Possible Clostridium Perfringens?

[JessicaL2322]

This is a photo of Ham and her poop. I’ve been scouring the internet trying to figure out how to treat her. Shes my daughter’s favorite

1) Ham is a Turken, she’s about 1.5 years, her crop isn’t nearly as full as it usually is, and she seems thinner to me.
2) She’s lethargic, pale, fluffs her feathers like she’s cold, and her tail feathers are down. Shes still eating, but not much since her crop isn’t bulging like it usually does.
3) She’s had symptoms for at least three days.
4) No other birds have symptoms.
5) No sign of trauma, but she is molting and she has broken feathers.
6) We toss leftovers to the chickens from time to time as a treat. I’m wondering if she ate something bad.
7) She’s been pecking at her pellets (I can’t remember what kind), she’ll peck at corn and sunflower seeds, and she’ll eat leaves and grass from my hands. She seems to be happy about the leaves and grass.
8) Her poop is watery with chunks of green (maybe undigested leaves/grass). I’ve uploaded a photo.
9) I thought she had mites, so I’ve been spraying her with Poultry Protector. I tried giving her some Nutridrench, but that was a fail so I added it to the water for all of the chickens.
Then I suspected maybe a parasite, so I’ve added apple cider vinegar to the water while I wait for medication to come in the mail.
Right now she’s separated with her own water mixture of ACV and electrolytes.
10 ) I need to treat her myself as we don’t have a vet that can get her in quickly.
11) Photo of Ham is posted above.
12) She’s in a coop and a run with her 4 sisters and we use rosebud horse bedding (kiln dried shavings) and I sprinkle first Saturday line everywhere (twice a year). We do a deep clean twice a year.

Any idea what she might have and how I should treat her? Thank you!

*The photo of the solid poop was taken as I was writing this. The watery poop was from yesterday.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

View attachment 3972168
View attachment 3972169

This is a photo of Ham and her poop. I’ve been scouring the internet trying to figure out how to treat her. Shes my daughter’s favorite

1) Ham is a Turken, she’s about 1.5 years, her crop isn’t nearly as full as it usually is, and she seems thinner to me.
2) She’s lethargic, pale, fluffs her feathers like she’s cold, and her tail feathers are down. Shes still eating, but not much since her crop isn’t bulging like it usually does.
3) She’s had symptoms for at least three days.
4) No other birds have symptoms.
5) No sign of trauma, but she is molting and she has broken feathers.
6) We toss leftovers to the chickens from time to time as a treat. I’m wondering if she ate something bad.
7) She’s been pecking at her pellets (I can’t remember what kind), she’ll peck at corn and sunflower seeds, and she’ll eat leaves and grass from my hands. She seems to be happy about the leaves and grass.
8) Her poop is watery with chunks of green (maybe undigested leaves/grass). I’ve uploaded a photo.
9) I thought she had mites, so I’ve been spraying her with Poultry Protector. I tried giving her some Nutridrench, but that was a fail so I added it to the water for all of the chickens.
Then I suspected maybe a parasite, so I’ve added apple cider vinegar to the water while I wait for medication to come in the mail.
Right now she’s separated with her own water mixture of ACV and electrolytes.
10 ) I need to treat her myself as we don’t have a vet that can get her in quickly.
11) Photo of Ham is posted above.
12) She’s in a coop and a run with her 4 sisters and we use rosebud horse bedding (kiln dried shavings) and I sprinkle first Saturday line everywhere (twice a year). We do a deep clean twice a year.

Any idea what she might have and how I should treat her? Thank you!

*The photo of the solid poop was taken as I was writing this. The watery poop was from yesterday.
View attachment 3972178

Are you finding mites on her? If you are, then it would be a very good idea to use a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust to treat her. While Poultry Protector may help deter mites/lice, it's not that effective when there's an infestation.

You can find poultry dust or spray at stores like TSC.

What medication(s) have you ordered and what are you trying to treat?

When was her last egg?

Is she molting?

Is her crop emptying overnight?

When was the last deworming?

It's hard to tell about her color with the red reflection in the photo. It does look like she may be pale(?) Mites or a parasite infestation if severe enough can cause paleness. Molting birds can often lose color as well.

I'd focus on her eating her normal feed. Add tibits of higher protein foods like egg, fish (tuna, mackerel, sardines) or beef to interest her.

If her crop is not emptying well, then I'd avoid grass and sunflower seeds.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

To find out if her crop is emptying properly, feel it first thing in the morning before she has accress to either food or water.

