Unwell girly, please help

[untamed_spirit]

Hi guys,

I have 6 backyard chookies, they've been with me for 3 weeks now. Up until today, they have been the picture of health, all happy and chatty, but today when I went down to shut them up for the night, 1 of my warren reds was sitting in the corner of the run. I thought nothing of it till I got the corn out, which normally induces complete chicken pile up at the door, 5 out of the 6 came as normal, this little girly stayed hunched in the corner

I went over to her to pick her up and put her into the house. When I came back down to check on them in an hours time, she was perched on her water dish, having only moved a couple of cms away from where I placed her originally.

I've brought her straight inside and isolated her in a crate with straw and water, I have felt her crop, and it feels liquidy, so I followed advice, turning her upside down and massaging, but nothing has come out. Also, she wants to eat when I offer, so I dont know if this rules our sour crop or impaction, but her beak clicks after she has cleared her mouthful??

Also, her tail is pointing down, and despite having been in the crate in the dark for 3 hours now, she hasnt settled, just stands in the same position and makes pitiful quiet squeaks when I stroke her

My husband and I are about to try giving her a warm bath next, as drooping tail appears to be a symptom of being egg bound? However she has laid this morning, and has been laying happily for the last 2 weeks. (she is 19 weeks old)

Sorry this is so long!, I really would like some advice as to what to do next. I am a veterinary nurse, and it distresses me to see her this way and not knowing what to do! We rarely see chickens in practice, and its normally for respiratory diseases, which this doesnt look like at all, as her breathing is normal, and no discharge or gurgling has been observed.

Any advice would be gladly received,

Thanks,

Ellie

 

[untamed_spirit]

1) What type of bird , age and weight

Warren Red, 19 weeks, same size as her healthy pen mates (dont have a scales that will weigh small things reliably!)

2) What is the behavior, exactly.

Droopy tail, lethargic, clicking from beak when eats

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?

Only today

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?

Not at the moment

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.

No

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.

Fed some fresh grass this morning, could be sour crop?? Have tried to induce crop regurgitation unsuccessfully

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.

Up till today, a complete layers pellet, oyster + grit mix, corn, and dried meal worms

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.

Runny, did 1 clear one, since has been darker, no blood

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?

Tried to induce crop regurgiation unsuccessfully, gave a warm bath with water and oil in case egg bound, though laid this morning!

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird till you can get to a vet?

Would like to treat myself, as the vets I work with have only as much experience of chickens as I do, if they need meds, can get hold of easily, though am in the UK, so need drug name rather than generic name.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use

Hen house is wood, 2mx2mx2m with 3 nest boxes, 2 long perches, food and water, Bedding is chopped straw, changed weekly, whole straw in nesting boxes

Run is 8m long by 2.5m wide, mud ground with greenery grown around the edge.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Wow. Great information. How long has she been isolated and what have you been feeding her while she is isolated. Does her crop look larger than normal?

I would keep her isolated and give only water. Check her crop in the morning after she has gone a number of hours with no food. It should be empty. If it is not it is likely impacted. If it seems to be impacted smell in her mouth. If it has gone sour there will be a very distinct sour smell. If you think it is impacted feel free to message me and I can send you lots of info. If it is impacted to not feed any solid food.

If her crop does go down then it is not impacted or sour. Hopefully someone else might have an idea of what else could be wrong?

Could worms be a possibility?

 

[untamed_spirit]

Thanks for your prompt reply, much appreciated!

She was wormed before we rehomed her with flubnevet, a worming product designed for use every 4 months according to the instructions.

Her crop feels liquidy when palpated, but I couldnt smell anything when close up to her? I have sprinkled a little bit of grit and a few layers pellets on the floor of the crate, however she didnt show any interest in eating it. She also has a dish of olive oil, which she had a couple of sips from, a little bit of yoghurt, and some fresh water, which she had been drinking from also.

I will see how she is in the morning and let you know if I need further assistance.

Wish I could sort her out tonight, sleeping when I know she's potentially in discomfort is going to be hard!

Ellie

 

[untamed_spirit]

So this morning she seemed brighter, her tail was up and she was moving around, but her faeces is foul smelling.

We let her out in the bedroom, but she seemed a bit confused and stressed by the new environment, so we took her to the outside run and put her in with her companions. They all integrated again fine, but she is sluggish moving compared to them, and didnt move around with the others when the corn came out.

We've brought her back inside and left her in isolation with some warm layers mash mixed with bio-yoghurt and water with a drop of oil in. She has settled in the straw, hopefully to lay, as she has normally done so by now, but I'm not sure if its the change of location or whatever is wrong with her that has caused the lack of egg!!!

Its so frustrating not knowing whats wrong and being able to treat her correctly!! Anyone who has experienced this before, what did you do and what was the result?

Ellie

 

[chickenzoo]

If her crop just feels liquidy not like a wet sandbag and their is no smell..then I think she is just drinking a lot and not eating. My first thought would be worms...since she has been laying up till this point. I'm not familiar with that wormer. Her in the states I would use safeguard..a Fenabendazole product. Coccidia could also be a problem....in which we use a product called Corid or Amoprillium . I have used both at the same time.. If you can treat her with these and keep up supportive care it may help. Also take her temp and compare it to the others. If it is high then she may have an infection.....

 

[untamed_spirit]

Thankyou, I will find a fenbendazole based wormer for her, and get something in case its coccidia

She hasn't laid today either, is this because of the worms/coccidia? Or is she potentially egg bound as well?!
Ellie

 

[chickenzoo]

If she had been laying up until a day or so ago, and stopped when you moved her inside again...then it may just be from stress and weakness.

 

[untamed_spirit]

Okay, so should I stop doing the warm baths in case this is stressing her more? And the flubnevet active ingredient is flubendazole, does against all round worms and gape worms, but not tape worms, is it likely to be tape worms? Should I try the 7 days of flubnevet first then see how she is?

Sorry for all the questions, I just always over worry when it comes to animals, especially my own!

Ellie

 

[chickenzoo]

Tapeworms you often see segments of worms passed in the poo...so if you haven't seen any, I'd wait on that. Most wormers you do for a few days then repeat in 14 Days because most wormers kill the adults not the eggs which then hatch....so redoing in 14 kills those off. Since she was laying when she was still ill I'd think that wasn't the issue , so the baths wouldn't be needed. I'd do the wormer and see if anything improves.