PLEASE HELP!! small white worms in poop

PreciousCrystal

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 2, 2013
34
0
29
1) What type of bird , age and weight
I don't know type, 2 years old, normal weight for her
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
at first couldn't stand, drowzy & axausted. now wabbles, tail down still tired.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Found her yesterday morning
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
none, except for her left leg being stuck out behind her when I found her laying on the ground
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
she was under shelter, so she couldn't have fallen. There was a shelless egg close by, But I don't know if it was from her since I don't check that secret nest very often.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
ate and drank a ton yesterday, eating today and drinking a bit less. Or maybe she drinks when I'm not watching. pecking at the pine shavings.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
solitude, 20 warm bath ad lubed her vent, tried to give her soaked cat food for extra protein and crushed egg shells for calcium but she wasn't interested. ate several chopped kale pieces though.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
myself
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
done
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
tupperware bin with pine shavings

Please help me with my Roberta.



Yesterday I found her in a small area where the girls lay and egg or two once in a while, (when the nesting boxes have a too long of a line, and she doesn't want to wait, is my guess)
but she had one leg sprawled behind her, comb sagged over and she wouldn't get up.
I picked her up and she couldn't stand. No blood or missing feathers. No bones feel out of place. Seems as if her left leg is paralyzed.
I put her in solitude and she ate and drank a ton right away. she spent the whole day sleeping not moving at all on her own.
After researching Mereks, I doubt that's it, being her eyesight is keen.
looked into Rickets and Spondylolisthesis, Kinky-back.

Today I found a report on egg-bound chickens being paralyzed, so I gave her a 20 minute warm bath, which she enjoyed. but no egg. she's pooping fine and not pumping her tail up and down. no egg today though. and she's normally pretty regular at once a day.
She is much more perky today. After the bath she stands on her good right leg and hobbles with her left a bit. she is acting more like a chicken and pecks around her little solitary confinement box. But her tail is so droopy! =( But I don't feel anything hard inside her.
I can't be sure that she is egg-bound.
any suggestions or recommendations?
thank you for your time.
Crystal
 
Last edited:
oh my gosh! thank you!

I haven't introduced other chickens for a year now so I don't know where Mareks would have come from. (we only have four hens)

very unlikely chance of led. our subdivision was built 15 years ago and we don't have any old things sitting outside.

I checked her for an egg stuck inside her. I put a lot of vaseline on finger wrapped in sarran wrap (no gloves) and went up to my middle knuckle in her vent (which she didn't like very much) and I didn't feel anything besides soft and warm.

I put a crushed b in her water. haven't seen her drink any yet, but she's eating, so I assume she'll drink when she get thirsty. though I do have a dropper if you suggest keeping her watered that way.

she is using her leg more and more, still not able to put her full weight on it.
poor thing tries to walk and when her leg doesn't cooperate she looks upside down at it like she'd checking if it's still there.

also she has quit panting.

yes to the moss water, there is a bucket that catches drips from our roof that I let get full before I water plants with it. and she chickens drink out of it when they are on that side of the house.
could it have given her toxicity?

Is it possible she could have simply injured herself? Sometimes panting in chickens (that are not too warm) can indicate pain and/or exertion, so maybe she is starting to feel better.

It seems lead toxicity is rather unlikely since you live in a new development. Zinc is another to worry about, but it is somewhat less common in chickens than in birds such as parrots (parrots are more likely to chew on galvanized wire caging, etc).

You can check her crop periodically to see if it has fluid in it. It will not always hold fluid (it empties pretty often) but it might give you a better idea if she is drinking or not, since it's unreasonable to watch her every moment of the day. I suggest against forcing water on her with a dropper (unless she likes to willingly drink from it!) because the risk of aspiration is very real. If one ever has to force fluids, it is best to 'tube feed' directly down into the crop via a tube, that way it is not able to go into a bird's lungs.

Marek's, unfortunately, does not need other chickens to spread it. It can blow in in the wind, be carried via 'transport' such as: Wild birds, our shoes and clothes (accidentally pick up at the feed store, for example), etc. Since it is spread in dust-like dander, it's very easy to accidentally transport it.
Still, I would personally consider other reasons. Don't discount Marek's entirely, as doing so would be irresponsible if it is indeed Marek's, but explore other options first.

Toxicity via roof runoff water is something that can happen. It is an accumulation; essentially you are taking your entire roof's surface area of pollutants, materials in the shingle, roofing nails, gutters, etc... and it all runs into a single area. Because this essentially concentrates it, any micro-accumulation of materials, minerals, metals, toxins.. etc.. end up on the bucket. It sounds like it's not much, and her symptoms seem too sudden for it to fit well, but it might be a good idea to cover your bucket with a mesh that the water can drip through but that the chickens can't get down to drink from. Even something like a plastic crate that is made of mesh could work well.
 
Last edited:
But what if she is suffering from something else???

I rubbed olive oil on her vent. I will try vaseline. Thank you!
 
Last edited:
Vaseline stays on better even after a bath. If she is egg bound she will slide it out. but I had one that stroked out after a storm. It scared her into the stroke.
It sounds a lot like what you are describing but my little girl never showed improvement. She just kept getting worse.
Yours cant be the same. It sounds more like egg bound.
Was there any loud noises before you found her?
 
If she is showing signs of getting better than you are doing the right things.
Lots of baths. and lube.
Keep her in a dry dark place so she can work on pushing that egg out.
Good luck to you!
Wish you the best!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom