my peahens are sick

[phare]

just noteid today that two peahens are sick.......not sure what is wrong. Symptoms include, weakness, weight loss and loss of energy. Also important is that the poop looks like dark gray soupy mudd. I have removed them from the big pem and placed them in a smaller pen. These peahens are approx 15 mo old. Really worried they are going to die. Does anyone have ideas, suggestions or answers.........

 

[chickenzoo]

Have they been wormed? That may be part of the problem, but I'm not sure about the sludgy poo. What are your peafowl near...such as chickens etc... how are they housed what are they fed... etc...

 

[melissa508]

This is the only time of the year I have ever lost peas ..other than a dog attack. Id say its worms also ..I lost one last week & suspect worms..I dont think i gave them enough wormer to kill the worms initially.

Im sure someone will chime in and let you know if its safe to worm them while theyre sick ..personally, i would do it if it were mine sick, id feel like i had nothing to lose since by the time birds show signs of illness, theyre pretty bad off.

 

[featherhead]

Black, watery stool is usually a symptom of coccidia, which is an intestinal parasite. Weight loss and lethargy and droopy neck are also symptoms. I use Corid (amprolium) 9.6% oral solution, 5cc per gallon of drinking water for 5 days. If your hens are already down, mix some of this and syringe about 3cc down each bird's throat. Give some to ALL your birds, even those not showing symptoms yet. Peafowl can go downhill very quickly from coccidia. I couldn't find Corid at TSC, but found a bottle at Southern States. Good luck to you and your birds, and please let us know what happens.

As chicks, did they eat a medicated chick starter? Some chick starters contain amprolium, most do not. This additive helps keep the chicks healthy while their immune systems develop. Have they been wormed since you got them?

 

[NateinFL]

I'm experiencing the same dilemma with a newly purchased peahen. I had her for 2 weeks then she went weak on me. She is on the rebound now, I added electrolyte mix in her water and even gave her a bit directly in her mouth to ensure she drank some. I dont think she ate hardly anything for 3 days until today. I offered black oil sunflower seeds and she scarfed them down I was so happy. Worming will be done very soon.

 

[phare]

All my birds are kept in spacious clean pens - they have a covered shed - fresh water and I feed them cracked corn, a gamebird or turkey maintenance and/or pellets - as a treat they get white bread and lettuce.

In late August I wormed my birds using the Rooster Booster wormer pellets that you add to their feed bowl. After reading some of the peafowl threads from this chat forum last night - I learned about the Safeguard wormer - so today I went to SStates and purchased the Safeguard liquid wormer and prepared treated water for all my birds this afternoon.

The bad news, my purple hen died today-I had purchased this peahen from Motts in July. It's worth noting that both sick peahens were in the same pen - I noticed the poop in that pen was rather big piles of muddy looking poop - which I scooped out. The other hen is still standing tonight - not quite as sick or weak as the hen that died. I have given her .50cc Tylan50 and the safequard treated water.

Not sure if this is good or bad..........but need to so something. Much appreciation to everyone that has responded - you guys know how sad this can be. Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AHappychick]

I would try treating for cocci before antibiotics

 

[NateinFL]

What exactly are the symptoms of cocci, is it one of those that can be anything and everything or is there very specific signs a peacock is sure to have it, just would like to know. I mean, if the bird is droopy, that could be anything.

 

[phare]

If I have treated my all my peafowl with the safeguard wormer this week............. and now I worried my peas might be infected with coccida as suggested by featherhead (thanks featherhead)....... can I also immediately treat them with corid or sulmet ? If not - what is best way to treat them- especially the sick peahen mentioned below?

My pied peahen is still standing........but can't tell if she is eating. We picked her up last night to put a little safeguard & water in her mouth - she resisted somewhat and felt very light We noticed she smelled stinky....... but didn't see any poo in the pen.......no runny butt.... no obvious signs of sinus or breathing problems.

Not sure what that was - anybody have ideas?

 

[featherhead]

Coccidiosis is easiest to identify by your bird's droppings. Stools will be dark, watery, and sometimes have noticeable blood. This is one of the symptoms that makes the stool so dark. Coccidia live in the soil and are found everywhere in the world. Climate doesn't matter - these are hardy little nasties. By the time you see blood in the stool, it can be too late for your bird. I'd advise not to treat with 2 medications at the same time, as some antibiotics can really irritate open wounds in the intestines, and this is what coccidia creates - perforations in the intestinal walls that bleed out. Corid is the trade name for amprolium, which is a coccidiostat. Underneath the name "Corid" on the bottle, you'll see (amprolium).

A droopy bird that goes off its feed can indicate general illness, but studying the stools will tell you volumes. It doesn't cost much to take a sample to the vet and ask them to run a fecal. Although the coccidia that infects birds can't infect humans or other mammals, the parasites look remarkably similar under a microscope. Even if your vet clinic doesn't routinely treat birds, a good vet tech can spot coccidia on a slide.

A fecal sample will also tell you if your bird has worms, and specifically what type of worms. This is critical to know, because different wormers kill different types of worms. If your bird has hookworm and you're treating with Wazine, you're wasting your money and your bird will just get sicker.

The UPA has an entire collection of health and disease articles that might be worth reading if you're new to peafowl. They've saved more than one of my birds when I was new to these amazing beauties.

phare, I'm so sorry to hear about your purple hen. We've all been where you are and it hurts.