Persistent Diarrhea - No Parasites or Lethargy

[LoCoHens]

I have a 3yo Appenzeller Spitzhauben hen with something going on that I can't figure out.

She has been molting and one morning her crop was doughy so I brought her inside for a few days and tried some lemon juice/cayenne/ginger/cinnamon solution and then progressed to mineral oil and metoclopramide (this is the treatment my vet prescribed when I had another hen with crop issues). After a couple days the doughy crop resolved, but then it came back after one day outside so I brought her back inside. She never appeared ill, but I know they can hide things well. Up until she started molting, she was laying normal eggs regularly. I took a fecal sample to the vet and it came back negative for parasites. Initially I wasn't too concerned, thinking she might have gotten a little dehydrated. I've had hens develop slow crop before when molting.

After bringing her back inside I noticed she started drinking so much that she'd fill her crop and it would spill out of her beak . She was eating and not lethargic though. He poop got very liquidy and frequent so I stopped my home treatment and took her to the vet. They told me she was thin, but her crop and abdomen felt normal. She was down about a half pound from the last time I weighed her which was over a year ago. The vet gave her antibiotic/B12/meloxicam injections and tube fed her some rescue/recovery formula. They said if she didn't get better to bring her back for an x-ray which may or may not show anything. They suspected her weight loss was due to getting bullied and recommended I keep her inside until she put on some weight. She's pretty assertive and we only have one bully hen so I don't think that's it.

In the morning when I check on her, her crop is empty and her poops from overnight are almost normal, but then when I put fresh food and water in her crate, she drinks until her crop is full and then has watery diarrhea most of the day. The only thing I can think of is kidney disease, but she isn't acting ill. Or maybe a false negative fecal parasite test. She is eating her feed. She devours the dried larvae I give her, even making chirpy sounds when she sees them. Strangely though she won't eat scrambled egg. Since this all started I've been mixing in vitamin/electrolyte/probiotic powder into her water.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[azygous]

I've found that after you've treated a chicken for everything on the list and the digestive system is still not quite normal, an acidophilus probiotic tablet each day for several days can fix the problem. Get it were you buy people vitamins.

 

[coach723]

I would definitely give the probiotics a try. Do you know when she last laid?
Another thought is to maybe try a different brand of feed with her. I've had birds in the past with difficulty digesting certain ingredients or brands, and switching made a big difference. With supply chains being what they are these days, there are going to be inconsistencies in ingredients in most of the commercial brands based on availability of ingredients.

 

[LoCoHens]

I've found that after you've treated a chicken for everything on the list and the digestive system is still not quite normal, an acidophilus probiotic tablet each day for several days can fix the problem. Get it were you buy people vitamins.

Thank you. I will try this.

 

[LoCoHens]

I would definitely give the probiotics a try. Do you know when she last laid?
Another thought is to maybe try a different brand of feed with her. I've had birds in the past with difficulty digesting certain ingredients or brands, and switching made a big difference. With supply chains being what they are these days, there are going to be inconsistencies in ingredients in most of the commercial brands based on availability of ingredients.

Thank you. I can't recall the date when she last laid, but it was right before she went into molt. I know this because she was the last to molt and was the only one laying for awhile. Good thought on the feed. In the past we provided both non-GMO non-soy crumbles and standard pellets, but switched awhile back to tighten the budget.