sick girl

[oceanviewchickens]

I have a 4 year old chicken who has watery, green poop. I don't know what is going on with her. I have been treating her for Vent Gleet and now she has fly strike which I am also treating. I have never had anything like this happen before and ive been a chicken mom for 4.5 years. I do not see any worms, my other girls are molting and appear to have normal poop. Please help on next steps, I'm really scared to lose her, she is a very sweet girl.

should I be treating them for something like Coccidiosis or worms?

 

[FunClucks]

Green poop is often a sign the bird is not getting enough to eat. Doing anything to increase her caloric/protein intake would be good. Raw egg yolk, Nutridrench to increase/stimulate appetite, high protein chicken feed moistened with water or yogurt, or raw egg, etc.

What breed is your chicken? Is it a production or heritage bird/breed? If it has production heritage, she may be reaching the end of her life. Lots of things can show up then.

Have you dewormed her?

Have you treated for coccidiosis?

Deworming and coccidiosis are my go-to treatments to start with as I'm trying to figure out what else is up with my birds - I know they're in my soil/area, and if my birds have either of those you may not see signs but it puts their system under stress, then add another illness on top of it and you have a visibly sick bird.

Once you complete coccidiosis treatment (if you do that), then you can feed vitamins (no B vitamins while doing the coccidiosis treatment - it cancels it out). Electrolytes should be fine any time, it may have minimal impact, but can help some depending on your weather.

 

[oceanviewchickens]

Green poop is often a sign the bird is not getting enough to eat. Doing anything to increase her caloric/protein intake would be good. Raw egg yolk, Nutridrench to increase/stimulate appetite, high protein chicken feed moistened with water or yogurt, or raw egg, etc.

What breed is your chicken? Is it a production or heritage bird/breed? If it has production heritage, she may be reaching the end of her life. Lots of things can show up then.

Have you dewormed her?

Have you treated for coccidiosis?

Deworming and coccidiosis are my go-to treatments to start with as I'm trying to figure out what else is up with my birds - I know they're in my soil/area, and if my birds have either of those you may not see signs but it puts their system under stress, then add another illness on top of it and you have a visibly sick bird.

Once you complete coccidiosis treatment (if you do that), then you can feed vitamins (no B vitamins while doing the coccidiosis treatment - it cancels it out). Electrolytes should be fine any time, it may have minimal impact, but can help some depending on your weather.

Thank you so much for the quick response. She is a Plymouth Barred Rock. Im running to the supply store now for the Nutridrench!

Should I treat them all for both worms and coccidiosis at the same time?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Should I treat them all for both worms and coccidiosis at the same time?

You can, yes. Remember that very few worms are visible to the naked eye, roundworms and tapes being a couple of the exceptions. To really know what you are dealing with, take some stool sample to your vet and request a float test. They do not have to be an avian vet. And it can be a mixed sample from multiple birds.

When treating for coccidiosis be sure the Corid treated water is the only source of water during treatment. And when worming, I believe for most wormers you have to discard the eggs during treatment and afterward for .. 10 to 14 days depending on the wormer. Ask here once you decide on your wormer.

 

[FunClucks]

Check your nutridrench for whether it has B vitamins in it -I think it does because it is basically watered down molasses plus vitamins. You can give that before or after you start with CORID treatment, but not during. The CORID works (coccidiosis treatment) by depriving the worms of B vitamins, which kills them. (Then later you rebuild your bird's supply of B vitamins) You can give birds both wormer and CORID water to treat for coccidiosis at the same time, but don't give them any supplements that might have B vitamins in it, or it will negate the impact of the CORID.

Check on this site for dosages for both the CORID and the wormer, and how to properly administer the medication. It varies greatly, and you need specific guidance for your medication. I'm partial to Valbazen, but alternate that with Safeguard goat dewormer. And I like the liquid corid, but solid powder works fine too.

You can kill a chicken by improperly medicating with a syringe, but it's pretty easy to avoid if you do a little research before hand. So giving you a heads up on that. You can soak a tiny piece of bread with the correct dosage of wormer, and this works as long as the affected chicken (and ONLY the affected chicken) eats ALL of the bread. I wrap my chickens up like a burrito, have someone hold them, then open their mouths and syringe the wormer in. Takes like a second but you need good aim and timing.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Right. You do NOT want liquid to go down the little hole at the back of the throat, that's the airway. Instead, aim down the side of the throat. There's a graphic around here somewhere, let me see if I can find it. I think it's in the article on tube feeding.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Here you go.

See how you want to aim the liquid down the side of the throat, not down the opening at the back of the throat, which is the airway.

 

[oceanviewchickens]

It’s worms!!! Waiting to figure out what kind…I think Cecil worms, waiting to find out. How do I treat?
How long after starting treatment will I stop seeping worms?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It’s worms!!! Waiting to figure out what kind…I think Cecil worms, waiting to find out. How do I treat?
How long after starting treatment will I stop seeping worms?

Can you post a picture of the worms you saw or describe them? The best way to know what you are dealng with is to take a stool sample to your local veterinarian and request a fecal float test. It does not have to be an avian vet. Most worms are microscopic and invisible to the human eye. Cecal, round and tapes are some exceptions.

Valbazen is one wormer I have found useful, there are others. You administer one dose then another ten days later. You have to discard the eggs between doses and for 14 days after the second treatment, I believe. Other posters will tell you of other treatments, I'm sure. I cannot tell you when you will stop seeing worms. I did about five days after the first treatment, I believe. My problem was roundworms.