Tail down, diarrhoea and listless

[chickenncat]

Hello everyone,
I am new and hoping to find a solution to one of my chickens' health problem. I noticed today that one of my chickens tail is down and she's not scratching the ground like the others do. I had to lure her out with corn so I could take these pics. Yesterday when I was cleaning their coop, I noticed it was well wet. I live in the UK so lately we've had some cold spells so I haven't been out to stay with them like I do couple of times a day. So if she had diarrhoea longer than a few days I wouldn't know. I let them out in the morning to their enclosed run (very large run with about 2 metre height) I use one of those Eglus inside this large enclosure.

Her backside has green poop and stuck but wet so I cleaned her. Soaked a piece of bread in VermX liquid, hoping that it helps. Meanwhile not sure if I should separate her from the rest.

update: just called to book a Vet appointment. I don't want to wait till it's too late...

 

[FiveMileFarmer]

yes, I would separate her from the rest of your flock immediately. If possible, bring her in somewhere that is warm and quiet, with plenty of food and fresh water of course. this will not only keep your other birds safe, but it will allow her to rest, stay warm, and get plenty to eat and drink, without having to compete with the others. and I think you made a good decision by booking a vet apt. hope she gets better!

 

[chickenncat]

Took her to vet last night. She said she had high temperature. As she was examining her my chickie made a very wet mucus-like bloody poo. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot and send me home with Flubenvet and Avipro plus. I put the chicken in our spare bathroom in a bathtub with plenty of water and food and shredded paper to make her comfortable. This morning I went to check her. She was dead. Now time to disinfect the whole coop and dump the feed and water to make sure others don't get it. Vet asked me to take her for post-mortem but I don't know whether it's of any use. She'll probably tell me to disinfect everything and start again, which I am planning on doing...

 

[izziebean]

Have the vet do a necropsy on the bird. The information is very important. It may end up saving the lives of your other chickens. With necropsy, they can tell exactly why she died. This can help if any of the other birds start to show the same symptoms in the next week or two. Highly recommend necropsy.

 

[izziebean]

... also.. so sorry for your loss. I have one that is near death and probably will not make it through the night. It's hard to watch our babies die.

 

[chickenncat]

@ izziebean - not sure how post-mortem would help other chickens. I have cleared out everything in their coop and disinfected. Their coop is hard plastic Eglu Go. They are contained in one area where there are no chemicals. I don't use weedkiller or plant feed on anything.

If I were to pay for a post-mortem and get the results, by the time they've done their analysis it may be too late if the other chickens are infected. Also what would they suggest I do? Clean and disinfect areas? Fresh water and feed, which I've done. Flubenvet in their food, which I have done (this morning).

I am not heartless but trying to be practical about this. I've already spent £90 for the vet and medication. God knows how much post-mortem will cost. I very much appreciate your concern and I'm not trying to be a smart mouth but I really don't see the point.

Now down to 3 girls... I'll post if anything happens to them. I might have to eat my words.. but lets cross fingers for their sake that I don't...

 

[appps]

There are lots of different reasons a chicken could have died. The necropsy will confirm what that was. It may be something that you need to get your other birds treated for ASAP in case they have it but haven't yet shown symptoms for but could die from if untreated. It tells the vet exactly which antibiotic or medication to target that disease. It could also turn out she just had something wrong internally from birth that finally led to her death but isn't going to affect your other birds so no need for the big clean up.

What is he going to charge? Mine did it for free cause they are a chicken person themselves and they did it the same day so it's no great wait. But you need to weigh up the cost compared to the cost or distress if you loose the rest of your flock but it could have saved them. It's really a guess if it's going to help or not.

Sorry to hear about your bird. Hopefully the others stay healthy.

 

[izziebean]

The necropsis for my chicken back in November was free. The preliminary report let me know it was infectious bronchitis. I then knew how to treat the rest of my flock. It's viral so antibiotics won't heal the chicken but might cure secondary infections that would kill the chickens. Since that bird was with and around the other birds, 100 percent chance the others would get IB within 3 days or become carriers of the disease. I learned that the rate of death is low but will come fast if they lose to much weight. Weighing them became a priority. This is just a couple of examples of how the report helped me.

 

[chickenncat]

Heart breaking really... Vet said post-mortem is free but I have to pay for cremation. That's the only way they dispose of the body and they won't give it back to me to bury it. So although the p/m is free, there's no other choice but to get it cremated.

I opted out - if the remaining 3 die then that's me done with chickens.

 

[ctrygran]

Very interested - how did the rest of your chickens do? I have about 25 hens and had one do the same thing starting on this past Saturday. I cleaned her area and quarantined her but she did not improve. When I came home from work today she had not improved. My husband put her down rather than let her suffer. There are no vets in our area that treat chickens. We lived in the UK for three years in St. Neots just down the road from Cambridge and loved it!