Parasite or something else?

[mapurcel]

Good evening,

I have a chicken that is molting but seems a bit too lethargic for my liking.

We had a girl pass away from being egg bound last week but earlier was showing similar symptoms to this girl so I think the egg bound death was secondary to something else going around.

The facts:
1. She’s been more lethargic the past week. I’ll see her sit down or doze off standing up. When I approach she’s alert and moving around just fine so it’s only in down time she does this.

2. I have dewormed the flock 2x this summer due to my noticing poopy butts. Hers is very mildly poopy butt. Either I’m not using the correct product or it’s something else going on with her. I will attach product in this post.

3. I have provided baytril now about 3x in small doses with chick feed and yogurt. She doesn’t seem to be improving but it is a small dose so maybe I just need to isolate and dose more appropriately.

4. Poops seem appropriate size color and shape. White and brown, no bubbles

5. Although she is standing at times more upright with wings down she is still laying every once in a while (this is a bantam breed not known for producing so I don’t find the lack of eggs unusual).

6. After the first girl died I scrubbed all water and food containers down, cleaned the coop, cleaned the roots, revamped the chicken run with fresh dirt and turned over the old.

7. I’m adding poultry cell to their water for additional supplements.

8. I have checked for external mites and I don’t see any on her vent, under wings, by neck, etc.


I really don’t want to lose another girl, can someone tell me what I’m missing?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Good evening,

I have a chicken that is molting but seems a bit too lethargic for my liking.

We had a girl pass away from being egg bound last week but earlier was showing similar symptoms to this girl so I think the egg bound death was secondary to something else going around.

The facts:
1. She’s been more lethargic the past week. I’ll see her sit down or doze off standing up. When I approach she’s alert and moving around just fine so it’s only in down time she does this.

2. I have dewormed the flock 2x this summer due to my noticing poopy butts. Hers is very mildly poopy butt. Either I’m not using the correct product or it’s something else going on with her. I will attach product in this post.

3. I have provided baytril now about 3x in small doses with chick feed and yogurt. She doesn’t seem to be improving but it is a small dose so maybe I just need to isolate and dose more appropriately.

4. Poops seem appropriate size color and shape. White and brown, no bubbles

5. Although she is standing at times more upright with wings down she is still laying every once in a while (this is a bantam breed not known for producing so I don’t find the lack of eggs unusual).

6. After the first girl died I scrubbed all water and food containers down, cleaned the coop, cleaned the roots, revamped the chicken run with fresh dirt and turned over the old.

7. I’m adding poultry cell to their water for additional supplements.

I really don’t want to lose another girl, can someone tell me what I’m missing?

Give some probiotics. Things internally probably have been thrown off track. Wouldn't hurt. Try for a week?

 

[mapurcel]

I’m also very open to hearing of where everyone likes to buy their supplements. I like to use https://allbirdproducts.com/ but unfortunately it seems like they are sold out of a lot of chicken related products.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I have a girl like this. She has a couple of chronic ailments (eye and leg), so I can tell she wants to rest more than the others. Perks up great for treats and forage time. You're smart to assume there's something going on with yours, but of course, chickens are really good at hiding any illness or injury.

You said you checked for mites, but it might be worth feeling around gently on her joints, legs, and feet. Bumblefoot would be pretty easy to ID, but you could also check for damaged nails, swelling, etc. My d'Uccle is impossible to handle for health checks, so maybe bring a trusted helper to carefully restrain.

I've gotten supplements off Amazon (I like Now brand, if I can get it). Grubbly Farms has nice containers of both probiotics and electrolytes. Anything else I need, I've been able to find at Tractor Supply (like Poultry Cell or Nutri-drench).

 

[mapurcel]

I have a girl like this. She has a couple of chronic ailments (eye and leg), so I can tell she wants to rest more than the others. Perks up great for treats and forage time. You're smart to assume there's something going on with yours, but of course, chickens are really good at hiding any illness or injury.

You said you checked for mites, but it might be worth feeling around gently on her joints, legs, and feet. Bumblefoot would be pretty easy to ID, but you could also check for damaged nails, swelling, etc. My d'Uccle is impossible to handle for health checks, so maybe bring a trusted helper to carefully restrain.

I've gotten supplements off Amazon (I like Now brand, if I can get it). Grubbly Farms has nice containers of both probiotics and electrolytes. Anything else I need, I've been able to find at Tractor Supply (like Poultry Cell or Nutri-drench).

Thank you for your reply! I will be sure to check leg joints as I mostly checked fluffy thigh area. She does seems to have some redness around her feet where some serious pin feathers are coming out. I see her taking on a flamingo stance sometimes. I feel terrible for the poor dears with feathered feet. I try to trim them after they are unfurled but I dare not touch them beforehand lest I cause some very significant damage. Her nails are running a bit long, could do with a trim, which also hints are her inactivity for a bit now.

I realized I think my dewormer is expired from the photo so I’d like to get some fresh source and try that again.

 

[thecatumbrella]

She does seems to have some redness around her feet where some serious pin feathers are coming out.

My sickly girl has this as well! They're my first feather-footed birds, so I'm not very knowledgable on what's normal or not, but her sisters don't seem to have it with the same severity. It can't be comfortable to have these huge blood feathers poking out through your delicate foot skin. I also have to trim her nails because she doesn't scratch as much as the others... again, probably because it's uncomfortable.