My favorite pullet is lethargic and puffed up :( Help please!

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Yesterday she seemed a little less active than normal but she was eating and otherwise looked fine. Today she's puffed up, haven't seen her eat or drink, and her droppings are on the loose side. Everybody else looks normal. They're all on medicated feed. I offered her oatmeal with probiotics, she's uninterested. Should I quarantine her and treat with Corrid?

 

[ivan3]

Yes, separate her immediately. The `puffing up' is a good indicator something is amiss.

If you'd be so kind as to answer those questions in the sticky and any other information pertinent to the problem it will help.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
8 week old Polish pullet

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Huddled over, puffed out, kind of lethargic, stands or lays around, not extremely interested in food though she was happy to eat some egg yolk when I put it in front of her.

3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nope.

4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I free ranged them for the second time. She was out eating bugs for several hours and the next day seemed under the weather.

5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Egg yolk, and I caught her pecking around at some scratch. Also a bit of oatmeal with probiotic powder and chick starter mixed in. I haven't seen her drink much but I haven't been able to watch her constantly either.

6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
I haven't seen a whole lot of poop from her yet but what I did see was runny. She pooped a couple times and just a tiny bit came out.

7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I put Corid in their water and a couple drops on her beak since she's not drinking much.

8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
If I can treat her myself, great. If she needs to see a vet, I'm more than willing to take her to one.

9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
N/A

10) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Coop/run with the others. It's got a dirt and sand floor with pine shavings inside. I'll put her in a brooder or pen inside with pine shavings when I get home from work.

 

[Joecola123]

could be worms my neighbor had to kill his white rocks because they were heavily infested. He said they looked really fat and just sat around I would bring her to the vet ASAP

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

I have not seen any worms in any of their droppings, and I check it pretty regularly haha. I have also been mixing DE and Cayenne in their feed since before they were old enough to go outside.

 

[threehorses]

The meat if the matter: "Eight week old Polish pullet...Hen is uddled over, puffed out, kind of lethargic, stands or lays around, not extremely interested in food though she was happy to eat some egg yolk when I put it in front of her. "
"I free ranged them for the second time. She was out eating bugs for several hours and the next day seemed under the weather. " In other words, she's not used to free ranging so this happened right after doing so. "yolk, and I caught her pecking around at some scratch. Also a bit of oatmeal with probiotic powder and chick starter mixed in. I haven't seen her drink much but I haven't been able to watch her constantly either. ""
I haven't seen a whole lot of poop from her yet but what I did see was runny. She pooped a couple times and just a tiny bit came out.""
I put Corid in their water and a couple drops on her beak since she's not drinking much. ""Coop/run with the others. It's got a dirt and sand floor with pine shavings inside. I'll put her in a brooder or pen inside with pine shavings when I get home from work."

First, when she free ranged, does she have grit - actual granite grit available? Have you felt her crop to see if it's emptying normally? Or impacted? Was she able to get into mud puddles, any maggots, compost pile or decaying vegetation, fallen fruit, berries, or vegetables in a garden?

What is her normal diet - the chick starter? Is the ground upon which she went old ground - like are other birds on it, were other older birds with her? Are there others in the flock? If so what ages? Mixed?

On the worms, incidentally, looking in droppings is not at all an accurate way to find worms. Worms by their very nature intend to stay in the bird at all times. They spread by shedding eggs. Eggs are microscopic, you will not see them. So the only true way of telling what type of infestation your birds could have is by doing a "fecal egg count" through the vet. DE and cayenne may help with control, but do not prevent worms as there are many stages that don't stay in the digestive tract (where the DE is). So if in doubt, always have a "fecal egg count", not just a "fecal" done by a vet.

If you worm, and you don't know for a fact if there's not a heavy infestation, always use Wazine first. Then 2-4 weeks later you can use a heavier wormer like fenbendazole (wormazole) or pour-on ivermectin to kill the larva and adults (which wazine doesn't do). BUt always use the lesser wormer first to prevent shock and death. Or in birds under four months.

That being said, this doesn't sound like worms really.

Is this bird fat or thin? Does her keep sharply protrude? Is the chick starter medicated with amprolium? Incidentally, she's about the age where you can switch to grower or starter/grower. But I wouldn't just yet because of her issues.

Did she keep cool during her trip outside? Sometimes heat issues don't show until the following day. I'd definitely put electrolyte supplement into her water for the next few days. Also make sure that you know she knows where the water and feed are outside.

Did she mix with an existing flock? Any chance she was chased or pecked?

I'm most concerned about whether or not she had grit before she went out, and the state of her crop. That would be the most obvious thing since she's not eating much and not expelling many droppings. I'd check that first. Try to encourage her to eat by giving her boiled egg yolk (mashed) with yogurt. Keep her off of solid feeds for now - just the crumbles, egg yolk, maybe some cooked oatmeal with the yogurt added in easilyl dissolved feeds. Feeds that if you put ina glass of water and came back 10 minutes later, they'd be puddled in the bottom of the glass mostly.

