Pullet very sick, vet appointment tomorrow. Should I try and keep it alive, or cull now?

[Sussex19]

She doesn't look like a hen that wants to die, she looks petty perky. If mine, I would not euthanize her, I would let the vet look at her.

Thats what I was thinking!
Quite a difference from earlier on in the morning, when I thought she might not make it through the day.
I think after seeing how fast the other two went down I was thinking the worst, but maybe this one is stronger than them.

I thought this link was interesting:
https://plusvet.eu/2021/08/22/7-main-causes-of-erosions-in-gizzard-and-proventriculus/

If your vet is stumped, there are a couple of people that they could contact:

Thanks for the links.
None of the photos in the article look quite like what I was seeing, but then it was very bad by the time I saw it.
I don't know how good this vet is with chickens, they don't specialize in them or anything, but they are quite good with most farm animals I think.
If they can't work anything out I'll see if they would be willing to contact someone else.

 

[casportpony]

When you get there, ask them if they can do a gram stain on her poop and ask them to do a fecal float to check for worms & coccidia.

 

[Sussex19]

When you get there, ask them if they can do a gram stain on her poop and ask them to do a fecal float to check for worms & coccidia.

What is a gram stain?
But will do!
Anything else I ought to ask?

 

[casportpony]

What is a gram stain?

The poop some poop on a slide, add liquid (don't know name), then look at it under the scope. It stains gram negative bacteria one color, gram positive bacteria another color, and this will help them pick the most effective antibiotic.

 

[casportpony]

Update?

 

[Sussex19]

Update?

Vet appointment in a an hour and a half, so I'll be leaving shortly.
The pullet looks a bit worse this morning, weaker and not so interested in anything.
Her crop hasn't emptied at all over night.
I don't think its looking good for her, but I'll wait see what the vet thinks.

 

[casportpony]

Good luck.

 

[Sussex19]

Good luck.

Thank you.

 

[Sussex19]

@casportpony and @ChickNanny13 so we took her to the vet, and he basically couldn't tell much more then I what was going on. He thought maybe just a crop problem, as in eaten something that blocked it.
While that could be the case, the fact that the crop only stopped emptying after she was already looking very sick, I think there was an underlying cause the blocked everything up.
He thought the best idea was to go to the local land services (government department) who has a vet who would know much better then him what to look for in necropsy and do any testing needed.
I think she was suffering, and I need to know what is causing this problem. In a way she was one of the least valuable pullets, not like the Marans or even the pullets for my Cuckoo Sussex project. They are livestock, not pets, and that is something I need to remember.
So I left her there, and the vet was going to euthanize her as soon as possible.
I'll update the thread when I hear back from her.
A slight upside is, the vet is also going to send a sample in for testing for Mareks. So I will finally know if it is in my flock or not.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

@casportpony and @ChickNanny13 so we took her to the vet, and he basically couldn't tell much more then I what was going on. He thought maybe just a crop problem, as in eaten something that blocked it.
While that could be the case, the fact that the crop only stopped emptying after she was already looking very sick, I think there was an underlying cause the blocked everything up.
He thought the best idea was to go to the local land services (government department) who has a vet who would know much better then him what to look for in necropsy and do any testing needed.
I think she was suffering, and I need to know what is causing this problem. In a way she was one of the least valuable pullets, not like the Marans or even the pullets for my Cuckoo Sussex project. They are livestock, not pets, and that is something I need to remember.
So I left her there, and the vet was going to euthanize her as soon as possible.
I'll update the thread when I hear back from her.
A slight upside is, the vet is also going to send a sample in for testing for Mareks. So I will finally know if it is in my flock or not.

I am sorry about the pullet
But I am glad you should be able to get some answers, especially finally about the Mareks!