Reocurring intestinal bacterial infection

[barksy]

Hey everyone, while I’m not new to chickens I am new to illness. I try to be as organic as possible but am now realizing it’s not always possible.


I have some type of intestinal bacterial that just won’t seem to leave my birds. It started last fall I treated the flock with tetracycline and it seems to be coming back again this spring.

I had one really sick chicken I isolated her and treated with penicillin. She’s better.

My questions are is there a natural way I can treat the rest of the flock? They have some runny poops but aren’t sick yet.

Also how long to treat with penicillin and how long is egg withdrawal?

Are what are common intestinal bacterial that come back?





Thanks
Erika

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Coccidiosis is the first one that comes to mind. You treat that with corid (sold for cattle) or amproleum.
Sunlight will kill coccidia, so if you can expose their run to the sun it will limit their exposure.

Antibiotics wipe out all the bacteria in the gut, good and bad, so you might have luck trying to support the healthy bacteria with a little plain yogurt or some probiotics.

I think it's important to know exactly what you are trying to treat to have the best success. What are you seeing that makes you think it's a bacterial infection? Can you give us some details on symptoms and the ages and conditions of your flock? The more info we have, the better the problem can be diagnosed.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Using antibiotics kills both good and bad bacteria.

How do you know you have an intestinal bacteria issue? You can have a float done of the poops and see if it's gram positive or negative bacteria... it can also check for cocci, which can happen even in adult birds and also can cause loose stools. And it will test for worm load since MOST worm species (other than large round worms and tape worms) will not be seen in the droppings and only their microscopic eggs will pass. Can be done at ANY vet. It cost $25 at mine but worth it to ensure I don't treat for what I don't have.

I will note that even organic poison is still poison. Have you checked for worms or wormed?

Did you identify the cause of your really sick gal that was isolated? Can you describe her symptoms please? How old is your flock, how many birds total in how much space? Recent weather pattern? What do you feed including treats and supplements? Do you still get eggs when you think they are sick?

I personally would offer support of their own immune system by giving yogurt or raw acv in the water for the PRObiotics. Get the gut flora back in balance. And by only giving nutritious feed with no low quality snack like scratch.

I have ONE girl with constant mud butt. She's healthy, lays, tested worm free.... I'm guessing genetic deficit of some sort for her.

Hope this is helpful! And that you get it figured out.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I remembered your question about egg residue...

http://www.farad.org/publications/digests/122015EggResidue.pdf

file:///home/chronos/u-8dddc19ebe5a812af6d3c24d8816a73a75dad5e1/Downloads/LayingHensEggResidues.pdf

 

[barksy]

Thanks for the reply’s, I wish I knew more about illnesses.

3 of the birds are silkies with no symptoms they are 3 years old.
The rest are black sexlink and Rhode Island reds and they are just over 1 year old.
We have one bird who had yellow watery poop and was very latargic and not eating or drinking. We isolated her and gave her heat and penicillin. She is now back to normal but still isolated. I will start with yogurt.
The other chickens are all acting fine but we have some brown diarrhea.
We have 13 chickens in a 20x15 coop. With 30 x 60 run.
There has been some drastic weather changes. Very cold and snowy to sudden warmth and rain.
They are feed a local organic very nutritious grain feed. We also feed them a small amount of treats 3-4 times a week which are fruits and veggies.
We did just put pinless peepers on a lot of the flock because of pecking through the cold months and boredom. We do give them bordom busters and gave them room outside for winter but they are used to a huge run in the summer. We looked and saw no lice or mites.
I have noticed a slight sneezing going around the coop for 6 months now. Not bad, no discharge, drainage or swelling.

I just did a huge clean of the coop about 3 weeks ago.

Last fall I took a poop sample the the vet, they called me and told me it was some type of bacterial infection and to use Tetricyclin for 3 weeks. He said there was no worms in the poop.

Thanks again,

I want to get as educated as possible. Even thinking of getting my own microscope and doing fecal tests myself.
We only have one vet that will do fecal tests within 2 hours of here.
Out of 10 vets only 1 would test.

 

[barksy]

Also there is no blood in poop.

 

[barksy]

Sorry I forgot to add, we are getting 8-9 eggs a day. One hen is Broody and one is a rooster.

The sick chicken is not laying.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would also recommend getting some combined droppings tested by your usual vet, who even though they may not see chickens, they can at least do fecal floats for coccidiosisand worms, and possibly a gram stain for enteritis. Sometimes asking for a favor of your regular dog or cat vet may help. There are also mail order fecal floats availble.

I would agree with using some probiotics in the food. There are powders in feed stores available, and good brand name yogurt has healthy probiotic cultures. Many of the feeds now also have probiotics.

It is dangerous to treat with antibiotics for unknown illnesses. I would suspect the one who is lethargic with diarrhea may possibly have coccidiosis (usually more common in young chicks, but sometimes seen in a chicken with immunity problems.) That is usually treated with Corid, a cattle medicine, and not an antibiotic. There are quite a few strains of coccidia and only a few cause blood in stools, but runny stools with mucus may be seen.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Last fall I took a poop sample the the vet, they called me and told me it was some type of bacterial infection and to use Tetricyclin for 3 weeks. He said there was no worms in the poop.

That's interesting. Coccidia is a protazoan, not bacteria, but doesn't sound like the vet was very specific. There are several different strains of coccidia that infect chickens and most do not produce bloody stools. Still, that may not be your issue. The sneezing is concerning. If they have a mild respiratory virus, it lowers their resistance, and they can be affected by all sorts of things that normally a healthy bird could handle.
I'm sure you will get more advice and I'll be interested to hear what others say.

Hanging a head of cabbage on a string is a great boredom buster!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

The other chickens are all acting fine but we have some brown diarrhea.

Cecal stools can look somewhat like diarrhea, but they are a normal daily occurrence and not a sign of illness. Most stools should be solid.