Overcame prolapse 6 months ago, but having new problems

[FMD0808]

One of my girls had a prolapse 6 months ago and after a veterinary visit and taking advice on here, we managed to push the prolapse back and it has remained good for 6 months. Unfortunately, in the time she was incapacitated, she lost her 2nd rank in pecking order and is now bottom, but that isn't the issue. We are monitoring the bullying etc, and stopping it as much as possible, but when she had the prolapse a 'farmer' friend said we should cut back her backside feathers as there was so much white gunk to clean up. The feathers haven't grown back and in the last few weeks the white gunk is now covering her skin and it looks so sore. She is such a good girl, and allows me to bathe her/wipe it off each day. I have been treating her skin which is bright red with cream for baby nappy rash (now stopped that) and have moved onto organic aloe vera. I read the white gunk might be a thrush infection, so used some old thrush cream I had and have been pushing that gently into her vent the last few days. However, I am now noticing she is dripping fluid. I have her on probiotic yoghourt with raw garlic, and put raw garlic in her water. She has gone through so much, if these are her last few weeks, I want to make them as comfortable as possible for her. She is 2 years and old and hasn't molted, but has a history of soft and double yolk eggs. I live in France and any US products are probably not obtainable here. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[azygous]

Look online for Medistatin. You should be able to get it. It's nystatin powder and you mix a teaspoon into her food per day. That should help with the yeast infection which likely goes through her entire digestive system all the way to the cloaca. Just applying thrush cream at the vent won't target the majority of the yeast. Let her eat her reguar feed, but withhold any carbs since yeasts feed on sugars.

She may also be having a reproductive crisis with a stuck soft egg. The vent discharge indicates this as a possibility. Give her a calcium tablet, at least 500mg once a day to encourage contractions to push out the obstruction. If you can find calcium citrate with vitamin D, that works best. Be sure she has access to plenty of fresh water as the fluid loss can dehydrate her.

 

[FMD0808]

Look online for Medistatin. You should be able to get it. It's nystatin powder and you mix a teaspoon into her food per day. That should help with the yeast infection which likely goes through her entire digestive system all the way to the cloaca. Just applying thrush cream at the vent won't target the majority of the yeast. Let her eat her reguar feed, but withhold any carbs since yeasts feed on sugars.

She may also be having a reproductive crisis with a stuck soft egg. The vent discharge indicates this as a possibility. Give her a calcium tablet, at least 500mg once a day to encourage contractions to push out the obstruction. If you can find calcium citrate with vitamin D, that works best. Be sure she has access to plenty of fresh water as the fluid loss can dehydrate her.

Thank you so much for all the info. You previously advised me to get calcium citrate so I have some on hand. Mixing it in with probiotic yoghurt and apple and banana to disguise the taste, assume that is ok (ref sugars). Managed to get a prescription from vet for the nystatin powder, so all good. How long should I give her the calcium tablet. She was really pushing hard yesterday after the tablet took effect, but I can't keep my eye on her all the time to see if she pushes out a softie and don't like keep her penned in. Thanks again

 

[azygous]

You are good to go, then! Be sure she gets around 500 -600mg of the calcium citrate at once. If in tablet form, just stick the whole tablet into her beak. You can do this every day. If she is seeming to struggle a lot with trying to get an egg passed, then give her a second calcium tablet. Be sure she has plenty of water to drink because being well hydrated helps.

 

[FMD0808]

Good morning @azygous and Happy Thanksgiving. I am attaching this here as I do not seem able to start a new post (don't know why). My girl with yeast infectuion has turned the corner thankfully, however, I am typing this with one of the other girls (2 years old) on my lap and I fear she is dying. You have been so helpful before and knowledgeable, I am hoping you could throw some light on this. She has never been prone to laying problems but on Sunday she laid a soft egg at 5pm after laying earlier in the day. The next day she tried to lay but couldn't. She spent 2 days hunched over and not eating and only drinking a little. Yesterday (Wed) I brought her into the house and gave her two Epsom baths and some calcium citrate thinking she had another softie problem. No success, still not eating, but I started syringing a little water into her. Today Thursday I gave her 500mg of calcium citrate and an epsom bath. She really started to push and this went on for an hour but nothing appeared. I put her in a cage with a hot water bottle and she fell asleep. I went in to check her and she had fallen over. I began to nurse her and half hour later I felt warm liquid on me from her vent, she started to gasp and moan and I thought she was about to die, but she didn't. I continued nursing her and a while later a large amount of creamy/brownish matter came out of her vent. I syringed some more water into her and a while later some white gunky stuff started coming from her beak. And that is where we are currently at. Would you have any suggestions for me? I appreciate it is Thanksgiving and sorry for contacting you today.

 

[azygous]

These things are not considerate of holidays. Don't worry, my Thanksgiving only involves belting out a pumpkin pie to bribe my way to a turkey dinner someone else has slaved over.

Your hen is in serious trouble, but you already know that.

Do you have an oral antibiotic on hand? If so, what is it? This hen sounds like she has an infection. It may or may not be reproductive, although that's a good guess.

Do you have Poultry Nutri-drench on hand? I suggest giving that to her in a little water with a bit of sugar added to elevate her glucose to help her with energy to fight this.

So far, you've done everything I would have suggested. Keep her warm and comfortable, and keep a close check on what comes out of her. And continue to hydrate her by providing access to sugar water with Nutri-drench.

I'll continue to check in all day.

 

[FMD0808]

These things are not considerate of holidays. Don't worry, my Thanksgiving only involves belting out a pumpkin pie to bribe my way to a turkey dinner someone else has slaved over.

Your hen is in serious trouble, but you already know that.

Do you have an oral antibiotic on hand? If so, what is it? This hen sounds like she has an infection. It may or may not be reproductive, although that's a good guess.

Do you have Poultry Nutri-drench on hand? I suggest giving that to her in a little water with a bit of sugar added to elevate her glucose to help her with energy to fight this.

So far, you've done everything I would have suggested. Keep her warm and comfortable, and keep a close check on what comes out of her. And continue to hydrate her by providing access to sugar water with Nutri-drench.

I'll continue to check in all day.

Thanks so much for the info, especially on Thanksgiving ... sadly, my little Maggie May passed away in my husband's arms 45 minutes ago. Bless her. I still don't know what her issues were, she was such a fiesty, fun-loving little girl, and we are devastated. Thank you again for your input though ... and enjoy your pumpkin pie xx

 

[azygous]

I'm so sorry. I know it's not something one would relish doing on a national holiday, but your husband could open her up and take a glance inside to see what might have caused this. I suspect cancer tumors are swimming in that dark fluid inside her abdominal cavity like a hideous bean soup. That might portend an avian virus such as lymphoid leucosis.

 

[FMD0808]

I'm so sorry. I know it's not something one would relish doing on a national holiday, but your husband could open her up and take a glance inside to see what might have caused this. I suspect cancer tumors are swimming in that dark fluid inside her abdominal cavity like a hideous bean soup. That might portend an avian virus such as lymphoid leucosis.

I did mention it to him, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Would this lymphoid leucosis virus be contagious (if that is what she had?)