Sick chicken has mystery blackening on comb/waddles

[Lyris]

My lavender Orpington has this awful respiratory illness. She's been sick for over a month. She's got rough breathing, runny poop, decreased appetite, had extreme thirst, and now is underweight and do lethargic I can catch her. She's now got minor head shakes and I'm tube feeding her. She also keeps closing on eye for some reason. Oh, and she has mites. Because of course she does. We're doing testing and the vet put her on some antibiotics (that don't appear to be helping, yay) but the vet didn't mention anything about the black on her comb/waddles. Her sister, an identical lavender Orpington, didn't have any black marks. I think they're getting worse. I'm worried that it's signs of her body starting to shut down and die. Her waddles have been cool to the touch. None of my other chickens are showing any symptoms. The vet thinks it's a recurring illness that my flock has.

What are the black marks? Is it her body shutting down? Is it something else?

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? The comb could be from peck wounds or running into wire fencing. Get permethrin garden dust at your feed store and dust her all over for mites. Repeat at 7 days and then inspect again after 7 day intervals. She might have a reproductive infection, or possibly water belly. Have you wormed her? That would be good to do. Check her crop first thing in the am before she eats or drinks to see if it is empty. Let us know what it feels like.

 

[Lyris]

How old is she? The comb could be from peck wounds or running into wire fencing. Get permethrin garden dust at your feed store and dust her all over for mites. Repeat at 7 days and then inspect again after 7 day intervals. She might have a reproductive infection, or possibly water belly. Have you wormed her? That would be good to do. Check her crop first thing in the am before she eats or drinks to see if it is empty. Let us know what it feels like.

She's almost exactly a year old. My flock is now a closed flock since we're pretty sure they have a chronic lifelong respiratory illness. I'm sending out samples tomorrow for testing since the local vets aren't that great. The current theory is that since their immune systems are compromised they can't fight off the mites and keep them to controllable levels, which is why the recurring mites. They've had red mites, black mites, and now I think lice. Unfortunately my yard is full of wild birds no matter what I do so it's recurring. Trust me, I've tried everything. The Permethrin seems to be working the best though.

She's the most docile in the flock. Aside from my even more docile bantam, she's the lowest in the pecking order. I've never actually seen any of my chickens hurt her though, and I'm around a lot. If it was pecking wounds, why would it go in such a neat line across her waddle? I was brushing it earlier and it's definitely crusty, but it didn't flake off. Could it be the mites maybe? I know that's a longshot. I have five other hens who currently have minor sneezing due to a stress related flare-up, and one who is also struggling with breathing issues, but this little girl is struggling the worse.

Her crop has been empty most of the day. I can feel her chest bones. No water in her, and the vet that examined her didn't think that was the cause. She's also dehydrated. Today I decided to take matters into my own hands and have been tube feeding her. 5ml every two hours or so. Her crop seems to be emptying and she's not barfing it up, yay. (It's a delicious slurry of boiled egg, a bit of chicken feed mash, an electrolyte mix, and some vitamins. It's probably good that she can't taste it)

I'm not optimistic that she will recover. The amoxicillin isn't helping, and the powdered antibiotics I have for pigeons don't seem to work either. I'm worried that the black is from her little body shutting down. I have flashbacks of my cat's ears turning purple when she was put to sleep. If it is, then I'll call it and put her down. If it's not, then Monday we'll haul her back to the vet and see if they can suggest a different antibiotic.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's got rough breathing, runny poop, decreased appetite, had extreme thirst, and now is underweight and do lethargic I can catch her. She's now got minor head shakes and I'm tube feeding her. She also keeps closing on eye for some reason. Oh, and she has mites.

Today I decided to take matters into my own hands and have been tube feeding her. 5ml every two hours or so. Her crop seems to be emptying and she's not barfing it up, yay.

The amoxicillin isn't helping,

I have five other hens who currently have minor sneezing due to a stress related flare-up

we're pretty sure they have a chronic lifelong respiratory illness.

Chronic lifelong respiratory illness, it's good to get the testing done to find out what you are dealing with.

Mycoplasma which is commonly seen is usually treated with Tylosin or Tiamulin. Tetracyclines can also be used to treat symptoms of MG.

