SHOCKING amount of bloody diarrhea - Cocci or internal bleeding or...?

[GregoryPeckory]

Good morning Everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster.

Opened the coop this morning to find our 8 year old Welsummer / Cochin cross off the roost surrounded by extremely bloody diarrhea. Because of the amount of blood I was concerned it was a wound and rushed her indoors to begin treatment. My husband then washed off the drop boards, so unfortunately, no photos of the initial blood bath. However, it's been about 1.5 hrs and she just pooped again (see photo). The black bits you see are blood clots. This tells me she had active bleeding earlier, as evidenced by the amount of fresh blood in the coop, and now she is passing the remnants in clots.

Yesterday she was acting normal, eating and drinking fine. This morning she has eaten some oats and fresh peach, but is ignoring her food / water (they get Purina layena pellets and Modesto Milling crumble. Oyster shell always on offer. ACV in water 2x a week.) She has not been laying the last month, which is typical for her in late summer. Her color is the same as it has been. She is not fluffed up, and is not tucking her tail, but she is just...standing. I'm wondering if she's in shock. (Just after writing that, she made a run for the front door when it was opened.)

We have a flock of 11 hens and two roosters (roosters are managed / no fighting). No history of Coccidiosis in the flock. It was in the 80's yesterday, but cool by the evening. No one else is exhibiting symptoms. Both she and her sister have had recurrent chronic diarrhea, as did their mother. However, this has been going on for YEARS, we have gone to the vet multiple times, tried All The Things, and have chalked it up to breed/genetics. They have always been fine otherwise. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's connected / if there's an intestinal disorder.

I will try to get some Corid today if our feed supply carries it. I will also schedule a visit with the vet.

My questions: Has anyone else had experience with an intense amount of blood and Coccidiosis? Have you ever had sudden internal / intestinal bleeding? Is there something that could have ruptured? Thoughts or insights? Help!

Thanks in advance!

(Her name is Bad Chicken because she is always the one refusing to come in at night. But she is a Very Good Bird.)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Has she been dewormed recently?

Blood in poop can be from a number of things. Worms comes to mind with her being an older hen.

Possible, it's Coccidiosis if her health is declining.

Other issues like reproductive disorders, cancer, etc. could cause some blood in the poop as well.

It would be good to see the vet if possible, they can do fecal float to see if worms or coccidiosis are the problem.


To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm you can use Safeguard (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen (Albendazole). Both are given orally by weight; they do not mix well with water.

Safeguard 10% Liquid Goat Dewormer or 10% Equine Paste dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Here's how to give oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[GregoryPeckory]

Has she been dewormed recently?

Blood in poop can be from a number of things. Worms comes to mind with her being an older hen.

Possible, it's Coccidiosis if her health is declining.

Other issues like reproductive disorders, cancer, etc. could cause some blood in the poop as well.

It would be good to see the vet if possible, they can do fecal float to see if worms or coccidiosis are the problem.


To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm you can use Safeguard (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen (Albendazole). Both are given orally by weight; they do not mix well with water.

Safeguard 10% Liquid Goat Dewormer or 10% Equine Paste dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
---OR---
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Here's how to give oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Thanks Wyrop Rock. Everybody was dewormed 2 months ago. I wonder about cancer as well, but the amount of blood really seemed like an active wound.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks Wyrop Rock. Everybody was dewormed 2 months ago. I wonder about cancer as well, but the amount of blood really seemed like an active wound.

Did you check for any injuries or a broken toenail on the other hens?

Toenails will bleed like crazy, so will something like a tiny cut on wattles or a comb.

 

[GregoryPeckory]

Did you check for any injuries or a broken toenail on the other hens?

Toenails will bleed like crazy, so will something like a tiny cut on wattles or a comb.

Thanks - Not an exterior wound (no toenail, pin feather, fly strike etc). She was hemorrhaging blood from her cloaca. Imagine multiple 4" diameter puddles all over the coop floor of mostly blood with diarrhea mixed in.

Just got back from the vet. The diagnosis was mostly . But I'll post the info here (and any future updates) in case this is helpful to someone down the road.

