Very sick 1-year old Cream Legbar hen, please help

[kana9]

Hello all,
Today I noticed one of my Cream Legbars is lethargic and has a very bad looking, dark and droopy comb. She also has runny, whitish smelly diarrhea. She lies still and is very lethargic. All other hens look and act normal. The sick hen is one year old. I have isolated her from the others. She was vaccinated against Marek's disease at the hatchery. What can I do? Please help, I have read a lot but have so far had very healthy hens and chicks so do not know much about diseases. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Look up vent gleet. I can't remember specifics, but think it is a yeast infection. I will look for a link.

Vent Gleet aka Nasty Chicken Butt
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/vent-gleet-aka-nasty-chicken-butt.64647/

 

[Eggcessive]

I would suspect that she might have a heart or kidney problem since her comb is dark, and her droppings are white. But dehydration could also cause this. Get some chick electrolytes into her water, and try to get her to drink. Products like Poultry Cell or NutriDrench 2-3 ml daily can be given instead, along with getting water into her. Offer her some chopped egg, and her usual feed mixed with a lot of water in a small bowl. Check her skin for the pressence of lice or mites. Feel of her crop to check if it is empty, full, puffy, or hard. Crop impactions and sour crop can be serious.

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

National Poultry News#3

[URL='https://www.facebook.com/pg/National-Poultry-News3-666734003532356/posts/?ref=page_internal']https://www.facebook.com/…/National-Poultry-News3-6…/posts/…

Glenda Heywood

WET MASH PROBIOTIC RECIPE FOR CHICKENS HEALTH
especially lathargic and black comb problems.
May I suggest what we do to get the hens to eat the
WET MASH PROBIOTIC RECIPE
I used this and they gobble it up.

1 cup of dry mash

1/8 cup of flax seed meal

2 cups of milk any kind

1/2 cup of plain yougart

1tsp of apple cider vinegar

add your probiotics
or as I did add
Vit E, Vit B complex, Selenium tablet to the wet mash mixture.

Top with a cup of apple sauce to the full amt of chickens,

for 1 chicken just a tablsp of apple sauce on top of the wet Mash mixture.

AMOUNT NEEDED FOR ONE CHICKEN IS 3 TABLESPOONS OF WET MASH PER CHICKEN FEED.

NOTE HERE

IF THE CHICKENS ARE SICK

with ecoli- bad gut, having been sick with any disease then rebuild their health by:

adding a Vitamin E 400 Mg for every chicken eating the feed

by cutting the end off the capsule and adding it to the wet mash

Also add a Vit B complex pill crushed for each chicken fed wet mash
Add a Selenium tablet crushed for each chicken fed wet mash.

Be sure and stir it good.

mix good after putting in your probiotics

then add the aspple sauce on top

If the chickens are taking medicine of any kind DO NOT PUT THE ACV IN THE WATER.

FOR JUST 1 HEN

With all that said now here is what you need for just 1 hen

feed 3 tbsp. of mixed wet mash and feed the rest to the healthy hen as it will not sick.

so in that case you have to mix every thing and then take out the 3 tbsp. for the sick chicken and put the probiotics you are feeding her. or medications

NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT

take her amount in a glass saucer and put on top 3 tbsp. of apple sauce.

FOR THE HEALTHY HENS put their amt in a glass large pie plate maybe two pie plates, and then dress the top with apple sauce,

you have to measure out 3 tbsp. of dry mash for every hen eating the wet mash probiotic recipe

and what ever amt of dry mash or pellets you use to make the mix double the amt of milk any kind for the mix.

Also I add 1-400 mg of vitE(cut end of capsule and put in wet mash mix) and a Vit B complex pill crushed to the mix. 1 Selenium tablet crushed this is for each chicken eating the wet mash, that will help their gut problem.

these vitamins are for each chicken sick
[/URL]

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/09/vent-gleet-symptoms-causes-and-natural.html
VENT GLEET
We affectionately call our chickens 'fluffy butts' and that's exactly what you want to see in your flock. Vent gleet, which is a fungal yeast infection also referred to as 'thrush' or 'infected cloaca', often shows itself in the form of a dirty, foul-smelling vent due to copious whitish discharge and diarrhea. Missing or pasted feathers around the vent, redness and swelling are also signs that you are dealing with vent gleet.

