Please help with sick hen and other poo issues

Waterfaery

Crowing
10 Years
Jan 23, 2014
520
1,235
341
Ireland
I'm having ongoing health issues with my birds since the middle of August. It all started when I noticed some diarrhea in one of my peahens and then a worm in her poo. I wormed all of my birds (peafowl and chickens) immediately with Fenbendazole for 5 days and not long into the worming I started having diarrhea and other issues with lots of my other birds who had no symptoms before that.

I have 5 laying hens all coming up on 2 years old.

One hen hasn't been affected at all and seems fine. One hen seemed deathly ill overnight but then she laid a soft shelled egg and has been fine since then so I'm not sure if or how that's related.

Two other hens suddenly got bad diarrhea and were also spewing liquid out of their beaks. I gave them all a probiotic, vitamin and electrolyte supplement and ACV. Since then those two have been laying about twice a week each as opposed to 5 or 6 times each as they were doing before. Their diarrhea is now on and off and they are in good form otherwise. I've also switched to fermenting their feed which seems to have helped a lot but I'm still worried about why their droppings are not fully back to normal. They occasionally poo out pure water as well.

The fifth one I am really worried about. Her crop is squishy and never really seems to fill or empty. She does eat but is pooing out a lot of undigested food. I gave her Miconazole twice daily for a week and she seemed to improve a small a bit but has regressed since then and is now doing some poos that look a bit concerning. She is slightly less active than the other hens but not drastically so. She forages, eats, drinks and preens as normal. She's holding her tail downwards most of the time and hasn't laid at all since this started.

As soon as her poos turned a concerning colour I isolated her but she was with the flock before that so I'm really hoping it's nothing infectious. I've restarted the Miconazole and also given her a flush of applesauce and honey with probiotics. She also has her fermented feed and dry layers pellets. She still has a good appetite.

I'll add some photos of the poos I'm concerned about. I do have Toltrazuril for my peafowl but I'm not keen on the egg withdrawal so I also have Amprolium that I can give to the chickens instead. Is there any reason to think coccidiosis might be a concern? Is there anything else infectious I should look out for? Or just keep treating it as if it's sourcrop?

I also have 2 peacocks and 2 peahens all 6 years old and 10 peachicks who are 5 weeks old. I have been posting about the peahens and chicks in the peafowl forum here and here. The peahens have an ongoing poo issue that has very different symptoms to the chickens. They have normal caecal poo (although one has done a couple of dark coloured ones) and their regular poo is mostly small amounts of faecal matter in a pool of creamy white liquid urates.

So far, the peacocks and the other chickens have only had normal poo but I have also seen them do the occasional pure water dropping. It's not happening more than once a day each. Can that be normal if the rest of their poo is fine and they are acting well? One of them is also having a feather issue which I'm going to post about in the peafowl forum.

Sorry this is so long. I'm in a complete mess about all of the different problems and I can't make sense of how they may or may not be all related. My main concern is stopping anything potentially infectious spreading but I would really like to save the sick hen as well if I can. I'd really appreciate any help.
 
Here are the poos I'm concerned about. Any ideas about what they could mean or what, if any, treatment I should use?
IMG_20210907_191350.jpg

IMG_20210909_100502.jpg
 
Just saw your post, how are your birds doing?
Thank you so much for answering. I had given up hope that anyone would read my post.

So much has happened since I first posted. I'm afraid my birds are not doing very well at all.

I have the one hen I mentioned already still in isolation. Her poo is now mostly green diarrhea. She has white powder on her beak and something about her head colour doesn't look right to me but I can't quite put my finger on it. She's behaving normally and is now eating much better than before but her droppings are still abnormal and she's still not laying eggs at all. What do you think of how her face looks? And those feather shafts have been there for weeks now. I don't think that's normal, is it?

IMG_20211003_105706.jpg


Here you can see the white stuff on her beak a bit better.

IMG_20211003_105656.jpg


I have another hen, my lovely light sussex, living in the bathroom. I found her unable to move or open her eyes 5 days ago with bright yellow, liquid droppings. She had 1 day of Tylan before that and then I changed her to Baytril when I found her, which she's still on. I also gave her Toltrazuril for two days in case of coccidiosis but that had no effect. I've been tubing her fluids for a couple of days now and started tubing her food as well yesterday. Her droppings have improved a lot since then and the yellow is almost gone but she's still acting very sick.