I'd also keep her up and isolated so that you can tell us exactly what her droppings look like, please - the color o fthe liquid, the color of the urates the color of the feces, and their texture, and their amounts. If the feces part of the droppings (the solids) were dark green, she indeed isn't eating much. That's going to be top priority - make sure she keeps getting food and water in her.

I'll look for your replies.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Thanks, threehorses.

No granite grit but the sand in the run is just as coarse as grit so I was under the impression that it wasn't necessary. The door to the run was left open and she was in and out of it with access to the sand. I did feel her crop a few different times and nothing feels abnormal.

The flock consists of three others the same age as her (got the four of them from a hatchery), a Polish pullet who is about a month and a half older, and two four month old Silkies. Everybody was quarantined for four weeks and never showed/still are not showing any signs of illness. They have all been housed together for several weeks now without any even slightly major issues. They were all out ranging with her and there have never been chickens on this property before mine, at least not for the last 20-30 years.

When they free ranged they didn't have access to any gardens. Just my lawn and a semi-wooded area. I supervised them the entire time because I'm paranoid like that haha. They didn't get into anything they shouldn't have. They just scratched around in dirt and leaves and ate bugs. We don't use any chemicals or pesticides here and our yard is pretty private so I can't imagine it could be poisoning or anything like that.

Her regular diet is medicated chick starter with DE, cayenne and BOSS. They get a handful of scratch and veggie/fruit scraps as treats. I always make sure I'm not feeding them any produce they should not be eating. (Because I'm paranoid heh) She's neither fat nor thin, she appears to be a normal, healthy weight.

She seems a bit more perky today, pecking around and such. I have seen her eating the oatmeal mixture a couple of times. Since I have already started the Corid should I continue it for the remaining four days in case this is cocci?

ETA I will update with my observations on her droppings.
Also thought I'd add that we do have wild turkeys that frequent the property.

 

[threehorses]

Hello.

The sand is a good starter. At her age she should start getting 'chick grit' which is about the size of the letter o typewritten. When she's 4 months old, she can be offered regular chicken sized grit. So it would help in the future, the sand probably explaining why her crop feels good - at least she had something in there which is good. Bigger grit now will help her to digest her food properly and gain weight since she'll be on grass. Very very important.

Since they were together, that should be fine - though since silkies are smaller I'd just watch them (and feel them weekly) to make sure they are always getting feed. And the Polish as well since they sometimes have vision and eating issues.

Great that this is essentially "new" ground! That rules that out. And even better that she didn't get into any mushrooms, etc.

her diet souds perfect, to date. The scratch - well the chick grit will help with that. As she's been getting it for a while that's not this current issue.

Since you started the Corid it wouldn't hurt to continue it since it's not an antibiotic. Just make sure they all have yogurt daily during to help boost their digestive tract health. Then weekly is great. Are you using less than 2% DE (and then only food grade) in the feed? (Just making sure.... I know you'll say yes.) I have to ask.

Maybe try just some more of the oatmeal. Some pedialyte in it - or actualy poultry electrolyte couldn't hurt. Of course you can't mix with her water as it's being used to treat. BUt I wonder if she didn't just over do it yesterday, get some grass in her for the first time, maybe get a little warm without realizing it because she was so busy exploring. Since she's improved that's a big important step and a good one. Just let us know if she changes. Perhaps she just got into environmental cocci that she hadn't experienced before; it's in the soil. Thankfully Corid treats all 9 species. She might just be battling it.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

You rule, threehorses!

Funny, tonight she seems completely normal and perky, like there was nothing wrong with her! But yeah, I think I will just continue the treatment to be sure. I'm assuming that since I am giving a probiotic powder with the oatmeal I don't have to give yogurt as well, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

I couldn't find poultry electrolyte locally for the chicken first aid kit that you so kindly helped me build

and, of course, never got around to ordering it online (you bet I will now!) but I think I have a fresh bottle of Pedialyte so I'll use it!

Affirmative on the DE

I'm not overly concerned with the Silkies and Polish, only because that's pretty much all I have! The only others are a Sultan pullet with a ginormous crest, and just two non-crested birds, one of which is brand spankin new and hasn't been integrated yet. Both of the non-cresteds are bantams, too. But I will definitely keep an eye on the Silkies!

Alright, so hopefully she'll stay well! Thanks a bunch, threehorses!

 

[threehorses]

Oh yeah silly me - I forgot you have the awesome probiotic. So yes - don't worry about the yogurt. She's already well taken care of in the probiotic department.

As far as pedialyte goes, I've used it plenty. I more often have that than the other (tho oddly I have electrolytes sitting right on my desk at the moment?).

I'm so very glad she seems normal today! Silly girl. I'd definitely give her A Firm Speech about scaring her owner.

I didn't really do anything to help, but I'm glad to have tried.

Cheers!