Mystery malady! Slimy poop, not drinking

[A Swede in France]

Hi,

Our girl Astrid is sick and we can't figure out what's up. She's a 9 month old free-ranging Brahma who normally eats a layers mix of pellets, some grain, and occasional veggie and mealworm treats. Pictures attached of the lovely lady and her latest poop.

Four days ago she woke up very droopy and pooped mostly clear mucous, white urates and bile. We monitored her poop and saw fresh blood in one so immediately suspected coccidiosis and started treating her for that with the appropriate antibiotics (lost a pullet to coccidiosis very rapidly once so we take no chances and have had vet advice on dosage etc. We're giving her our local brand of sulfadimethoxin/trimethoprime.)

It's now been three days and there has been no more blood, but poops are still very slimy. Initially everything that came out was mucous and bile, but now there's some digested matter too (she's eating a little bit more) so the colour is less intensely bile green. There are also some undigested grains in almost all poops.

Hey appetite is really low, and weirdest/worst of all we've not seen her drink for days (and it's hot!). We're feeding her whatever she will take, with a focus on watery stuff, so her menu is currently yoghurt, plums, cucumber and occasionally mealworms and pellets. She eats very little.

I suspected she might have a crop issue rather than coccidiosis because those poops speak to me of blockage, so I've been monitoring her crop. It is predictably smallish and quite firm. Never completely empty, but not full either (also in mornings). No smell. I massage it several times per day and cannot feel any mass that cannot be broken up. It's pretty grainy in there though, and much drier than her sisters'. She actually seems to enjoy these massages which is nice. Or she's suffering too much to make a move

She behaves like a sick chicken. Standing still a lot, sometimes lying, staring into walls. She walks around slowly sometimes. Her posture is normal but her tail is down or at best horizontal. She's not fluffing up or turning into a ball, but then it's quite warm so I guess she has no need for keeping warm. She moves slowly and seems spaced out. I could swear her pupils look dilated. Her crest is reasonably red, but her eyes are sunken and she looks drawn and miserable. I wonder if she's in pain. Butt looks fine, and there are no lice. She layed a normal egg two days ago and I can't feel any significant swelling of her abdomen. I wondered for a while if she had a reproductive issue but think I've ruled that out since there is no swelling, no dribbling cloaca, no penguin stance and I don't think there's yolk in her poop. Happy to hear your thoughts on this though.

Beyond eating a bit more, she's not getting much better, or taking enough fluids. Poops are still slimy with undigested pieces although with less bile, and today there's also a bit of yellow in the urates so now I'm worried about her kidneys.

What do you think, should we just keep feeding her whatever she'll eat, focusing on wet stuff, continue the course of sulfa, and keep her safe and comfy? She is out next to her gang but separated, and sleeps inside. I strongly feel this is the least stressful for her. Nobody's else is exhibiting any symptoms.

Is there something I haven't thought about or could do or modify in her care? Do you think our coccidiosis diagnosis is reasonable or does this sound more like a crop or reproductive issue?

I'm considering forcing some water into her, it will be with a syringe bcs tubing feels beyond me - I feel fairly confident using the syringe though. If she's not better on Monday we're off to the vet.

I'd be really grateful to hear you thoughts and suggestions for what could be wrong, and what we could do better!

 

[azygous]

She needs fluids before anything. Dehydration may be the cause of the yellow in the poop.

If you have a vet you see for other pets, ask them to sell you a tube feeding kit for a small animal. I got one from my vet for $3. Tubing is the easiest, fastest, safest way to get fluids into a sick chicken without risk of aspiration.

To confirm coccidiosis, a simple poop test done in less than an hour at any vet's can confirm coccidia. Save that for the future, though. Testing now may not produce an accurate finding since the chickens have been on a coccidiostat.

However, cocciciosis isn't the only thing to cause blood in poop. Bacterial infection in the intestines will also produce the same effect. The sulfa drug should be continued for this hen, and it's another good reason to tube her if she isn't drinking. It won't do her any good unless it gets into her system.

Get the tubing and syringe to fit it and come back her and I'll walk you through how to tube your sick chicken.

 

[A Swede in France]

She needs fluids before anything. Dehydration may be the cause of the yellow in the poop.

If you have a vet you see for other pets, ask them to sell you a tube feeding kit for a small animal. I got one from my vet for $3. Tubing is the easiest, fastest, safest way to get fluids into a sick chicken without risk of aspiration.

To confirm coccidiosis, a simple poop test done in less than an hour at any vet's can confirm coccidia. Save that for the future, though. Testing now may not produce an accurate finding since the chickens have been on a coccidiostat.

However, cocciciosis isn't the only thing to cause blood in poop. Bacterial infection in the intestines will also produce the same effect. The sulfa drug should be continued for this hen, and it's another good reason to tube her if she isn't drinking. It won't do her any good unless it gets into her system.

Get the tubing and syringe to fit it and come back her and I'll walk you through how to tube your sick chicken.

Thank you!

I'm sneaking the meds into her in the yoghurt or orally via syringe at the moment, but I'd for sure be more precise and safer with a tube.

 

[LaFleche]

Is there something I haven't thought about or could do or modify in her care

When did you last deworm her?

 

[A Swede in France]

When did you last deworm her?

They get one of those natural dewormers monthly but we also gave her a dose of the pharmacy dewormer her second day of being ill, so three days ago

 

[LaFleche]

They get one of those natural dewormers monthly but we also gave her a dose of the pharmacy dewormer her second day of being ill, so three days ago

What exactly did you use?

 

[A Swede in France]

What exactly did you use?

Levamisol

 

[LaFleche]

Living in France you would be able to purchase Flubenole 5% which will be given fir the duration of 7 consecutive days and will be easier on the bird as the worms will not be killed all at once which sometimes, with a heavy worm load excreting toxins whilen dying, can lead to severe issues with some of the other drugs in use.

Furthermore, there is no egg withdrawal time for Flubenole 5%.
There is no official egg withdrawal time for Levamisole/Concurat as it should only be used treating meat birds, not laying hens, because it tends to accumulate in the ovaries.

I would discard the eggs of your treated bird for at least 4 weeks.

 

[A Swede in France]

Living in France you would be able to purchase Flubenole 5% which will be given fir the duration of 7 consecutive days and will be easier on the bird as the worms will not be killed all at once which sometimes, with a heavy worm load excreting toxins whilen dying, can lead to severe issues with some of the other drugs in use.

Furthermore, there is no egg withdrawal time for Flubenole 5%.
There is no official egg withdrawal time for Levamisole/Concurat as it should only be used treating meat birds, not laying hens, because it tends to accumulate in the ovaries.

I would discard the eggs of your treated bird for at least 4 weeks.

Great advice, thank you!

 

[A Swede in France]

Little update. Yesterday (Monday) she looked better. She was drinking, a bit more interested in food, her crop felt more normal, and her droppings had more normal fecal matter.

Today (Tuesday) she is very lethargic and generally looks worse. She's mostly lying very flat on the ground, looking a bit melted. Crop still feels ok. Poop the same mix of clear mucous, white urates, and what looks like yellow urates (all mixed in the mucous). She's also very hot, I think she might have a fever. She eats a little grain but has very low appetite. She has not laid since her second day of sickness, which is now four days ago. I didn't get the tube yet, so didn't try to get more water into her like that, but she does seem to drink again.

I've continued the sulfa treatment for coccidiosis but really feel like we should stay seeing more improvement.

I think it's time to go to the vet.

Still happy to hear your thoughts and ideas!