I've since found a black lump on her foot but I'm not sure if it's a bumblefoot infection or if that could even cause anything like her current symptoms. She has also had some crop issues on and off for the past few weeks before this and she was doing things like regurgitating liquid and walking backwards. She had seemed to be quite a bit better recently so I was shocked to discover her sudden turn for the worse. I'd really love to know if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong with her.

Here she is this morning.
IMG_20211003_104045.jpg


Her droppings the first day we brought her in. It actually looked a lot more yellow in reality.

IMG_20210928_134043.jpg


I have dealt with two vets now and been given two antibiotics, Baytril from the first vet and Tylan from the second. I also sent the second vet some faecal samples but I'm still waiting for the results because they've gone to a lab for cultures.

Since starting the Tylan 6 days ago, the peafowl droppings have improved a lot but they're still not all normal. If an antibiotic is going to work, how long should it take? I'm a bit confused at seeing a partial improvement.

The 3 remaining chickens did seem to be improving on the Tylan but yesterday they started doing watery droppings again, even worse than before. Some of them are white and bubbly. What else causes droppings like that other than worms? They have been so thoroughly wormed now it must be something else.

I keep wondering if I should give those 3 chickens the Amprolium but I don't want to overmedicate them with so many different things. I'd prefer to wait until the lab results come back because I want to make sure I'm medicating for the right thing. On the other hand, given what's happened to my light sussex, I'm scared that time is going by and they'll get worse. I asked the vet yesterday and was told they are experiencing a lot of delays getting lab results back at the moment so I have no idea when I'll even get them.

Do you think I have lots of different issues going on or are they all related even though the symptoms are so different in the different birds?
 
Thank you so much for answering. I had given up hope that anyone would read my post.

So much has happened since I first posted. I'm afraid my birds are not doing very well at all.

I have the one hen I mentioned already still in isolation. Her poo is now mostly green diarrhea. She has white powder on her beak and something about her head colour doesn't look right to me but I can't quite put my finger on it. She's behaving normally and is now eating much better than before but her droppings are still abnormal and she's still not laying eggs at all. What do you think of how her face looks? And those feather shafts have been there for weeks now. I don't think that's normal, is it?

View attachment 2854595

Here you can see the white stuff on her beak a bit better.

View attachment 2854617

I have another hen, my lovely light sussex, living in the bathroom. I found her unable to move or open her eyes 5 days ago with bright yellow, liquid droppings. She had 1 day of Tylan before that and then I changed her to Baytril when I found her, which she's still on. I also gave her Toltrazuril for two days in case of coccidiosis but that had no effect. I've been tubing her fluids for a couple of days now and started tubing her food as well yesterday. Her droppings have improved a lot since then and the yellow is almost gone but she's still acting very sick.

I've since found a black lump on her foot but I'm not sure if it's a bumblefoot infection or if that could even cause anything like her current symptoms. She has also had some crop issues on and off for the past few weeks before this and she was doing things like regurgitating liquid and walking backwards. She had seemed to be quite a bit better recently so I was shocked to discover her sudden turn for the worse. I'd really love to know if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong with her.

Here she is this morning.
View attachment 2854619

Her droppings the first day we brought her in. It actually looked a lot more yellow in reality.

View attachment 2854624

I have dealt with two vets now and been given two antibiotics, Baytril from the first vet and Tylan from the second. I also sent the second vet some faecal samples but I'm still waiting for the results because they've gone to a lab for cultures.

Since starting the Tylan 6 days ago, the peafowl droppings have improved a lot but they're still not all normal. If an antibiotic is going to work, how long should it take? I'm a bit confused at seeing a partial improvement.

The 3 remaining chickens did seem to be improving on the Tylan but yesterday they started doing watery droppings again, even worse than before. Some of them are white and bubbly. What else causes droppings like that other than worms? They have been so thoroughly wormed now it must be something else.

I keep wondering if I should give those 3 chickens the Amprolium but I don't want to overmedicate them with so many different things. I'd prefer to wait until the lab results come back because I want to make sure I'm medicating for the right thing. On the other hand, given what's happened to my light sussex, I'm scared that time is going by and they'll get worse. I asked the vet yesterday and was told they are experiencing a lot of delays getting lab results back at the moment so I have no idea when I'll even get them.

