Undigested food in droppings, update on page 3

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

Good idea with the tea!

Maby you can mix the grit in with the sunflower seeds.

 

[Nambroth]

This morning she still has the sunflower seeds in her crop. I can feel maybe 10 or 12 of them in there. Her crop doesn't seem sour; there is no odor nor is she producing any liquid or bloating. I'm not sure what is going on with her digestive system as her crop has stopped passing larger solids (impacted?) but is still passing liquid and soft foods. Her droppings still contain undigested food and are green (vs. 'normal' brown, and my hens have very regular poos for whatever it's worth!). The urates are still normal, thank heavens... regular white solids.

She's dropped about an ounce of weight since Thursday, but I think that is her water weight fluctuating, as she will drink a lot, and then have gigantic droppings.

I've got her eating twice-fermented kefir (like yogurt but with more probiotics), a tiny bit of well cooked runny oatmeal, and she has been eating a powder I made from her regular mash. I don't want to give her applesauce because of the sugar content. I've got ACV in her water and I'm hoping that the acidity from the kefir + ACV, and the probiotics, will make it so that her crop won't sour if it is indeed slow or impacted. I've been doing regular crop massages too.

She's alert and active, though resting more often than normal. Lets hope she does well until Monday!

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

 

[drumstick diva]

I was just back checking the Derperlla thread and remembered you have a different thread for Coho. I was hoping she was all better by now. I just subscribed so I can keep up with her news. It's a very good sign, I think, that she is eating a bit now. Do any of her symptoms remind you of problems you had with Derp when she was an infant? I'm thinking whatever helped Derp would help Coho.

 

[Nambroth]

Quote:
Unfortunately this is all quite different than Derp's failure to thrive problems. Today Coho is doing better, but she's still not 'well'. Her droppings are more firm but still green and passing undigested food. Her crop is softer and more normal too and she's eating her normal mash diet (I've reduced it to a powder, to help temporarily in digestibility and any crop problems). She is drinking well for me too. She's still a little sluggish... you can tell she's not feeling 100%.

I hope the vet can help us out tomorrow, though I'm a little scared at what my bill will be!
Of course, we are supposed to get walloped with a big winter storm tomorrow too, uuggh!! It will make our 2 hour drive interesting!

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

Be careful on those roads. Good luck

 

[drumstick diva]

I sure hope the vet can do Coho some good and have mercy on your pocket book. Fingers crossed.

 

[speckledhen]

Has she been laying? How does her abdomen feel to you? Sometimes, if they have been laying internally, they will begin to lose massive amounts of weight in the late stages in spite of a good appetite.

 

[Nambroth]

She has not been laying, and I was worried about internal laying too. Luckily, that does not seem to be the case.

Our vet visit started with a 3 hour drive through bilzzard conditions, always a blast! The vet saw us for nearly two hours to try and determine Coho's problem. In her opinion the crop was emptying properly, worms were ruled out through several fecal tests. We did x-rays next (be still, my fluttering wallet) to rule out any foreign objects in her digestive system, blockages, and to get a good look at her reproductive system. Everything looks good except that she's lost weight, and gas is pressing her gizzard more far forward than it 'should' be. She said that Clostridium could be one of the causes as she detected some gram-positive cells in the smear. The vet put her on metronidazole (flagyl) tablets to nuke any gas-producing bacterial problems she might be having.

It has been an exceptionally wet, muddy, miserable winter here so far with very little freezing, and I am wondering if maybe Coho found some old bit of food that had gone bad (been infected with the Clostridium spores) and ate it, which caused this. I am not sure where she could have picked it up otherwise, since I keep a closed flock and am religious about fresh feed and checking for mold.

I did some further research, just in case someone else has a similar problem. I'd like to share my thoughts and experience. My vet visit for Coho was many hundreds of dollars, which I know some folks will laugh at-- but even if she was not a pet, the education it granted me was worth it in case I ever have to deal with this in other chickens!

"Spores may be present in corn and grain products as well as manufactured pellets or extruded food and may develop bacterial growth if conditions are favorable." So it's probably uncommon, but not impossible, for it to exist in the feeds we buy, and why it's so important to keep our feeds dry and fresh. Clostridium bacteria cannot survive in oxygen-rich environments, thus a wet or compacted feed could harbor their growth.

"Symptoms: Symptoms vary depending on the type of Clostridial infection. Disease is generally caused by type-C strains of C. perfringens producing toxin in the small intestines of birds, resulting in rapped loss of condition and weight loss, lethargic behavior, decreased appetite, and blood stained or undigested food. The toxin, and its effects may remain in the system for extended periods of time even after the original bacterial infection has been treated."

Emphasis mine, as they match Coho's symptoms very well.

We are going through with her treatment and hopefully she does not suffer lingering effects as the article I read suggested!

Source: http://www.avianbiotech.com/diseases/Clostridium.htm

 

[speckledhen]

I'm relieved that internal laying does not seem to be the cause since it's not curable except through hysterectomy. Best wishes for her recovery!