sick girls

[lindar3]

Hi, all the reading I read suggested that it wasn't Coccidiosis because she was an older bird. I cleaned all the blood without taking pictures. My son in law handled her and said she had blood on her abdomen, could be from pooping and laying in it, I guess. One of my Blue Coppers has the same smeared poop on her bottom and trouble standing up, she just turned 1 last week. I am going to try and get some pictures of her to post. I just don't want to lose our whole flock. She is still laying eggs.

 

[lindar3]

Hi all,
I'm checking in to see if anyone is experiencing the symptoms of the smeared poop on their ladies? We lost 1, 3 weeks ago, 1 is pretty ill. She eats and drinks, but she has trouble walking. She doesn't sleep on the perch. She is still laying eggs. Her comb is turning black at the base. My other ladies have the beginning of the poop on their butts. I did a 14 day course or Corid. They have been off for 5 days. Any suggestions?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
I'm sorry you lost the older girl. Not laying for a year suggests she may have been laying internally and that bloats their abdomen and eventually leads to death.... she may even have ruptured if there was blood.

Video or at least photos would help (as requested previously).... it is very difficult to diagnose over the internet anyway, but doing it blind is at least twice as hard. Also, I don't think you answered the question about additions to your flock in the past few months and if so, where from.
It would also be helpful to know what you feed them including treats.
I am leaning towards Marek's since you mention that she is walking on her hock on one side. Marek's can cause a multitude of symptoms and loss of control of a limb is one of the commonest. Usually the bird will stumble or appear drunk with a neurological impairment whereas, when the lameness is down to pain of an injury, they will consciously favour the other leg to prevent putting weight on the bad one. This is why a video helps in these circumstances. The older one falling on her side does also suggest it may have been Marek's with her too. Marek's also causes muscle wastage and in the later stages tumours form inside them. It also suppresses the immune system and makes them prone to infection. The vent/poop smelling bad is usually an indication of an infection or necrosis.
Mixing birds of different ages from different sources greatly increases the chances of introducing Marek's into your flock.
If it is Marek's, the best you can do is offer a good quality supplement like Poultry Cell, Rooster Booster or Nutri Drench, and perhaps a probiotic or fermented feed to support the immune and digestive systems. I also find that giving them access to sunshine and grass beneficial with Marek's birds.
Sadly the easiest way to diagnose Marek's is via a necropsy when they die. It is contagious but because of the long incubation period for the virus (minimum 3 weeks but can be months), your flock has already been exposed so little point in quarantining sick birds with it in my opinion. They may benefit from being kept in a safe environment like a cage with their own food and water within sight of the flock though as that helps to encourage them to eat and once they stop eating, they don't last long.

 

[lindar3]

Hi, thank you! Well our sick lady is hanging in there. No more diarrhea, but she did loose the black part of her comb and it is slowly turning black from the bottom up.
I have not introduced any new birds to our flock. She is 1 of the last 2 we added last summer. We feed them organic omega 3 feed, and mealworms as a snack. The also get some regular bird seed from the feeders. They are free range, so whatever else they can dig up!
She is eating and drinking and pooping regular now. She hasn't laid an egg in about a week. I'm wondering too if she is molting, I think her sister is. So hard to tell with so much that could be going on! I'm also thinking the comb could be wounds because the other ladies pick on and shun her. Sensing her weakness? Could she have mange on her head and that is what is happening to her comb? None of the other birds have this issue. I clean the coop about every 5 days and use a heavy dosing of DE plus I've been squirting DE directly onto them.