Need Advice Please - Yellow Urates

[tarahharlin]

I have a Speckled Sussex hen that is 9 1/2 years old. Yesterday she was totally fine and her typical sassy and "full of it" self. Early that evening, I found her sitting in the nest box, which is odd because she hasn't laid in 3 years and she's been molting though she seems to be towards the end of that. While sitting in the nest she kept closing her eyes and I could clearly tell something wasn't right. I gave her a calcium pill in case she was struggling with a possible egg. Later that evening she did come out of nest box to roost for the night, which was nice to see.

I checked her first thing this morning and she had a full, hard crop and only passed one hard little poop. The urates had a yellowish tint. I gave her a dulcolax this morning in case it was a crop issue we were dealing with and I gave her another calcium pill a few hours later. She seems pretty okay this morning and was out and about running around. She's eating normally and still has interest in food though she seems a little subdued overall, which stands out with her since typically everything she does is at 110%. I don't know how much she's been drinking though. I checked on her just before and she pooped a yellowish liquid. Since this morning she has had a couple poops with the yellowish urates. I'm not sure if this is all related to her crop issue? I don't know if we're dealing with strictly a crop issue, or if she's trying to pass something?

She's on Kalmbach 17% Protein Hi Omega Layer Feed. Has access to grit, flaked oyster shell and crushed eggshells though I haven't seen her peck at any of that since she no longer lays.

I'm really hoping someone has some good advice, or insight for me. This girl is my special little lady, my sidekick. I'm trying not to stress/worry to much and just keep my cool, but it's so worrisome. It all just seems weird with how sudden all of this happened.

Here's an image of her (1) morning poop and the (2) is from this afternoon.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Giving the Calcium is a good idea, if she's coming out of molt, she may be trying to expel an egg or lash material, etc.

When was the last deworming? It's hard to tell in the photo if that's a worm or bedding. Can you tell?

Yellow urates can sometimes indicate something going on with the Liver. Possibly some dehydration. With aging hens this would not be too uncommon.

I'd continue to work on the crop like you are doing. See that she's drinking well and eating.

If she's not been dewormed, I'd consider doing that. Since she's coming out of molt, usually it's best to use Albendazole (Valbazen) since Fenbendazole (Panacur/Safeguard) is known to affect feather growth in molting birds - it may be she's past that stage, but then again...
Valbazen (name brand) is hard to find right now due to a manufacture's issue. You can get Albendazole (drug name) through the link below.

The dose for the Albendazole in the link below is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10days. This will treat most worms except for Tapeworms.

https://horseprerace.com/albendazole-oral-liquid-for-horses-cattle-sheep-500ml/

 

[tarahharlin]

Giving the Calcium is a good idea, if she's coming out of molt, she may be trying to expel an egg or lash material, etc.

When was the last deworming? It's hard to tell in the photo if that's a worm or bedding. Can you tell?

Yellow urates can sometimes indicate something going on with the Liver. Possibly some dehydration. With aging hens this would not be too uncommon.

I'd continue to work on the crop like you are doing. See that she's drinking well and eating.

If she's not been dewormed, I'd consider doing that. Since she's coming out of molt, usually it's best to use Albendazole (Valbazen) since Fenbendazole (Panacur/Safeguard) is known to affect feather growth in molting birds - it may be she's past that stage, but then again...
Valbazen (name brand) is hard to find right now due to a manufacture's issue. You can get Albendazole (drug name) through the link below.

The dose for the Albendazole in the link below is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10days. This will treat most worms except for Tapeworms.

https://horseprerace.com/albendazole-oral-liquid-for-horses-cattle-sheep-500ml/
View attachment 4215743

Thank you so much for your reply! Yes, I saw that same thing that you're pointing out in photo and it was bedding. When I saw it from a distance I thought worm, but I poked at it and luckily it was just the bedding. They were last dewormed this past spring, so I'll get some Valbazen and do a fall deworming.

I checked her crop this morning and it was still full. Not hard like the previous morning, but more balloon like. She did pass some poops during the night, so at least there's some stuff moving through. I dampened some feed this morning and she ate that, so at least she's eating. She seems to be hanging in there, but gosh it's always so hard to know what exactly is going on. She hasn't been acting like she's straining, or trying to lay something, so I'm not sure if I should continue giving her calcium? Especially since she hasn't laid in several years. I was looking at her feathers and she does still have quite a few pin feathers coming in, so it really would seem weird if there was an egg, but I know with these creatures that anything is possible!

I'll keep continuing to work on her crop like you suggested. I have some coconut oil in the freezer that I'll try giving her as well. Hopefully something will give!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much for your reply! Yes, I saw that same thing that you're pointing out in photo and it was bedding. When I saw it from a distance I thought worm, but I poked at it and luckily it was just the bedding. They were last dewormed this past spring, so I'll get some Valbazen and do a fall deworming.

I checked her crop this morning and it was still full. Not hard like the previous morning, but more balloon like. She did pass some poops during the night, so at least there's some stuff moving through. I dampened some feed this morning and she ate that, so at least she's eating. She seems to be hanging in there, but gosh it's always so hard to know what exactly is going on. She hasn't been acting like she's straining, or trying to lay something, so I'm not sure if I should continue giving her calcium? Especially since she hasn't laid in several years. I was looking at her feathers and she does still have quite a few pin feathers coming in, so it really would seem weird if there was an egg, but I know with these creatures that anything is possible!

