Please help me!!! my hen is lethargic with undigested grains and yellow urates in poop

[DorisBondo]

I wormed her and the vet gave her another pills for coccidiosis. It was the rice in the poop because only today I gave her to eat rice and only today I found them in the poop. She ate 2 hours ago and I give her to eat special food for chickens (I don't know how is called in english), not grains because she can't digest them.

 

[ten chicks]

I wormed her and the vet gave her another pills for coccidiosis. It was the rice in the poop because only today I gave her to eat rice and only today I found them in the poop. She ate 2 hours ago and I give her to eat special food for chickens (I don't know how is called in english), not grains because she can't digest them.

Do you know the name of the pills your vet gave her? Curious why she cannot digest grains?

 

[DorisBondo]

I don't know the name of the pills because the vet gave me just how much i needed to give her, not the entire package. This is the major problem that she couldn't digest grains and even small pieces of carrots, for example. It's so sad for me... I don't know what to do next, how to try to improve her situation

 

[Eggcessive]

The bright yellow in the droppings can sometimes mean E.Coli infections. I have seen pictures of hens with egg yolk peritonitis who have had undigested grains and yellow droppings.

 

[ten chicks]

I don't know the name of the pills because the vet gave me just how much i needed to give her, not the entire package. This is the major problem that she couldn't digest grains and even small pieces of carrots, for example. It's so sad for me... I don't know what to do next, how to try to improve her situation

What are you using for grit,she should be able to digest grains and vegetables if her crop/gizzard are functioning normally. Has she always had this problem or is it just recent?

 

[chickengirl1193]

Maybe since she cants digest the grains try breaking them up for her or mix some of the chicken.feed with water and feed it to her just to get some food in her.
Hope your hen feels better !

 

[casportpony]

The bright yellow in the droppings can sometimes mean E.Coli infections. I have seen pictures of hens with egg yolk peritonitis who have had undigested grains and yellow droppings.

I would also be suspicious of an infection.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Do you know the name of the pills your vet gave her? Curious why she cannot digest grains?

I have seen this in birds with bacterial or fungal infections.

-Kathy

 

[Nambroth]

This is NOT a diagnosis, I just wanted to relate my experience in case it can help you!

I had a hen with these symptoms two years ago. She was passing undigested grains and had loose stools. Her urates were often discolored. I wormed her. The issue continued and she was losing a lot of weight. We took her to the vet and the vet did a lot of testing, and my hen didn't have worms. Turns out she had clostridium bacteria-- not botulism (there is more than one species of clostridium) but perhaps perfringens?

She was prescribed metronidazole (flagyl) in pill form, and it took a few weeks but my hen got better and is still with me today.
I regret I do not remember the dosage. This page has a suggested dosage, if you can get this medication: http://www.upc-online.org/chickens/propercare.htm
It is something to consider if nothing else is working!
If you try this, when pilling a chicken, you must push the pill gently down into the esophagus. The esophagus is to the chicken's right side (your left side if you are facing the hen head-on).

I also encourage a well-rounded diet for now, if you can.... If she is having trouble with grains, you can try scrambled egg, small amounts of plain (no sugar) yogurt, cooked (soft) oats, insects such as live mealworms or crickets if you can get them... things that are easier to digest but full of nutrition. Then, ease her back onto normal chicken feed as she gets better.

 

[DorisBondo]

First I want to thank you for your support. She had this problem only for 1 month ago and she had acces to grit, but she don't want to eat anything, including it. I give her only chickens food which she can digest because is more soft than grains and maybe it would be a good ideea to force her to eat some grit?