Coccidiosis? Unlikely, since she is 8 years old and there is no flock history of it. No new birds or other animals, so also unlikely there would be a new strain. I brought in a fecal sample and a cursory look under the microscope showed some protozoa, but not Cocci. It is normal for chickens to have a low load of protozoa. Will be sending to the lab to identify. Will be giving Fenbendazole in case it is something like Giardia.

Reproductive? An internal cloaca examination (gloved finger up the ol' rump) was normal, no masses, hernias, bound egg etc.

Foreign Object? Did an Xray - nada.

Could it be something organic she ate, like a Foxtail? Unlikely, since the Xray showed a healthy gizzard full of stones, so she would have been able to digest it.

Could it be poison? Vet asked if we had put any rat bait out. We don't do that, but just FYI for future trouble shooting.

I asked the vet if something higher up in her GI could have ruptured, like a tumor or an ulcer? There's no way to tell, unless we took her to a specialist and they did a scope. But the vet thinks that something like this may be the culprit.

So in conclusion: We will hear back on the fecal in a couple of days. In the meantime, we will be giving her Fenbendazole, as well as Sucralfate - an ulcer medication that coats an ulcer or wound with a protective coating to keep it from further damage. I will also be giving her Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) root tea, which will coat the whole GI and help with internal wound healing. If she hemorrhages again I will give her Yarrow (Achillea) tea to help with clotting. And of course, if it continues to be a mystery and she is suffering, we will have to put her down .

Anyway, if you read this far, thanks. Cross your fingers for poor Bad Chicken.

 

[GregoryPeckory]

Thanks - Not an exterior wound (no toenail, pin feather, fly strike etc). She was hemorrhaging blood from her cloaca. Imagine multiple 4" diameter puddles all over the coop floor of mostly blood with diarrhea mixed in.

Just got back from the vet. The diagnosis was mostly . But I'll post the info here (and any future updates) in case this is helpful to someone down the road.

Coccidiosis? Unlikely, since she is 8 years old and there is no flock history of it. No new birds or other animals, so also unlikely there would be a new strain. I brought in a fecal sample and a cursory look under the microscope showed some protozoa, but not Cocci. It is normal for chickens to have a low load of protozoa. Will be sending to the lab to identify. Will be giving Fenbendazole in case it is something like Giardia.

Reproductive? An internal cloaca examination (gloved finger up the ol' rump) was normal, no masses, hernias, bound egg etc.

Foreign Object? Did an Xray - nada.

Could it be something organic she ate, like a Foxtail? Unlikely, since the Xray showed a healthy gizzard full of stones, so she would have been able to digest it.

Could it be poison? Vet asked if we had put any rat bait out. We don't do that, but just FYI for future trouble shooting.

I asked the vet if something higher up in her GI could have ruptured, like a tumor or an ulcer? There's no way to tell, unless we took her to a specialist and they did a scope. But the vet thinks that something like this may be the culprit.

So in conclusion: We will hear back on the fecal in a couple of days. In the meantime, we will be giving her Fenbendazole, as well as Sucralfate - an ulcer medication that coats an ulcer or wound with a protective coating to keep it from further damage. I will also be giving her Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) root tea, which will coat the whole GI and help with internal wound healing. If she hemorrhages again I will give her Yarrow (Achillea) tea to help with clotting. And of course, if it continues to be a mystery and she is suffering, we will have to put her down .

Anyway, if you read this far, thanks. Cross your fingers for poor Bad Chicken.

(We will also give her some Rooster Booster for the iron to help with the blood loss).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks - Not an exterior wound (no toenail, pin feather, fly strike etc). She was hemorrhaging blood from her cloaca. Imagine multiple 4" diameter puddles all over the coop floor of mostly blood with diarrhea mixed in.

Just got back from the vet. The diagnosis was mostly . But I'll post the info here (and any future updates) in case this is helpful to someone down the road.

Coccidiosis? Unlikely, since she is 8 years old and there is no flock history of it. No new birds or other animals, so also unlikely there would be a new strain. I brought in a fecal sample and a cursory look under the microscope showed some protozoa, but not Cocci. It is normal for chickens to have a low load of protozoa. Will be sending to the lab to identify. Will be giving Fenbendazole in case it is something like Giardia.

