being on antibiotics she should get some probiotics for a few days to get her intestinal bacteria back in order. Symptoms of coccidiosis are lethargy, lying or standing puffed up, diarrhea (sometimes with blood,) and poor appetite. Treatment is Corid (amprollium) liquid 2 tsp (or powder 1 1/2 tsp) per gallon of water for 5 days. Here is some info on coccidiosis and crop problems:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html

 

[ten chicks]

What worm medication did you use and what antibiotics was she on?

You will have to tube feed her,so that she is getting food to fuel her body. When ill/injured birds often stop eating,they become lethargic and die,tube feeding seems to snap them out of this state of animation. Green poop is from not eating.

Take her back to vet,possible she may be experiencing some side effect from medications. Some antibiotics can cause certain infections,for example yeast and diarrhea can be common w some medications.

It is also possible that there is something more serious wrong with her.

Check for any crop issues,check her being egg bound.

 

[tbourdon]

Thank you both for your comments.

She certainly doesn't feel like she had a compacted crop, it feels empty like a pingpong ball compared to her normal tennis ball sized full crop. Probiotics is a good idea, I was going to get yogurt today, but couldn't find any plain. I'll try again tomorrow. I don't really think she'll eat it though, as she's not really taking anything but water. She's had coccidiosis before and it was treated by the vet. Maybe it's striking again? No blood in the poop though.

It's interesting to think about secondary probems caused by the meds, however she has been on the same meds before with no problems. Last time she bounced right back.

We will try to syringe feed her tomorrow to get SOMETHING into her little system .

 

[Bluebonnet]

I can not help you with your chicken problem, but if you don't mind me asking, what breed of cat is that? Pretty looking!

 

[3riverschick]

This bird needs some Poultry Nutri-Drench. It is an emergency nutritional supplement. She can live on just it for a couple of days if needed.
I have used Bovidr Labs supplements on my birds and collies for over decade. It has all the vitamins and minerals and stuff your birds needs. But it doesn't need to be digested. It mainlines directly into the bloodstream. 50% uptake in 15 minutes. 99% uptake in 30 minutes. You can get it cheap at Tractor Supply for 7.-10. dollars for a 4 oz. bottle. That is plenty. It is very concentrated. has a dropper cap so you can measure directly into the mouth carefully so no aspiration. Here's the website for more information.
http://nutridrench.com/poultry-1.html
See the tabs at the top of the page? read the ones titled "Immune" and "response". Very educational.
860,000+ birds aren't wrong. If the G.I. tract is not working well, can't uptake nutrition and is weak. This gives energy. To eat, to digest, to get well. You have to restore the proper functioning of the G.I. tract.
Best,
Karen in frigid western PA, USA

Get the PND in the bird first. Then it will have energy to eat and digest probiotics.

 

[ten chicks]

Thank you both for your comments.

She certainly doesn't feel like she had a compacted crop, it feels empty like a pingpong ball compared to her normal tennis ball sized full crop. Probiotics is a good idea, I was going to get yogurt today, but couldn't find any plain. I'll try again tomorrow. I don't really think she'll eat it though, as she's not really taking anything but water. She's had coccidiosis before and it was treated by the vet. Maybe it's striking again? No blood in the poop though.

It's interesting to think about secondary probems caused by the meds, however she has been on the same meds before with no problems. Last time she bounced right back.

We will try to syringe feed her tomorrow to get SOMETHING into her little system .

What treatment was given for coccidiosis and how long ago? Not seeing blood means nothing,there are about 11 strains of cocci and only 2 show blood as a symptom. Corid(ampolium)is one of the best coccidiostats.

 

[tbourdon]

Sorry for such a late response. She is on her 5th day at the vet. She was diagnosed with severe dehydration. I'm assuming it is because we couldn't get her to eat anything so she didn't have any electrolytes. We didn't have any pedialyte or anything avail, so we tried apple juice but she would only drink straight water, which was going right through her. Her kidneys were beginning to fail from being so backed up with solutes. 5 days later after tube feeding and administering fluids and electrolytes, she is hydrated. She is also passing regular stool. But because of antibiotics they had her on, she now has a slight yeast infection that they are treating. She still hasn't perked up too much, so if by tomorrow she still isn't herself,they are going to give her a cortisone injection. *sigh* Poor girl. This is one expensive chicken, but she means the world to my husband and I. And yes, we did have her on Corid before.