 

[JessicaL2322]

Are you finding mites on her? If you are, then it would be a very good idea to use a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust to treat her. While Poultry Protector may help deter mites/lice, it's not that effective when there's an infestation.

You can find poultry dust or spray at stores like TSC.

What medication(s) have you ordered and what are you trying to treat?

When was her last egg?

Is she molting?

Is her crop emptying overnight?

When was the last deworming?

It's hard to tell about her color with the red reflection in the photo. It does look like she may be pale(?) Mites or a parasite infestation if severe enough can cause paleness. Molting birds can often lose color as well.

I'd focus on her eating her normal feed. Add tibits of higher protein foods like egg, fish (tuna, mackerel, sardines) or beef to interest her.

If her crop is not emptying well, then I'd avoid grass and sunflower seeds.

Thank you for replying! I appreciate your help!

I haven’t found any mites on her, but I have elector psp and plan to use it when we deep clean the coop next weekend.

She and her sisters are definitely molting. Some worse than others.

I have deworming medicine coming in the mail (safeguard goat dewormer), but it won’t be here until Sunday. She has never been dewormed.
I also have betadine solution coming in the mail just in case this is clostridium perfringens (according to this poop guide https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0).

She’ll eat egg (I’ve given her some the past two days) and I’ll try giving her some tuna too with her pellets.

If she has parasites, what would be the best medicine to treat that? I’m overwhelmed with all of the information on the internet.

She quit laying eggs a few weeks ago, but I figured it was due to the morning.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for replying! I appreciate your help!

I haven’t found any mites on her, but I have elector psp and plan to use it when we deep clean the coop next weekend.

She and her sisters are definitely molting. Some worse than others.

I have deworming medicine coming in the mail (safeguard goat dewormer), but it won’t be here until Sunday. She has never been dewormed.
I also have betadine solution coming in the mail just in case this is clostridium perfringens (according to this poop guide https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0).

She’ll eat egg (I’ve given her some the past two days) and I’ll try giving her some tuna too with her pellets.

If she has parasites, what would be the best medicine to treat that? I’m overwhelmed with all of the information on the internet.

She quit laying eggs a few weeks ago, but I figured it was due to the morning.

What are you going to use the Betadine for? To sanitize drinking water or?

If she has worms, then the Safeguard you have ordered should take care of those.

 

[Perris]

That poo - the watery one - does look like the photos I've seen of clostridium perfringens. My understanding - and I am no vet, but I am an academic and I do read a lot of quality material about chickens - is that it is a normal and common inhabitant of the chicken gut, and normally it is not a problem. But if the chicken's microbiome gets out of kilter - as it often does during moulting - the clostridium may take over, and then it becomes an issue. If this is the case, getting her microbiome back to good health is what's needed.

If she is off her food, it may be because her body wants to concentrate its resources on fighting the infection. Digestion is hard work for the body, so animals typically lose their appetites when ill to focus all energy and effort in the immune system; them wanting to eat is one of the first signs that they are getting better.

She may be going for a natural purge, to starve the infective agents. Her body can outlast them in starvation mode. Please make sure that she can drink plain fresh water, besides bowl(s) of water to which you've added whatever you think might help. Additives and meds can have an impact on the ph, making it more acidic or alkaline, for good or ill, so it's another thing to look out for.

Good luck to you and your hen. It's a nasty infection, but not necessarily fatal.

 

[JessicaL2322]

That poo - the watery one - does look like the photos I've seen of clostridium perfringens. My understanding - and I am no vet, but I am an academic and I do read a lot of quality material about chickens - is that it is a normal and common inhabitant of the chicken gut, and normally it is not a problem. But if the chicken's microbiome gets out of kilter - as it often does during moulting - the clostridium may take over, and then it becomes an issue. If this is the case, getting her microbiome back to good health is what's needed.

If she is off her food, it may be because her body wants to concentrate its resources on fighting the infection. Digestion is hard work for the body, so animals typically lose their appetites when ill to focus all energy and effort in the immune system; them wanting to eat is one of the first signs that they are getting better.

She may be going for a natural purge, to starve the infective agents. Her body can outlast them in starvation mode. Please make sure that she can drink plain fresh water, besides bowl(s) of water to which you've added whatever you think might help. Additives and meds can have an impact on the ph, making it more acidic or alkaline, for good or ill, so it's another thing to look out for.