Amoxicillin is not used to treat most respiratory illnesses, especially MG since it has no cell wall, so the medication will not be effective.

Another common respiratory disease, Infectious Bronchitis which is a virus, is not treated with medication unless there's a secondary bacterial infection, then often Tylosin or a Tetracycline is given to see if that helps.


Will she drink on her own?

She's not barfing up, was she before? I'd check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink to make sure the crop is emptying overnight.

When was her last egg?

Gurgling can be from number of things - when I've observed gurlging within my birds, it was usually an underlying reproductive issue causing symptoms for the crop and/or fluid in the abdomen (symptom Ascites).


The black looks like it's dirt, does it wipe off? Could be from her wiping her face if she's got mites.

 

[Lyris]

Chronic lifelong respiratory illness, it's good to get the testing done to find out what you are dealing with.

Mycoplasma which is commonly seen is usually treated with Tylosin or Tiamulin. Tetracyclines can also be used to treat symptoms of MG.

Amoxicillin is not used to treat most respiratory illnesses, especially MG since it has no cell wall, so the medication will not be effective.

Another common respiratory disease, Infectious Bronchitis which is a virus, is not treated with medication unless there's a secondary bacterial infection, then often Tylosin or a Tetracycline is given to see if that helps.


Will she drink on her own?

She's not barfing up, was she before? I'd check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink to make sure the crop is emptying overnight.

When was her last egg?

Gurgling can be from number of things - when I've observed gurlging within my birds, it was usually an underlying reproductive issue causing symptoms for the crop and/or fluid in the abdomen (symptom Ascites).


The black looks like it's dirt, does it wipe off? Could be from her wiping her face if she's got mites.

I wonder why the vet put them on Amoxicillin then. That was the first thing she did. I don't know if she's ever laid an egg. I think she got sick around the time her sister began laying. She's maybe laid two eggs? If so it's been a long while. I do have some antibiotics from Jedds, but I don't know how effective they are since they're not regulated. (Doxycycline, Amoxy-Tyl, the Factor 5 powder. I swear I also have some Doxy-Tyl but I can't find it) They're all in powder form.
She's a thirsty girl, but her thirst is decreasing. Her crop empties in the morning. I'm about ready to feed her for the first time today. She will look at the food with interest, move towards it, then change her mind. She hasn't barfed up, but where she's eating so little it was a concern that the food wouldn't settle well and we'd have to build up to a full meal.
The black stuff doesn't seem to rub off. I was thinking of maybe using a little coconut oil to see if it comes off.
I have lost three weaker chickens to a possible wasting illness although I can't confirm it. I adopted the flock all at once. One of them was blind and went with a rescue who deals with blind chickens. That one did for sure pass away from tumors. I don't know if they did any testing though. I think they found the tumors pre-death. I had another one who lasted a while, got gradually weaker, and then died. She was never tested, and my flock at the time showed no other signs of illness. I think this was like a year later. I just had another one pass at the vet's office. The vet noted how weak she was and how underweight she was. None of them laid eggs. The one who just passed did have breathing issues. She always had a weak immune system. I think it also killed another baby chick who also had breathing problems, but I don't know for sure.
Today I'm shipping out samples to Research Associates Laboratory (VetDNA) to get a respiratory panel done. They will be testing for....
Avian Influenza, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bordatella avium, Avian Coronavirus (Infectious Bronchitis), Infectious Laryngotracheitis (Ga-HV1), Avibacterium paragallinarum (Infectious coryza), Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT), Avian Mycoplasma (M. gallisepticum/M. synoviae)

I'll probably also add in Marek's just to be sure. But if it was Marek's, I should see more death, right? Out of 20+ I've only had those die, excluding a raccoon attack.

These are the two with issues. The brahma isn't suffering nearly as much as the lavender girl. The brahma is still a greedy snot who will eat everything not nailed down and is often in dust baths. I think she's starting to eat less (tired maybe) but I can't be sure. They've had a lot of stress lately. (Said raccoon attack, babysitting some of my old flock for a few days, hauling her two hours away to a vet...)

