Please help! Sick hen, watery green poo.

[ChickNanny13]

Keep us posted

 

[survivorchick]

I spoke to the “chicken guru” at my favorite local feed store. He said to add the tetracycline and probitics/electrolytes to their water for 7 days and then if she’s doing well, start a mild wormer. He said if I start the wormer now it’s too much on her system and it will also cancel out the benefits of the antibiotics/probitics. She seems much perkier this morning.
He said lash egg is rare. He had only seen it three times in all the years he has raised chickens and he has over a hundred of them.

 

[rebrascora]

I would not give the antibiotic to all your flock in their water if that is what you are suggesting as this can lead to antibiotic resistance and is one of the main reasons why antibiotics that can be added to food or water have been withdrawn from purchase over the counter. You would be better to direct dose just the bird that passed the "Lash egg" to make sure she is getting the full dose. Sick birds often don't eat and drink as much as normal and whilst she may not look sick, she is. You would also need to discard all their eggs for at least a couple of weeks if you are dosing the whole flock, so it just doesn't make sense to do that.

I'm not sure what the relevance is of your local feed store expert saying Lash Egg is rare? If you read through this forum, there are plenty of posts about birds with Salpingitis (and quite a few necropsy photos) which is what causes lash eggs. A lot of birds with the infection never manage to pass any lash egg material, but it is still there. It just all becomes impacted inside their oviduct in a large, extremely uncomfortable mass which eventually gets so big it kills them. You may be lucky enough to prevent this infection getting to that stage with proper antibiotic dosing now.

 

[casportpony]

If this were my bird I would *not* treat the whole flock, I would treat just the one hen. I would treat her with Baytril for the infection and Safeguard or Valbazen for worms. I would also give her an anti-inflammatory like meloxicam. Then I would that I caught it in time.

The reason I would not use tetracycline is that the most common bacteria that cause this type of infection are almost always resistant to it.

Edited to add:
Baytril is banned for use in poultry so I understand why people might not want to use it.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2005/07/fda-ban-enrofloxacin-use-poultry

 

[survivorchick]

I would not give the antibiotic to all your flock in their water if that is what you are suggesting as this can lead to antibiotic resistance and is one of the main reasons why antibiotics that can be added to food or water have been withdrawn from purchase over the counter. You would be better to direct dose just the bird that passed the "Lash egg" to make sure she is getting the full dose. Sick birds often don't eat and drink as much as normal and whilst she may not look sick, she is. You would also need to discard all their eggs for at least a couple of weeks if you are dosing the whole flock, so it just doesn't make sense to do that.

I'm not sure what the relevance is of your local feed store expert saying Lash Egg is rare? If you read through this forum, there are plenty of posts about birds with Salpingitis (and quite a few necropsy photos) which is what causes lash eggs. A lot of birds with the infection never manage to pass any lash egg material, but it is still there. It just all becomes impacted inside their oviduct in a large, extremely uncomfortable mass which eventually gets so big it kills them. You may be lucky enough to prevent this infection getting to that stage with proper antibiotic dosing now.

I don’t have a separate pen where I can isolate her from the rest of the flock, so what would be the best way to do this? I have a cage, but she won’t be happy being separated and it’s hot here.

 

[Eggcessive]

One method could be to cage her with food and medicated water, bring her out in a shaded area around the other chickens during the day. Then bring the cage inside, or place her on the roost before dark, then cage her just before dawn.

A wire dog crate is a good investment and valuable to have with chickens to use as a sick bay, to separate and break a broody hen, and for a broody hen to start out with baby chicks. I have made a couple of them out of repurposed 2x4s and some hardware cloth, but they are a bit heavy to lift and move.

 

[survivorchick]

I don’t have a separate pen where I can isolate her from the rest of the flock, so what would be the best way to do this? I have a cage, but she won’t be happy being separated and it’s hot here.

Which form of Baytril would you recommend giving her? Where could I get it quickly? Are there any precautions I should take? I am immunocompromised. Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Eggcessive]

In the first several post of this thread you may see where to buy it and the dosage:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/baytril-enrofloxacin-sources.959119/

 

[survivorchick]

UPDATE:
I did worm the whole flock, but with temps near 100 I couldn’t cage her right away and bringing her inside wasn’t an option (I receive chemotherapy and my doctor would freak out!) The past few days have been much cooler so I was able to cage her and mix tetracycline soluble powder in her water. Hopefully it’s not too late. I did let her out with my other girls this evening for a few minutes before it got dark and she is acting completely normal. Time will tell I guess. Is there any chance it could be a one time occurrence?

 

[ChickNanny13]

Thank you for the update