Vent gleet is not exactly an illness in itself, but instead manifests itself due to increased ph levels and an imbalance of bad bacteria in a chicken's digestive tract. Although not normally fatal if treated quickly, it can spread to the reproductive system quite easily and also result in sour crop and becomes more difficult to treat the longer it goes on. Not contagious, it often shows up in multiple flock members since logically they have all been subjected to the same stressors that caused the vent gleet in one.

Vent gleet should never be treated with antibiotics; antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. Instead, concentrating on restoring a healthy bacterial balance in the intestinal tract by boosting the good bacteria with probiotics is the goal of a natural course of treatment. Treatment should continue until you see clear signs of improvement (it should only take a few days if you catch it fast enough and start treatment immediately). Your entire flock can be treated with this natural remedy which reintroduces good bacteria into the digestive tract.

Causes of vent gleet can include ...

• being deprived of clean water
• eating moldy feed or scraps
• excessive heat
• stress
• general poor health

Symptoms of vent gleet can include ...

• diarrhea
• whitish discharge from vent
• smelly droppings
• loss of vent feathers
• pasted feathers
• red or bloody vent
• soft, swollen abdomen
• white sores on the vent and/or in the throat
• sour crop
• weight loss/decreased appetite
• decreased energy
• drop in egg production

Treatment includes ...

• bathing the affected hen to clean the vent area
• offering a molasses flush consisting of 1/2 Cup of molasses per gallon of water - free choice for several hours then replaced with fresh, plain water
• adding 2-4 Tablespoons/gallon of apple cider vinegar with the 'mother' (such as Bragg) to the water
• giving each affected hen 1 Tablespoon of plain unflavored yogurt per day
  Prevention includes ...
  • providing fresh, clean water and fresh feed, discarding old, wet feed immediately
  • adding 1 Tablespoon/gallon of apple cider vinegar to the water
  • adding probiotic powder to the daily feed
  • offering a small amount of plain unflavored yogurt as an occasional treat
  Being vigilant and treating any sign of vent gleet immediately should result in quickly restoring the good bacterial balance in your flock's digestive system, while a few preventives will go far to help keep it from happening again. And remember, fluffy butts are the sign of healthy hens!

• 
  ~Health 'fluffy butts' enjoying their breakfast supplemented with probiotic powder in their feed and ACV in the water~

 

[kana9]

I would suspect that she might have a heart or kidney problem since her comb is dark, and her droppings are white. But dehydration could also cause this. Get some chick electrolytes into her water, and try to get her to drink. Products like Poultry Cell or NutriDrench 2-3 ml daily can be given instead, along with getting water into her. Offer her some chopped egg, and her usual feed mixed with a lot of water in a small bowl. Check her skin for the pressence of lice or mites. Feel of her crop to check if it is empty, full, puffy, or hard. Crop impactions and sour crop can be serious.

Thank you for your help. I gave her NutriDrench in her water but she was too weak to drink so I gave her some by dropper on the side of her beak, and she swallowed some last night. Sadly we lost her overnight.
I have both NutriDrench and a chick vitamin/electrolyte/probiotic mixture. I have 11 hens and 7 8-week old chicks in a separate part of the coop and a separate run. Which supplement, if any, should I add to the water of the remaining (so far healthy) chickens? I wash their water containers daily and the coop was just thoroughly cleaned about 6 weeks ago and the poop boards under the roosts are cleaned daily. They eat a good quality organic feed.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Sorry about your hen. Adding a second source of water can help make sure they have access.

 

[kana9]

Sorry about your hen. Adding a second source of water can help make sure they have access.

Thanks, they have four water sources in the run and one in the coop.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Thanks, they have four water sources in the run and one in the coop.

Sounds like you've got it all covered. I think some birds just get the short straw when it comes to genetics. Not much you can do bout it.

 

[greggooo]

I’m here about the same thing. I’ve seen a few posts about this very thing with this breed. We are going through it now. Maybe this is a major health defect in this breed.