 

[Lyris]

Well. I guess that solves that issue. I went to tube feed her and she struggled. I might have gotten it down the wrong pipe. I pulled it out and forgot to crimp it. Some liquid came up with it. I gave her a minute to recover and cough up anything she needed to before trying to feed her through the side of her beak instead. Ten seconds later she flapped around and died, and a bunch of food came out. I don't think she choked to death. I think. Stress? I swear, every time I get a sick chicken and try to help them, they die. Ugh. It always happens when I'm trying to feed them and makes me feel like it's my fault. I don't think it is this time, but still. I've never had them leak food after they die, which worries me. If I gently pressed on her more would come out. I guess I'll go bury her by her sister. They were so close that it's only fitting that they go together.

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh no, I am sorry for your loss. Had her crop been emptying before the next feeding? Did you get the respiratory panel collected and shipped out today before she died. If you did, it still can help to know what she might have had. Do you plan on getting a necropsy by your state vet, or possibly doing one at home? I have learned a lot about my sick chickens doing one, even if I did not find an exact reason for the death. Below is a good video with the organs labeled of a vet necropsy (way more extensive than we do at home,) but it can be helpful to know what the organs should look like.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well. I guess that solves that issue. I went to tube feed her and she struggled. I might have gotten it down the wrong pipe. I pulled it out and forgot to crimp it. Some liquid came up with it. I gave her a minute to recover and cough up anything she needed to before trying to feed her through the side of her beak instead. Ten seconds later she flapped around and died, and a bunch of food came out. I don't think she choked to death. I think. Stress? I swear, every time I get a sick chicken and try to help them, they die. Ugh. It always happens when I'm trying to feed them and makes me feel like it's my fault. I don't think it is this time, but still. I've never had them leak food after they die, which worries me. If I gently pressed on her more would come out. I guess I'll go bury her by her sister. They were so close that it's only fitting that they go together.

I swear, every time I get a sick chicken and try to help them, they die. Ugh. It always happens when I'm trying to feed them

I'm sorry about your hen

I agree, getting a necropsy or doing your own informal investigation can often give you more information so you can figure out the best treatment options to provide (if treatment is indeed necessary).

I'm sorry that she died while you were trying to feed her. If this has happened before, perhaps it's better to try to encourage the sick bird to drink on their own by holding water/fluids up to their beak and if you need to feed, then offer wet mushy feed or even torpedo feed. Tubing or syringing fluids can be risky and if a crop is already filled with fluid, sometimes a bird can aspirate and die.

 

[Lyris]

Oh no, I am sorry for your loss. Had her crop been emptying before the next feeding? Did you get the respiratory panel collected and shipped out today before she died. If you did, it still can help to know what she might have had. Do you plan on getting a necropsy by your state vet, or possibly doing one at home? I have learned a lot about my sick chickens doing one, even if I did not find an exact reason for the death. Below is a good video with the organs labeled of a vet necropsy (way more extensive than we do at home,) but it can be helpful to know what the organs should look like.

I wasn't able to get samples in time unfortunately. I was going to take the body over today for a necropsy, but I wasn't able to make it before they closed. When we had the raccoon attack I had to bribe a neighbor to move the body for me, so no chance of me doing my own poke about. I do have another hen suffering the same symptoms. She's being tested through my vet for a few things, and if I can save up the $150 I'll do more testing through that place in Texas.

I'm sorry about your hen

I agree, getting a necropsy or doing your own informal investigation can often give you more information so you can figure out the best treatment options to provide (if treatment is indeed necessary).

I'm sorry that she died while you were trying to feed her. If this has happened before, perhaps it's better to try to encourage the sick bird to drink on their own by holding water/fluids up to their beak and if you need to feed, then offer wet mushy feed or even torpedo feed. Tubing or syringing fluids can be risky and if a crop is already filled with fluid, sometimes a bird can aspirate and die.

I haven't managed to mangle one tube feeding luckily. We think what's happening is they're already stressed, and the stress of being fed and held puts them over the edge. I always dribble it down the side of their beak if I can. If I even think it's wrong I give them a few minutes to work it out. Gemini had been struggling for a long while and was already incredibly weak.

Thinking back on it now, she vomited way more liquid than my syringe was even filled with. She hadn't been fed for 10+ hours, so there was no way her crop should have had that much in it. Sour crop maybe? Poor girl.


My flock is a firm "closed flock" for now until after they've passed. So is another flock that has some of my birds mixed in just in case. At least I know the black stuff was dirt...?