I'll keep continuing to work on her crop like you suggested. I have some coconut oil in the freezer that I'll try giving her as well. Hopefully something will give!

I think what you are doing is very good.

Giving the extra calcium would be up to you, normally the extra is only given for a few days to see if they expel anything.

You're right though, you never know. There's been threads where a hen hasn't laid in a few years then starts back up. You never know what the body is going to do.

I'm glad you were able to determine if that was a worm or not. It was so hard to tell, I went back and forth trying to decide whether to even mention it, but on the off chance, I didn't want to dismiss it either.

I hope she improves, keep me posted.

 

[tarahharlin]

I think what you are doing is very good.

Giving the extra calcium would be up to you, normally the extra is only given for a few days to see if they expel anything.

You're right though, you never know. There's been threads where a hen hasn't laid in a few years then starts back up. You never know what the body is going to do.

I'm glad you were able to determine if that was a worm or not. It was so hard to tell, I went back and forth trying to decide whether to even mention it, but on the off chance, I didn't want to dismiss it either.

I hope she improves, keep me posted.

Update:
I ended up getting a vet appointment for her since I really was hoping to get an xray to see if there was anything abnormal inside of her. Her appointment was yesterday and she spent most of the day there. They did their exam and didn't feel any eggs, or mass inside of her, which is great. I requested the xray, so they had to sedate her. Xray didn't show anything abnormal other than she had a lot of grit in her crop and some in her gizzard. They gave her fluids during her stay and she got some vitamin injections and a calcium injection. The vet recommended putting her under anesthesia to flush out her crop. I really didn't want to do that and especially given her age. So, the vet recommended tube feeding her with water and lactulose for a few days along with lots of crop massages. I learned how to tube feed, which is great. In addition to all of that she did poop one of her liquid yellow poops, so the vet prescribed an antibiotic as well (Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim), so I'm really hoping that takes care of any weird infection she may have...hopefully! She also prescribed Panacur to deworm just to cover all of our bases.

She spent the day inside with me today to keep her from pecking at any dirt and we also withheld food. She's been pooping quite a bit. Still a lot of yellow urates/liquid in some. She did have a few cecal poops, which I haven't seen since this all started, so I'm hoping that's a positive sign. She seems to be in good spirits and her eyes look bright and alert and she's trying to get into mischief. lol

I really, really hope this all helps her make a full recovery. She's my sassy little speckled sussex and I just adore her!

Thanks again for your replies/advice!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:
I ended up getting a vet appointment for her since I really was hoping to get an xray to see if there was anything abnormal inside of her. Her appointment was yesterday and she spent most of the day there. They did their exam and didn't feel any eggs, or mass inside of her, which is great. I requested the xray, so they had to sedate her. Xray didn't show anything abnormal other than she had a lot of grit in her crop and some in her gizzard. They gave her fluids during her stay and she got some vitamin injections and a calcium injection. The vet recommended putting her under anesthesia to flush out her crop. I really didn't want to do that and especially given her age. So, the vet recommended tube feeding her with water and lactulose for a few days along with lots of crop massages. I learned how to tube feed, which is great. In addition to all of that she did poop one of her liquid yellow poops, so the vet prescribed an antibiotic as well (Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim), so I'm really hoping that takes care of any weird infection she may have...hopefully! She also prescribed Panacur to deworm just to cover all of our bases.

She spent the day inside with me today to keep her from pecking at any dirt and we also withheld food. She's been pooping quite a bit. Still a lot of yellow urates/liquid in some. She did have a few cecal poops, which I haven't seen since this all started, so I'm hoping that's a positive sign. She seems to be in good spirits and her eyes look bright and alert and she's trying to get into mischief. lol

I really, really hope this all helps her make a full recovery. She's my sassy little speckled sussex and I just adore her!

Thanks again for your replies/advice!!

I'm glad the Vet was able to see her. Sounds like a thorough exam!

I think all the bases are covered with addressing the crop, the antibiotic and dewormer. Hopefully she's on the road to feeling much better.

Please keep me posted on how she's getting along.

 

[tarahharlin]

I'm glad the Vet was able to see her. Sounds like a thorough exam!

I think all the bases are covered with addressing the crop, the antibiotic and dewormer. Hopefully she's on the road to feeling much better.

Please keep me posted on how she's getting along.

Do you think I should withhold food for a 2nd day? I feel hesitant to do so, especially since she's on an antibiotic as well and could possibly fighting a little infection. She did pass a decent amount of poop last night for not having any food, but her crop still had a good size feel to it this morning. I was thinking if I did feed her just to do some wet feed, or a scrambled eggs. I just wouldn't want that antibiotic to make her feel icky with no food in her system.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think a spoonful of feed and lots of water and a bit of watery raw egg might be okay.

 

[tarahharlin]

I think a spoonful of feed and lots of water and a bit of watery raw egg might be okay.

I will try that. Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you think I should withhold food for a 2nd day? I feel hesitant to do so, especially since she's on an antibiotic as well and could possibly fighting a little infection. She did pass a decent amount of poop last night for not having any food, but her crop still had a good size feel to it this morning. I was thinking if I did feed her just to do some wet feed, or a scrambled eggs. I just wouldn't want that antibiotic to make her feel icky with no food in her system.

I agree, I'd give her a little wet feed.