Good luck to you and your hen. It's a nasty infection, but not necessarily fatal.

Thank you so much!

 

[FreedomFarmer]

View attachment 3972168
View attachment 3972169

This is a photo of Ham and her poop. I’ve been scouring the internet trying to figure out how to treat her. Shes my daughter’s favorite

1) Ham is a Turken, she’s about 1.5 years, her crop isn’t nearly as full as it usually is, and she seems thinner to me.
2) She’s lethargic, pale, fluffs her feathers like she’s cold, and her tail feathers are down. Shes still eating, but not much since her crop isn’t bulging like it usually does.
3) She’s had symptoms for at least three days.
4) No other birds have symptoms.
5) No sign of trauma, but she is molting and she has broken feathers.
6) We toss leftovers to the chickens from time to time as a treat. I’m wondering if she ate something bad.
7) She’s been pecking at her pellets (I can’t remember what kind), she’ll peck at corn and sunflower seeds, and she’ll eat leaves and grass from my hands. She seems to be happy about the leaves and grass.
8) Her poop is watery with chunks of green (maybe undigested leaves/grass). I’ve uploaded a photo.
9) I thought she had mites, so I’ve been spraying her with Poultry Protector. I tried giving her some Nutridrench, but that was a fail so I added it to the water for all of the chickens.
Then I suspected maybe a parasite, so I’ve added apple cider vinegar to the water while I wait for medication to come in the mail.
Right now she’s separated with her own water mixture of ACV and electrolytes.
10 ) I need to treat her myself as we don’t have a vet that can get her in quickly.
11) Photo of Ham is posted above.
12) She’s in a coop and a run with her 4 sisters and we use rosebud horse bedding (kiln dried shavings) and I sprinkle first Saturday line everywhere (twice a year). We do a deep clean twice a year.

Any idea what she might have and how I should treat her? Thank you!

*The photo of the solid poop was taken as I was writing this. The watery poop was from yesterday.
View attachment 3972178

 

[Susan Skylark]

If this is clostridium, please get her on amoxicillin, spectinomycin, penicillin, tetracycline or something asap (by mouth or in the muscle), it kills quickly but is happily very responsive to antibiotics (assuming the bird isn't too far gone).

 

[FreedomFarmer]

View attachment 3972168
View attachment 3972169

This is a photo of Ham and her poop. I’ve been scouring the internet trying to figure out how to treat her. Shes my daughter’s favorite

1) Ham is a Turken, she’s about 1.5 years, her crop isn’t nearly as full as it usually is, and she seems thinner to me.
2) She’s lethargic, pale, fluffs her feathers like she’s cold, and her tail feathers are down. Shes still eating, but not much since her crop isn’t bulging like it usually does.
3) She’s had symptoms for at least three days.
4) No other birds have symptoms.
5) No sign of trauma, but she is molting and she has broken feathers.
6) We toss leftovers to the chickens from time to time as a treat. I’m wondering if she ate something bad.
7) She’s been pecking at her pellets (I can’t remember what kind), she’ll peck at corn and sunflower seeds, and she’ll eat leaves and grass from my hands. She seems to be happy about the leaves and grass.
8) Her poop is watery with chunks of green (maybe undigested leaves/grass). I’ve uploaded a photo.
9) I thought she had mites, so I’ve been spraying her with Poultry Protector. I tried giving her some Nutridrench, but that was a fail so I added it to the water for all of the chickens.
Then I suspected maybe a parasite, so I’ve added apple cider vinegar to the water while I wait for medication to come in the mail.
Right now she’s separated with her own water mixture of ACV and electrolytes.
10 ) I need to treat her myself as we don’t have a vet that can get her in quickly.
11) Photo of Ham is posted above.
12) She’s in a coop and a run with her 4 sisters and we use rosebud horse bedding (kiln dried shavings) and I sprinkle first Saturday line everywhere (twice a year). We do a deep clean twice a year.

Any idea what she might have and how I should treat her? Thank you!

*The photo of the solid poop was taken as I was writing this. The watery poop was from yesterday.
View attachment 3972178

JessicaL2322 - If you are still here, did you find out the problem with the watery poop in the picture above and the solution? I have a hen that has had poop exactly like that for a while. She seems to feel fine and no problem eating and drinking. It has not spread to the rest in the flock. Must not be contagious. I need to figure out the diarrhea problem before it causes her problems. I plan to get a sample and take it to a vet.