purplish comb and lethargy in a 10 month old hen

[afewhens]

I have a beautiful Americana Hen. I got her along with two others when they were 2 weeks old. She's 7 months now. She's not laying eggs yet. I've got 6 other free ranged hens in my enclosed yard. Everybody was doing fine when I left for vacation a week ago. I came back today to find this particular hen acting ill. Her comb seems shrunk and purple and she's acting lethargic. She did eat some cracked corn from my hand but made no attempt to move around to get more when the other hens jumped in. I think she feels thin but I'm not experienced at that.

I do have a hen sitting on several eggs and half of them 'disappeared' one afternoon two days ago. The pet sitter opened the coop in the morning and when he came back in the afternoon 6 eggs had gone missing from the cohin's nest. There was no sign of broken eggs anywhere. I have no idea what could have happened and I don't know if this could be related to the Americana's illness. I don't see any trauma on her.

I'd appreciate any ideas about what's going on and anything I can do for her.

I did lose a hen about 5 months ago to abdominal peritonitis. I took her to the vet but it was too late and she had to be euthanized. We suspected that she had an infection from a dog grabbing her that happened 6 weeks earlier but couldn't be sure.

Lots of info but I don't know what related and what isn't.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[LynneP]

Have you examined her for any trauma?
I'm concerned that you may have something entering the coop and that it may have bitten her- check vent area in particular for bites. Rats?

If you have had infectious peritonitis in the coop, was the entire facility cleaned and disinfected?

Purple comb can sometimes be a sign of cardiac distress, but the question is what type and why...

It can also indicate poisons. Any reason to suspect she got into something?

 

[chickenbottom]

i thought purple comb ment respratory problems and sorry about your pullet and with the missing eggs i say look that coop and every where around it high and low for a predator sounds like they were swallowed by a snake if nothing was left

 

[afewhens]

I just picked her up and checked her all over. She feels skinny but I cannot see any trauma. I checked the vent area carefully. There are no poisonous things she could eat in the area they are in. It's a farm area. No pesticides and all the fertilizers are kept in a a closed cabinet. No new plants that she can get to in the past couple of months.

She did eat a little scrambled egg from my hand but looked basically uninterested.

I have never seen a snake anywhere around my house but I'll pull everything out of the coop today and wash it down again and look because I lost two more serama eggs over the last 24 hours and again, not a sign of a broken egg! I've gone from 11 to 3 eggs! I bummed.

What do you wash with to disinfect? I have used dilute bleach.

 

[joanie_maine]

Quote:
OK, so what steals eggs?

And do you worm your birds?

Maybe the two problems are unrelated???

 

[afewhens]

I haven't wormed them. What would I use.

I think the problems are probably unrelated but I just can't figure out why she's sick.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

here is options for worming

use wazine any strength for the round worms
then 10 days later use Ivermectin for cattle or some other wormer

if and when you get the birds wormed
check to color of the comb and email me back
some times black comb is a live problem and is a type of cancer of the liver or mareks

HERE IS SOME ANSWERS TO USING WAZINE FOR ROUND WORMS AND iVERMECTIN FOR THE OTHERS AND LICE AND MITES
try reading and answering most of your questions on usine
wazine or peperzine for round worms
and Ivermectin 1% water soluble or 5% oil based
ANY QUESTIONS EMAIL THEM TO ME
Glenda L Heywood

ANSWER
my friend Pam Hogan gives this info on using Ivermetin 1% water soluble

Dr. Ron Dickey, of Rogue River Veterinary Hospital, gave us the
following formula for worming with Ivomec, which is safe to use on
any bird, because it goes by the weight of the bird.

Use only 1% injectible cattle formula of Ivomec—not the pour-on.

Dilute the Ivomec 10 fold. Use 9 parts water or propylene glycol to
1 part 1% Ivomec. Use .1cc per lb. of body weight. For smaller
birds, dilute 20/1 and use 1cc per lb. of body weight.

