Second sick hen

[ZedikerStation]

Well, .... a couple more days later and no more lash material, and all seems well. Hopefully we are past whatever it was!!

 

[ZedikerStation]

Possible 3rd Hen... It was a nice day so the Hens got a nice long supervised outing. We noticed this girl looking a little ragged, tail down and just "off". She will get in there and compete for scratch, seems to have energy, and is spunky if picked up. She is noticeably thinner than the others. Her droppings look normal. I noticed some black spots on the left side of her comb, but nothing on the right. They appear to be tiny scabs. We didn't notice any on any of the others. Since we just lost 2 others, I'm wondering if this could somehow be related...
Thoughts??

 

[azygous]

The spots are just pecking wounds. That's where chickens strike when they disagree.

You know the drill. Check crop first thing in the morning to rule out the most common cause of unwellness. And monitor poop.

 

[ZedikerStation]

The spots are just pecking wounds. That's where chickens strike when they disagree.

You know the drill. Check crop first thing in the morning to rule out the most common cause of unwellness. And monitor poop.

Unfortunately... I do. Her crop felt "normally full" as they were out most of the day enjoying the bugs in the leaves. I'll check her in the morning. There has been quite a bit of squabbling since the other two hens are not in there, as expected.

 

[ZedikerStation]

New day... New developments.

The hen that is exhibiting the symptoms described yesterday was given a good look-over. Crop seems empty, all looks good there. No signs of bugs, lice, or mites.

The droppings board had some additional evidence though. The lash material could have only come from 2 hens. One red, one black. I would not suspect the black. Unfortunately, the leg band did not show up on the video, but the hen directly over the lash material may be the one with the band. It is just too fuzzy to tell for sure.

Questions:

1. Could one hen pass more than one lash egg in one night?
2. Could this be something other than lash material?
3. Would starting antibiotics on the hen suspected, not positive be a good idea?
4. If so, what antibiotic would be best? I have injectable Penicillin, Doxycycline capsuls, and Amoxicillin capsules. Dosage for each?
5. Noting the other pictures of droppings, it appears like a small amount of blood, but that would be from some of the others. Would a dose of Corid be in order?

 

[azygous]

Since the poops look solid and normal, I wouldn't suspect coccidiosis. Reproductive infection, definitely. Use the doxy. One capsule daily. But I would do one this morning and one again in late afternoon today to flood her system, then one cap daily after that for four weeks.

 

[ZedikerStation]

Since the poops look solid and normal, I wouldn't suspect coccidiosis. Reproductive infection, definitely. Use the doxy. One capsule daily. But I would do one this morning and one again in late afternoon today to flood her system, then one cap daily after that for four weeks.

The solid poop was on the opposite end of the roost. Definitely from other hens. What was under/ near her was the last material and what looked runny. They are just over 2 years old so I also didn't suspect Coccidiosis.

 

[azygous]

Also with coccidiosis, chickens will behave very unwell. It's not a disease that hides well.

 

[ZedikerStation]

Also with coccidiosis, chickens will behave very unwell. It's not a disease that hides well.

Okie Dokie--- The Doxy is 100mg. Just so we are on the same page. Should I mix it with the ORA-blend? She just might swallow the capsule based on her scrambled egg eating this morning!! She is not going to like the syringe...

I'm reading on PoultryDMV.com that withdrawal for meat is 7 days, but it appears it is not recommended for egg producers. Thoughts?

 

[azygous]

Ignore it. Just observe the egg withdrawal during treatment and a few weeks after.