sick chickie

[casportpony]

This is one of my standard replies, but I thought it might be helpful.

This is how I treat mine:

• Bring inside right away.
• Weigh and record weight. I use a cheap digital kitchen scale from Target.
• Do thorough exam.
• Dust for mites/lice with poultry dust even if I can't see any .
• De-worm with Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (fenbendazole 100mg/ml) at the rate of 50mg/kg ( .5cc/kg) by mouth.
• Place in box or plastic bin with access to food, water and heat.
• Once warm enough, if not eating/drinking, and crop is empty, tube feed Pedialyte. Once hydrated, tube feed baby bird food.
• Maybe give antibiotics.
• Watch closely for 24 hours.
• Weigh daily.

Read these articles on tube feeding:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/722041/how-to-t-feed-a-sick-chicken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7933

 

[casportpony]

Can you post some picture of her poop?

 

[jkulp00]

Yes I could - will tomorrow I just cleaned out her cage/mat. I just got her to eat via hand feeding with a syringe 10 cc of a mash of electolytes, layer pellets and yogurt. She wasn't happy about the process but having never done it before I can't imagine many are. She definitely swallowed it once it was in her mouth and afterwards she pecked around at some mealworms from the floor of the cage whereas earlier today she was only eating them if it held them out to her one at a time. I put a mirror in her cage after reading the link you provided regarding tube feeding and sub-q fluids. She did seem interested in it. Poop pics to come tomorrow. They are so gross. Thank you

 

[jkulp00]

oh and i thought worming her when she was this sick was a bad idea?? not sure she would drink enough to do it anyway and i am nervous about giving her straight liquid through the oral syringe. thoughts are welcome though

 

[jkulp00]

oh here, i do have a picture. keep in mind this looks like she is constantly standing in poop and eating out of poop which is not the case. I keep her area very clean but just happened to have been feeding her then dropped some mealworms putting her back in the cage and she stepped in the poop right before i was going to clean the mat off.

you can see how stringy/goopy the white/yellow stuff is and the darker solids are greenish/black

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I noticed that one of my 2 year old RIR's had a lot of yellowish poop crusted up over her tail feathers. When I let the birds out she came out and pecked around but her energy level was definitely not up to normal and although she's been eating she isn't quite as crazy aggressive about it. I didn't have time or daylight to deal with it last night, but read a bunch on the internet and after work today came home, completely cleaned out the coop and run and replaced litter, gave her a warm bath and got all of the gunked up crusted poop off of her and dried her off, fed her some bread soaked in olive oil and gave her some medicated feed for coccidiosis. Today the tips of her comb are a little purplish. When washing her I checked out her vent and it looks pretty normal - pink and not swollen. She pooped in the kitchen (lovely I know) twice after her bath and the poop was pretty much yellow water with some small black solids in it. None of my other girls have any symptoms.

Is there anything else I should be doing for her? She seemed to enjoy her bath and did perk up a bit and I am glad she is eating and drinking. Everything I have read has suggested coccidiosis or that she is overheated (not likely in december in PA) or not eating enough. It is hard to tell what she is eating daily bc she is in with the other girls but I have watched her eat when foraging and she still has an appetite. I know that i should be quarantining her but i just don't have anywhere to put her at the moment.

Any advice would be welcome, I am also considering worming all of them because it seems like this could be a possibility as well.

Thanks chicken friends!
Jess

You are most probably dealing w/ blackhead (a.k.a. histomoniasis, infectious enterohepatitis )-;~

Read up, 'n give me a yell if I can be of any help ...

Here's more about this disease from WikiPedia, w/in the Merck Vet Manual, and on PoultryHub.

 

[jkulp00]

Ok so i read the links that you provided but am not sure what that means.... that basically she will always have this and I can't treat it and it will spread to others so she needs to go? It basically says that most chickens are resistant to it but that once one gets it if they live they can live for years but spread it to other birds? UGH

 

[casportpony]

You are most probably dealing w/ blackhead (a.k.a. histomoniasis, infectious enterohepatitis )-;~

Read up, 'n give me a yell if I can be of any help ...

Here's more about this disease from WikiPedia, w/in the Merck Vet Manual, and on PoultryHub.

The poop in the picture does not look like any of the blackhead poop I have seen. All of these are from birds with blakhead:

 

[casportpony]

Ok so i read the links that you provided but am not sure what that means.... that basically she will always have this and I can't treat it and it will spread to others so she needs to go? It basically says that most chickens are resistant to it but that once one gets it if they live they can live for years but spread it to other birds? UGH

I think your bird is dehydrated and that's why the poop looks like it does. How much does she weigh and what does her comb look like? FWIW, treatment for blackhead is metronidazole 30mg/kg by mouth once a day for 5 days and 50mg/kg fenbendazole by mouth and repeat in 10 days.

 

[jkulp00]

Her poops at times do look like some of the ones in the pictures, particularly the second to last one. Where does one acquire metronidazole and fenbedazole? Are they available at the vet only? I am sure at this point she is dehydrated. I don't doubt it for a minute but its very hard to get her to drink much. However, the poop has looked like that from the very beginning of this last week. her comb is a little bluish at the tips but not shriveled or dry looking. Her eyes look good.