If you are using water, Ivomec is not stable in water, so you have
to keep shaking it well before you draw a dosage. Ivomec is stable
in propylene glycol, and it works much better. You can buy a big
jug of it at most feedstores/farm supplies—it is used for pregnant
sheep, goats and cattle.

Ivomec is effective against internal parasites like trachea worm,
and also takes care of the external parasites. Levasole gets the
capillary worms and some others that the Ivomec doesn't get.
Pam Hogan

ANSWER
My friend Randy Henry did a lot of study on worming in his 17 yrs study on Veterinary
here is some of his usage of Ivermectin 1% soluble and 5% oil based

Also severl people use Ivomec wormer 1% water soluble
or 5% oil based and put on the neck skin of the bird.

Injectable 1% is
used inside the bird in injection or in the water also given down the throat
. And
5% oil based is used on the shoulder of the bird only. Not inside the birds mouth.

Directions for 5% ivomec with oil base put on shoulder
only not internally.
(1 1 drop small bantam such as female OE
(2 2 drops large bantam male like OE
(3 3 drops most bantams
(4 4 drops larger bantams and smaller commercial hens
(5 5 drops commercial large fowl and smaller large
fowl
(5 5 drops Large fowl chicken
(7 7 drops larger males of large fowl breeds of
Chickens.

(A 5% oil type Ivomec Stays on the birds for at least
6 weeks. and is the reason it is only used on the out
side under the feathers on the shoulder of the
chickens. Slow release time.

(B 1% water soulable is injectable and can be used in
the water. also given by mouth

THIS IS S ON USING 1% IVERMECTIN IN THE WATER
WHICH IS NOT MY PREFERRED USE OF IT????
you have to treat 4 times a yr GLH


Iona wrote:
I leave treated water (4 cc per gallon of water) in the coops for 2
days. It is the only water so everyone drinks. I change the water
mixture every day and more often if it gets dirty. There is a great
margin for safety when using ivermectin so I don't worry about a bird
over dosing on it. I have been using injectable ivermectin mixed with
drinking water for 5 years now and have never had a problem.
IONA

GAIL
I use the injectable 1 % solution mixed at 8 cc. per gallon of water to
treat canaries for air sac mites and to worm chickens, budgies,
canaries, cockatiels, etc. I take their water away the night before and
use this solution as the only source of water for 24 hours. It is
important to treat again in 10 days to get all the mites that have
hatched out since the treatment BEFORE they can lay eggs again. For
scaly face/leg mites I treat the birds at least four times.
To prevent heart worms and treat round and hook worms in dogs I use the
same 1% injectable diluted 14 cc. of ivermectin to 86 cc of propylene
glycol, administered orally once a month at a dosage rate of 1 cc for
every ten pounds body weight. This works very well for me, although I
would use caution in giving ivermectin to collies or collie crosses. I
have not had any problem with shetland sheepdogs or border collies, but
your results may vary.

Gail
any questions just email me

 

[afewhens]

Thanks! I just went to my feed store and they were out of all the worming meds so I'll look at ebay.

They did suggest tetracycline and electrolytes. I may try those too. Any reason not to?

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

YOU SAID THIS

They did suggest tetracycline and electrolytes. I may try those too. Any reason not to?

WELL FIRST i DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE TERRMYCINE IS FOR?
IT IS WASTED MONEY AND EFFORT TO USE THIS
the feed store people are just on a roll when folks are undecided what to buy
they sell the most easiest priced medication

in 1990 DEHEC made physer company take terrmycin off the market
when it came back in it had the best part of the medication taken out as people had gotten allergic to it from constant use in feeding cattle, hogs, chickens
as it is not even got any thing for respiratory disease in it

it is not for the lethargic hen
lethargic means the chickens body functions are not going well
such as the gut, the liver, the manure has something wrong with it? give worming a look at

if you use the electrolytes do so as advised on pkg
DO NOT OVER DOSE WITH ELECTROLYTES

my suggestions do work and are for good health of the birds

email me any questions

 

[afewhens]

OK, I'll get the worming med and skip the rest.