Should I be worried?

[TJAnonymous]

About 2 weeks ago I noticed 2 of my Blue Andalusians were looking a little peaked. Their combs were very pale and flopped over to the side. They are both only a year old. They haven't been laying recently but I wasn't too concerned because many of my girls have stopped or slowed down because of winter. As a precaution though, I gave them some Safeguard dewormer and put some Corid in the water.

Sadly, one of these girls passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. I went in the coop to feed and she was dead on the floor.

Of course, this made me concerned for the other one. Her comb is still pale and flopped over. I brought her inside and put her in an infirmary crate to keep an eye on her for a few days. This time, I put Corid in her water but I also treated her with Pour-on Ivermectin.

I'm not sure what else to do for her or if she is even sick? I'm just assuming since her comb is so pale and floppy. She is very skittish by nature so keeping her in the crate is really stressing her out. She keeps throwing herself at the bars so I covered it with a blanket to try to calm her down.

I looked at all my girls closely tonight and there are several buff Orpingtons and RIRs who also have pale combs right now. Everyone seems to be eating decently and no one seems particularly lethargic. Is it possible for them to get pale combs in winter without them being sick?

 

[Eggcessive]

Eye bubbles and swelling around the eye or face can be a sigh of MG, a respiratory disease. Tylosin, tetracyclines, Denagard, or enrofloxacin are some antibiotics that may possibly treat it. I would use a warm wet compress to the eye to soak of any crusty drainage. Apply the eye ointment twice a day.

 

[TJAnonymous]

OMG... I absolutely LOVE the poultry department at U of A! I had sent their department head the picture of my CCLB in an effort to figure out if it is Mycoplasma. He talked to me for nearly 20 minutes about both birds. He told me what the possible diagnoses COULD be (a new strain of bronchitis in the area, Mycoplasma, or possibly something else that started with an L). He suggested I switch the eye drops to terramycin instead of neomycin because it will work better and faster. He asked me to send him more pictures in 2 days. He will use the photos in his teaching course. He also offered two options for diagnostic testing to see if it IS MG - either a blood test (they'd have to cull the bird) or a PCR throat swab. He warned me that if she did test positive, my farm would be quarantined and that the state would have final say on whether my birds would have to be culled or not. Since I'm just a "hobby flock" and not near any commercial chicken farms, it is unlikely that they would force a mass culling.

Lastly, he told me to save his phone number and that I could text him questions any time.... I told him that I had used a video he created a while back to guide me through a necropsy I did on a hen who died last year. His video was wonderful and I couldn't have done it without it. He thanked me and told me if I ever do another one, I can send him my pictures at each stage and he will give me his opinion on a diagnosis!

 

[Chickenmama51]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Quite a few of my chickens get paler combs in the winter while they are molting and not laying eggs anymore. I hope that's all that is wrong.

 

[Yardmom]

If hens are not laying their combs will be pale. Most birds over a year don't lay after molting until the days start getting longer. Obviously the dead bird is not normal. I would watch to make sure there are no other issues, but it may have been something wrong with the individual bird and not with the whole flock.

 

[Banana01]

Sorry your hen died. What were you feeding her and what supplements are you giving? A hen that is part of a flock of 50, its hard to give her special attention, but she may need some vitamin supplement in addition to the normal feed. Corrid has side effects of vitamin deficiency and a very narrow treatment window. I like feeding them liver pate whem they are really low on nutrients.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm glad her poop looks normal! That's always a good sign!

I have goats, too, so I'm always nervous about treating for worms without knowing what I'm dealing with. Resistence is bad juju. I do fecal floats on my goats regularly in order to detect worm and protozoa loads. I've not had to worm anyone yet (knock on wood!). That's why I don't treat without first knowing what they've got.

In your situation, a vet would be good in my opinion, or even just ask a vet to do a fecal float on your chicken if you really suspect worms. But treating with Corid doesn't hurt. Are you still using the Corid? You'll see pretty quick improvement if it's coccidiosis.

I have an annual vet farm check every February. Horses get Coggins pulled and everyone gets their annual vaccines. I've never had the vet do a fecal on my goats because they've always looked really healthy. However, my doe hasn't been eating well the last few weeks. She's seemed a little lethargic too... I treated her and my buck with some Safeguard 2 weeks ago, as a precaution, when I treated the chickens at the same time. I've never seen any worms in either the chickens or goat poop. I only worm them twice a year as a precaution.

However the horses are on a rotational worming schedule every other month where I switch up what they get since different wormers target different parasites. They were just wormed with Quest Plus in November.

I think the only way I'm going to know for sure is a necropsy which I will do if another young bird dies.

I still have the Splash in the crate and am treating her with Corid for 5 days. I just wish she wasn't so skittish. She flips out every time I walk in the room

 

[Mosey2003]

I would wonder about tapeworms, Safeguard as a single dose doesn't take care of them. I use Valbazen which supposedly does treat tapes as well as the rest. I also do two courses, 10 days apart, to get any that hatched after the first dose.

I assume you've thoroughly inspected them for mites and lice?

Otherwise, I'm not sure what would cause those symptoms. Definitely get a necropsy if anyone else passes.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Figured out what is wrong with my CCLB. I brought her inside the house so I could look her over in the light. She was either pecked in the eye or has somehow developed an abscess. It is so swollen, I can't even see if she still has an eyeball.... I gave her a little amoxicillan with an eye dropper since there is clearly an infection. I also put some prescription Neomycin eye drops in her eye. I guess we will see how she looks in the morning? I'm keeping her quarantined in the house. Separate crate next to Splash. Her crop is definitely empty so she isn't eating.... I have her on a puppy pad to check her poop since I have her inside.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I reached out to the poultry department at the University of Arkansas. They have helped me in the past by talking me through a necropsy, etc. They should be able to tell me how or where to have her tested. If it is MG, I will probably have to cull all my birds....