Do you think I have lots of different issues going on or are they all related even though the symptoms are so different in the different birds?
I am on my phone right now is pretty bad service as soon as I’m in front of a comput
Thank you so much for answering. I had given up hope that anyone would read my post.

So much has happened since I first posted. I'm afraid my birds are not doing very well at all.

I have the one hen I mentioned already still in isolation. Her poo is now mostly green diarrhea. She has white powder on her beak and something about her head colour doesn't look right to me but I can't quite put my finger on it. She's behaving normally and is now eating much better than before but her droppings are still abnormal and she's still not laying eggs at all. What do you think of how her face looks? And those feather shafts have been there for weeks now. I don't think that's normal, is it?

View attachment 2854595

Here you can see the white stuff on her beak a bit better.

View attachment 2854617

I have another hen, my lovely light sussex, living in the bathroom. I found her unable to move or open her eyes 5 days ago with bright yellow, liquid droppings. She had 1 day of Tylan before that and then I changed her to Baytril when I found her, which she's still on. I also gave her Toltrazuril for two days in case of coccidiosis but that had no effect. I've been tubing her fluids for a couple of days now and started tubing her food as well yesterday. Her droppings have improved a lot since then and the yellow is almost gone but she's still acting very sick.

I've since found a black lump on her foot but I'm not sure if it's a bumblefoot infection or if that could even cause anything like her current symptoms. She has also had some crop issues on and off for the past few weeks before this and she was doing things like regurgitating liquid and walking backwards. She had seemed to be quite a bit better recently so I was shocked to discover her sudden turn for the worse. I'd really love to know if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong with her.

Here she is this morning.
View attachment 2854619

Her droppings the first day we brought her in. It actually looked a lot more yellow in reality.

View attachment 2854624

I have dealt with two vets now and been given two antibiotics, Baytril from the first vet and Tylan from the second. I also sent the second vet some faecal samples but I'm still waiting for the results because they've gone to a lab for cultures.

Since starting the Tylan 6 days ago, the peafowl droppings have improved a lot but they're still not all normal. If an antibiotic is going to work, how long should it take? I'm a bit confused at seeing a partial improvement.

The 3 remaining chickens did seem to be improving on the Tylan but yesterday they started doing watery droppings again, even worse than before. Some of them are white and bubbly. What else causes droppings like that other than worms? They have been so thoroughly wormed now it must be something else.

I keep wondering if I should give those 3 chickens the Amprolium but I don't want to overmedicate them with so many different things. I'd prefer to wait until the lab results come back because I want to make sure I'm medicating for the right thing. On the other hand, given what's happened to my light sussex, I'm scared that time is going by and they'll get worse. I asked the vet yesterday and was told they are experiencing a lot of delays getting lab results back at the moment so I have no idea when I'll even get them.

Do you think I have lots of different issues going on or are they all related even though the symptoms are so different in the different birds?
Oh I am so sorry - and sorry for the delay in my response. When is the last time you de-wormed them? I know you said they were treated but just asking because last week I pulled one of my hens in the house because she had that same whitish, green mucousy poop and wasn't eating. I treated her for Cocci with amprolium and fenbenzadole because all her symptoms pointed to either worms or cocci. After 2 days she started eating again and pooping normal and she was pooping out dozen of roundworms! It was the grossest thing I have ever seen. We have now treated everyone for that and many of the others also had worms. She also seemed to have sourcrop and so I am also treating her for that just in case although her crop feels ok now.

The feathers look normal, that is just new feathers coming in, but I would love to see a picture of her potential bumblefoot. I am also treating a separate hen for bumblefoot right now.

I don't know if you would be up for chatting on the phone, but I would be happy to talk more with you. Or we can just chat on here too. Let me know!
 
I am on my phone right now is pretty bad service as soon as I’m in front of a comput

Oh I am so sorry - and sorry for the delay in my response. When is the last time you de-wormed them? I know you said they were treated but just asking because last week I pulled one of my hens in the house because she had that same whitish, green mucousy poop and wasn't eating. I treated her for Cocci with amprolium and fenbenzadole because all her symptoms pointed to either worms or cocci. After 2 days she started eating again and pooping normal and she was pooping out dozen of roundworms! It was the grossest thing I have ever seen. We have now treated everyone for that and many of the others also had worms. She also seemed to have sourcrop and so I am also treating her for that just in case although her crop feels ok now.

