Sick hen, Help!

[choopes]

Coo-coo is my all time favorite hen! My only coo-coo Moran. She's sick. Lathargic. Hardly moving around. Tonight too sick to get up with the others to roost. She has diarea. Her backside is stained with runny poop. I've seen this happen before with her, but this time she seems really sick. I cleaned her up and put her in a separate pen alone. If she makes it thru the night I plan to give here lots of corn and the laying mash pellets. My wife suggested a banana for diarea. Maybe yogert. Any suggestions?

 

[Sarevan]

The dehydrated rice flakes for human babies is what I add water to and make pasty for mine that are having really loose poo or diarrhea. Make sure she is getting enough water with electrolytes so she doesn't become dehydrated.

Is there any blood in her poo? Can you post a pic of it? I am thinking she may have cocci and may need to be treated with Corid. Other possibilities are worms, or vent gleet. Does her hind end smell really bad? A white sticky mess around her vent?

 

[Michael Apple]

Coo-coo is my all time favorite hen! My only coo-coo Moran. She's sick. Lathargic. Hardly moving around. Tonight too sick to get up with the others to roost. She has diarea. Her backside is stained with runny poop. I've seen this happen before with her, but this time she seems really sick. I cleaned her up and put her in a separate pen alone. If she makes it thru the night I plan to give here lots of corn and the laying mash pellets. My wife suggested a banana for diarea. Maybe yogert. Any suggestions?

I wouldn't recommend lots of corn. If the intestines are inflamed due to enteritis, that crop won't empty properly and you'll have more problems. Bacteria, protozoa, and worms can all cause enteritis. If the enteritis hasn't done too much damage, you can save the hen.

I would worm the bird with an oral dose of Safeguard liquid at 1/2 cc. Moisten pellets with a little non-fat milk or lowfat buttermilk for food. Give a Corid 9.6% solution in water at 2 tsp per gallon of water for 7 days. if you can only get the Corid 20% powder, that will work at 1-1 1/2 tsp per gallon.

Then give vitamins-electrolytes in water for 3 days after. At that point you will be 10 days from your first worming with Safeguard. Do it again with the same dosage of 1/2 cc. Post each day as you move along with this to see how it is working. If coccidiosis or worms isn't the problem, it could be bacterial which is why I'd like to know if you see improvement in a few days. How old is the hen?

 

[choopes]

Sorry, but my hen died last night. I try to be a "good shepherd", but failed. She was 5 or 6 years old. Thank you for your help.

 

[Michael Apple]

I'm very sorry about your hen. Here are some links that may assist you with prevention in the future:

Coccidiosis: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1138/coccidiosis-control

Use of probiotics: http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page8.htm

Internal and external parasites in poultry: http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/disparas.htm#asc