Sick Buff Orpington - Pale comb, thin, diarrhea

[Cll0711]

Hello - we have 6 Buff Orpington hens, about 6-7 months old (one has been laying for a week so far). I noticed today that one has a very pale comb (a few of them have not reddened up yet, but hers is more pale than pink). She is less active, slightly lethargic or off-balance. I inspected her closely, and she had some green diarrhea on her bottom feathers but not covering her vent. They are all quite fluffy being BO's, but this one feels much thinner when you pick her up and weighs probably 1/3 less than the others. No sign of lice/mites, injury, vent issues, foot issues, eye or respiratory problems that I can tell. I don't think the others have been bullying her away from the food/water. I separated her, and gave food and water with Rooster Booster which she ate and drank plenty of. She had watery yellow/green diarrhea with mixed white. The other hens seem to be acting just fine. Does anyone know what might be the issue? I considered lice/mites, parasite, coccidiosis, etc. It seems like this just came on within the last day or two, but considering how much thinner she feels I'm not sure if she has some other illness. Thanks for any help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Is it possible to see a vet? Can you take in some fresh droppings to a vet for a fecal float, to look for worms and coccidiosis? She could have something else going on, possibly an organ issue or something else. I would give her 2 ml of Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell orally daily for a few days to give her a boost. Will she eat some moistened feed and a little scrambled egg?

 

[Cll0711]

Is it possible to see a vet? Can you take in some fresh droppings to a vet for a fecal float, to look for worms and coccidiosis? She could have something else going on, possibly an organ issue or something else. I would give her 2 ml of Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell orally daily for a few days to give her a boost. Will she eat some moistened feed and a little scrambled egg?

Thank you for the reply. I will try to find a local vet that will treat chickens. I haven't tried to give her scrambled egg yet, but she is eating their regular feed well - an organic 16% layer feed.

 

[micstrachan]

She looks like she doesn’t feel well for sure. When did you start them on layer feed? Are they laying yet?

You have been given good advice on a nutritional boost. If she were mine, I would also treat her to a good source of iron, like beef liver or meat of some kind, as she looks a bit anemic. Can you look her over for parasites?

 

[Cll0711]

She looks like she doesn’t feel well for sure. When did you start them on layer feed? Are they laying yet?

You have been given good advice on a nutritional boost. If she were mine, I would also treat her to a good source of iron, like beef liver or meat of some kind, as she looks a bit anemic. Can you look her over for parasites?

They transitioned to layer feed at around 20 weeks. Maybe a bit early, but my husband got a large bag one day and they all seem to have been tolerating it well. Only one is laying so far, and she has laid one great-looking egg a day since she started. They eat organic layer feed, occasional handful of scratch, no human scraps aside from some leftover leaves/veggies from the garden, and free range most days. We live in SW GA, the temps are starting to cool off and they seem to be glad for that.
I agree she looks a bit anemic and she is much thinner than the others. I don't see any sign of external parasites. She's drinking plenty of Rooster Booster vitamin/electrolyte powder mixed in water and eating well. I'll try to directly give some Nutri-Drench with a syringe, and some liver if I can grab some today.

 

[micstrachan]

They transitioned to layer feed at around 20 weeks. Maybe a bit early, but my husband got a large bag one day and they all seem to have been tolerating it well. Only one is laying so far, and she has laid one great-looking egg a day since she started. They eat organic layer feed, occasional handful of scratch, no human scraps aside from some leftover leaves/veggies from the garden, and free range most days. We live in SW GA, the temps are starting to cool off and they seem to be glad for that.
I agree she looks a bit anemic and she is much thinner than the others. I don't see any sign of external parasites. She's drinking plenty of Rooster Booster vitamin/electrolyte powder mixed in water and eating well. I'll try to directly give some Nutri-Drench with a syringe, and some liver if I can grab some today.

Oh good. I wanted to make sure she hadn’t been on layer feed since she was a chick. I can’t recall if someone already suggested a fecal float. How does her poop look today?

 

[Cll0711]

Oh good. I wanted to make sure she hadn’t been on layer feed since she was a chick. I can’t recall if someone already suggested a fecal float. How does her poop look today?

I called around to 5 local vets within a 50 mile radius and none treat chickens, unfortunately. Poop is still watery green. It doesn’t look like “grass” green poop. I cleaned poop off of her fluffy butt feathers yesterday, but she has diarrhea on her feathers again today. Did another close inspection and I don’t see any mites, vent looks normal, crop feels normal to me, eyes, skin and feet look fine, no respiratory symptoms. Comb is still pale. Picking at some food, but not actually eating much. She’s been separated from the flock and just laying in one spot for most of the day. My best guesses would be roundworms, coccidiosis, or some sort of organ issue - but I don’t see any worms or eggs in her poop, no sign of blood, and she doesn’t have the “hunched over” look that you see in a lot of coccidiosis pictures. I also read about lymphoid leukosis and some symptoms match up. I’m wondering if she has another issue and has just been steadily losing weight and nutrition over the months….We lost 2 chickens from the original 8, but one seemed to have a neurological problem and the other just turned up dead in the run one morning. Both of those were at least a couple months ago, so I don’t think related to this. Feel bad for her, but also not sure that trying the “kitchen sink” of antibiotics, dewormer, Corid, etc is best.

 

[Eggcessive]

The Poultry NutriDrench also has some iron it for anemia. If you should lose her, I would contact the state vet for a necropsy to look for Mareks disease. With the 2 other losses, one neurological, that might be a possibility.