The feathers look normal, that is just new feathers coming in, but I would love to see a picture of her potential bumblefoot. I am also treating a separate hen for bumblefoot right now.

I don't know if you would be up for chatting on the phone, but I would be happy to talk more with you. Or we can just chat on here too. Let me know!
I'm glad your hen is doing well. It is scary when they get sick, isn't it?

They've had two rounds of Fenbendazole and the last dose was just a couple of weeks ago. The chicken diarrhea actually didn't start until after I started worming them. It was only the peahens that had diarrhea before the worming. I'm still not sure if the chickens and the peafowl have the same problem or if I have a couple of different problems. They are in different aviaries but they are next to each other. I've had them for so long with no health problems at all and all of a sudden it's one thing after another.

Thanks for letting me know the feathers are normal. I'll try to get a photo of the foot tomorrow. How are you treating your bumblefoot?

It would be lovely to chat. I'm in Ireland so maybe chatting online would be easier than the phone. What do you think?
 
I'm glad your hen is doing well. It is scary when they get sick, isn't it?

They've had two rounds of Fenbendazole and the last dose was just a couple of weeks ago. The chicken diarrhea actually didn't start until after I started worming them. It was only the peahens that had diarrhea before the worming. I'm still not sure if the chickens and the peafowl have the same problem or if I have a couple of different problems. They are in different aviaries but they are next to each other. I've had them for so long with no health problems at all and all of a sudden it's one thing after another.

Thanks for letting me know the feathers are normal. I'll try to get a photo of the foot tomorrow. How are you treating your bumblefoot?

It would be lovely to chat. I'm in Ireland so maybe chatting online would be easier than the phone. What do you think?
If you have dewormed that recently I can't imagine that it would be that. It's so frustrating and scary for sure. I am no expert but I went through it last year and I lost 8 of my girls it was awful. I guess the phone might be hard if you're in Ireland!

I'm just finishing up work but Ill write you more about the bumblefoot tonight. It's a bit of a process but it's not too terrible.
 
Here is a photo of her foot. Excuse my husband's gardening fingers!

Light Sussex Foot.jpg


Sorry I took so long getting the photo. It's been a hard couple of days. She was seeming to be so much better. She was even eating on her own and her poo was normal. Her comb was still floppy but the colour was coming back into it. Then she suddenly got worse again and started losing all of the weight she had gained back. Now we're back to tube feeding her again.

Do you think the foot could be part of the problem?
 
Here is a photo of her foot. Excuse my husband's gardening fingers!

View attachment 2863460

Sorry I took so long getting the photo. It's been a hard couple of days. She was seeming to be so much better. She was even eating on her own and her poo was normal. Her comb was still floppy but the colour was coming back into it. Then she suddenly got worse again and started losing all of the weight she had gained back. Now we're back to tube feeding her again.

Do you think the foot could be part of the problem?
I'm so sorry that she has been still feeling so awful. Remind me, do you have other sick birds too?

That's definitely a bumble, but I don't think at that stage it could be causing all those problems unless there's an infection. Im at working running to the dentist but will send you what we do for bumblefoot today! Sorry for the delay on this end as well.
 
I'm so sorry that she has been still feeling so awful. Remind me, do you have other sick birds too?

That's definitely a bumble, but I don't think at that stage it could be causing all those problems unless there's an infection. Im at working running to the dentist but will send you what we do for bumblefoot today! Sorry for the delay on this end as well.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your help.

Yes, I do have another hen who is doing very bad green diarrhea and hasn't laid in about 3 months now. She often has her tail down but otherwise acts like all the others. She's the one I was originally most worried about until the light sussex got suddenly very bad. The light sussex had bright yellow diarrhea that cleared up with Baytril but she's still acting very sick and isn't eating on her own. She's the one with the bumblefoot.

I also have 3 other hens and 14 peafowl who all have intermittent diarrhea that has been ongoing for a couple of months. Theirs isn't green or yellow, it's more white and creamy liquid. None of them are acting sick but I can't figure out what's causing the diarrhea and I'm worried by how long it's been going on. I don't know if the different things are all related or not.

How is your hen doing now?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom