Two sick pullets

[Eggcessive]

Unfortunately, salpingitis is something that many hen get eventually. It is not rare. I have lost quite a few hens to internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, and ascites which are all related, and I have only seen one lash egg inside a hen on necropsy. I assume there were lash eggs that may have been laid, but disappeared when a chicken scarfed them up. Broken or soft shelled eggs will certainly disappear that way if I don't see them first. Infectious bronchitis, one of the milder respiratory diseases, can cause thin or shell-less eggs.

 

[RumneyRoost]

Update
The vet finally got back to me himself. He didn’t know what a lash egg was but I convinced him to give me some enthrofloxacin (Baytril). He gave me enough for both girls for 7 days.

Fingers crossed. I’ll keep giving them small amounts of yoghurt with their regular food since they aren’t that interested in eating. I might order some straight probiotics as well. Their poor GI tracts aren’t happy right now.

 

[RumneyRoost]

Update
The Baytril seems to be working. Both girls started eating again Monday morning and their poop is firming up. The barred rock is pretty much back to her normal self. The legbar is still a bit lethargic but definitely improved.

I ordered a bottle of Baytril and some probiotics online, but only chose to pay for the standard shipping so it could be here as early as next week or as late as the end of Feb. But figured I'd like to have it on hand in the future.

I opted not to separate them we're having natural gas run to our house and putting a new furnace in so the garage and basement are loud and busy right now. I've been keeping a close eye on the other three. Fingers crossed they're healthy enough to fight off whatever has been bothering these two.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is good to hear. I am glad that the meds are working.

 

[RumneyRoost]

update

So things improved slightly and then have gone slightly downhill.

The barred rock started experiencing some weakness (possible paralysis) in her legs. Her balance is off. Not sure if it's weakness from all the weight she lost with the diarrhea, or if it's something like Marek's. She's not that interested in regular pellets but she's willing to eat some cat food and meal worms. If I throw a little scratch down she still gets up and gets excited. She's still drinking on her own.

The legbar pullet is still eating and drinking fairly normally. But I suspect she's got a reproductive issue. She doesn't have explosive diarrhea anymore, but still has loose stools. And sometimes it appears that there's either mucous or egg in her droppings. She's got a bit of a penguin stance.

My other legbar pullet and my barnevelder pullet got some diarrhea, I'm hopeful that it's just from some of the yoghurt that I was giving the other girls as a probiotic. Today their poops looked better, and they're eating normally and maintaining weight.

The speckled Sussex hen has seemed unharmed by all of this.

Any ideas on the possible paralysis?
I threw out their food in case there was any mould. I had some B1 (thiamine) and I'm going to pick up a human B complex vitamin on my lunch today incase it's an absorption issue with the diarrhea and Corid treatment.

At this point I guess I'll just keep providing supportive care. I'll give the vet college a call to see if I can send in a bird for necropsy if one dies, or if a vet has to send it for me. I'm in Ontario.

They've been wormed, treated with Corid. And the two sick girls were treated with 7 days of Baytril.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would give her 1/4 of a human B complex tablet daily onto her food. I usually grate the tablet with a cheese grater or crush it. The leg weakness could be vitamin or mineral related, but something like Mareks or something else that would affect the leg nerves might be the reason. I would look her legs over well for any swelling, bruising, note any bumblefoot scabs on feet pads, or any lifted scales or scaly leg mites. Sometimes internal pressure from infections, fluid, or growths can cause nerve weakness in legs that might look like Mareks.

 

[RumneyRoost]

There’s no evidence of Bumblefoot, mites, or lice. If I touch the bottom of her feet she curls her toes to “hang on”, but I noticed she keeps them curled until I set her down.
She was able to hop up on the roost by herself tonight so crossing my fingers that the vitamin B complex might be working. I don’t think she’s eating much of the layer pellets during the day, but she’s happy to eat some mealworms and a can of wet cat food.

I picked the legbar up this morning within a couple minutes of letting them out and her crop was full and hard so I’m concerned it’s impacted now. I massaged it this morning and again when I got home from work. I’ll be quicker to check tomorrow morning, if it is impacted I’ll separate her to keep her away from the dry pellets and attempt to treat. It’s possible the impaction is related to her possible reproductive issue, or the antibiotics wiped out all the good bacteria, or she lost some muscle tone. We’ve got snow on the ground so no long grass.

The other legbar is still laying. The Sussex hen is still acting normal. The barnevelder started squatting so hopefully she’ll start laying soon.

 

[Eggcessive]

The one with an impacted crop should probably only have fluids and maybe some yogurt and egg, and massage the crop several times a day.

 

[RumneyRoost]

This morning the barred rock was having a lot more trouble with her legs. Unable to get around on her own at all so I placed her in a box in the garage. She's still happily eating and drinking which is making it harder to decide what to do with her. If she can't walk on her own tonight when I get home then I may choose to euthanize.

The legbar is in a crate with water. She immediately drank quite a bit and her crop softened considerably so hopefully it will clear on its own by tonight. It's still likely that she has a repro issue though.

The other three girls are acting normally.

I called the animal health lab at the Ontario Veterinary College to ask about a necropsy. In Ontario the public can bring in a bird, but the results have to be sent to a vet. OVC charges $75 for the post mortem, $72 for histology, and another $60 for bacterial cultures. And it's likely that my vet would also charge for interpretation. In the end a necropsy would likely cost me anywhere from $150 - $300.

I may choose to do it myself. Does anyone know if it is Marek's what to look for? I know that the sciatic nerve may be enlarged, but does anyone have an actual size? Without having a normal specimen to compare too, "enlarged" isn't really helpful.

 

[RumneyRoost]

****GRAPHIC***



We chose to euthanize the poor barred rock tonight. She didn’t have any reflex when her feet were touched.

The legbars crop was full and firm again, but as soon as she had a drink it softened. We’ll see how it is in the morning.

I’ve attached pictures of the necropsy.