Reproductive? An internal cloaca examination (gloved finger up the ol' rump) was normal, no masses, hernias, bound egg etc.

Foreign Object? Did an Xray - nada.

Could it be something organic she ate, like a Foxtail? Unlikely, since the Xray showed a healthy gizzard full of stones, so she would have been able to digest it.

Could it be poison? Vet asked if we had put any rat bait out. We don't do that, but just FYI for future trouble shooting.

I asked the vet if something higher up in her GI could have ruptured, like a tumor or an ulcer? There's no way to tell, unless we took her to a specialist and they did a scope. But the vet thinks that something like this may be the culprit.

So in conclusion: We will hear back on the fecal in a couple of days. In the meantime, we will be giving her Fenbendazole, as well as Sucralfate - an ulcer medication that coats an ulcer or wound with a protective coating to keep it from further damage. I will also be giving her Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) root tea, which will coat the whole GI and help with internal wound healing. If she hemorrhages again I will give her Yarrow (Achillea) tea to help with clotting. And of course, if it continues to be a mystery and she is suffering, we will have to put her down .

Anyway, if you read this far, thanks. Cross your fingers for poor Bad Chicken.

I'm glad the vet was able to see her.

Hopefully the treatments will help and you'll see some improvement.

Keep me posted on how she's getting along.

 

[GregoryPeckory]

UPDATE (Warning: graphic poo pics)

We got the fecal test results, this is what the vet texted us:

"No parasites seen (including giardia)- so the protozoal organisms I saw were not seen in a cyst form (which is what is seen on this type of test). I saw active swimming flagellates which could be low numbers of giardia or something else like Tetratrichomonas gallinarum which can cause lesions in the GI tract- so I think it is worth giving the Fenbendazole."

Bad Chicken has been given two doses of the Fenben. She had perked up this afternoon after being mostly lethargic for the last 24 hrs. Her crop has been moving very slowly, and her poop has been mostly water. However, this afternoon she was foraging with the others and even jumped up on the roost with gusto. About an hour later, I found her off the roost, looking pale and hunched. I massaged her crop and a few minutes later she passed the stool that you see in the photos. It was bloody like the ones two days ago, with the semi-solid object that looks worm-like.

The thicker and darker part of the worm-like thing seems like coagulated blood. The thinner part is more tissue like. Sharing in hopes that this might look symptomatic to a recognizable disease or parasite that someone has experience with.

We have emailed the vet, but of course we're going in to the weekend. We have given BC some Rooster Booster for the blood loss, and she's sleeping indoors tonight. Good thoughts, prayers and vibes welcome.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

UPDATE (Warning: graphic poo pics)

We got the fecal test results, this is what the vet texted us:

"No parasites seen (including giardia)- so the protozoal organisms I saw were not seen in a cyst form (which is what is seen on this type of test). I saw active swimming flagellates which could be low numbers of giardia or something else like Tetratrichomonas gallinarum which can cause lesions in the GI tract- so I think it is worth giving the Fenbendazole."

Bad Chicken has been given two doses of the Fenben. She had perked up this afternoon after being mostly lethargic for the last 24 hrs. Her crop has been moving very slowly, and her poop has been mostly water. However, this afternoon she was foraging with the others and even jumped up on the roost with gusto. About an hour later, I found her off the roost, looking pale and hunched. I massaged her crop and a few minutes later she passed the stool that you see in the photos. It was bloody like the ones two days ago, with the semi-solid object that looks worm-like.

The thicker and darker part of the worm-like thing seems like coagulated blood. The thinner part is more tissue like. Sharing in hopes that this might look symptomatic to a recognizable disease or parasite that someone has experience with.

We have emailed the vet, but of course we're going in to the weekend. We have given BC some Rooster Booster for the blood loss, and she's sleeping indoors tonight. Good thoughts, prayers and vibes welcome.


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Thank you for the update.

I don't think I've seen that before. Perhaps a cecal core, but those are usually not bloody.

Did they do any testing for infection like Enteritis? I wonder if an antibiotic in addition to deworming is in order.

I'll tag in @Eggcessive and @dawg53 to see if they have any insight.

 

[dawg53]

I have seen coccidiosis cause ALOT of blood loss, verified by a necropsy. The pullet involved was at death's doorstep.