Roundworms, or other intestinal issue?

[7&8]

1) What type of bird , age and weight. Barred Rock; 1 yr.;7 lbs.
2)What is the bahavior exactly? excessive water consumption & passing clear, watery diarrhea with loosely formed feces of varying normal colors, and/or containing "flakes" of urea
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? 2 wks.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. n/a
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. eating grass on range; bugs & worms; layer crumbles & pellets; drinking clean well water (tested) & from puddles on range
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. see above
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Piperazine (1 oz./gal. H20/24 hrs.) 48 hrs. ago
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?would like to treat the bird myself
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. believe me, the poop looks as described!

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use very clean coop areas bedded in pine shavings with range access to grass/woodsy area

Ok, so I've searched BYC and read up on others' encounters with watery diarrhea & excessive thirst. I suspect roundworms, but am also wondering if he's got some kind of bacterial intestinal thing going on. He has been getting top quality plain yogurt every day since I noticed his symptoms - he takes four or five bites before the hens get wind of the yogurt and move in for the kill. His appetite is good in general. The tips of his comb are dusky gray, an obvious sign that he's not feeling well. His libido is greatly decreased, which is not entirely a bad thing as it is allowing his favorite Orpington to re-grow her back feathers. Their interior spaces are kept very clean, and there are only three LF's and one banty in a 164' area - so they're not exactly overcrowded.

My questions are: if he was in fact dealing with a roundworm infestation, how long following worming before I should see an improvement in his intestinal condition? And, in the case of a suspected bacterial issue, such as Salmonella, E.Coli, or some other bug, is there anything I can do for the bird beyond probiotics? Should I give him electrolytes?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[Judy]

Maybe there is another worm present; piperazine only treats roundworms. Read here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5770173#p5770173

 

[7&8]

ddawn - thank you for your reply. You are absolutely correct that Piperazine only treats Roundworms. Treating for worms of any kind was a shot in the dark as a fecal was not done on the bird. Based on reading around on poultry parasites, and largely on this [urlhttp://www.new-self-sufficient-living.com/worms-in-chickens.html[/URL] article, if he was suffering from internal parasites, Roundworms seemed the most likely candidate. But. To update my original post, the big guy died this afternoon, in my arms, as I was carrying him to the chopping block. He was a nice cockerel, and will be missed.

I'm looking at my husbandry practices. Wondering what I'm doing wrong that I've lost two birds in the past few months, both from relatively non-descriptive ailments - though neither showing entirely the same symptoms. Their coop is ridiculously clean; clean water every day, same as I drink; quality layer crumbles from a reputable feed store, stored in proper containers; no known environmental hazards involving their range; not overcrowded. I don't feed them weird things. They can't get in the compost bin (anymore). The rooster survived a fox attack recently - maybe the stress from that dealt him a blow, and he wasn't able to fend off an overload of bacteria from, say, drinking from standing water patches - which he was prone to doing. What's odd is that I have two birds that have been around for a couple of years, both exposed to the same feed, water, environment as the roo, and neither have had an off day.

I'm working on becoming more knowledgeable about poultry diseases, with thanks to the experienced advice of folks like you, ddawn, and others on BYC. And my local Bird Fanciers club. Frogs croak, and so do chickens. There is a baker's dozen of chicks out there just looking for me. I just want to know I'm doing right by the little rascals...