Very underweight pullet. Advice??

[Hannahnic14]

Electrolytes should be limited to 5 days, since it can cause diarrhea. There are plenty of vitamins without electrolytes, such as human vitamin B complex 1/4 tablet daily crushed into food or a spoonful of water. Also, if she is eating well, she may not need either after some time. Good advice about looking for coccidiosis or worms. She may have just not been aggressive about getting enough food. Wet feed and scrambled egg are good for snacks.

That's what I'm thinking, the lady had ALOT of chicks her age together so she may just have lost the fight for food.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Let her eat and drink - this should sort itself out on its own based on what you said in post #1. Did you say she brought the bird to you?? I ask because I'd be concerned about the shape of other birds in her care.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Let her eat and drink - this should sort itself out on its own based on what you said in post #1. Did you say she brought the bird to you?? I ask because I'd be concerned about the shape of other birds in her care.

Yea I met her at a local place.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Update: She did great yesterday! She was acting much more chicken like. Eating, drinking, scratching around. Crying because she wanted to be with my other chickens. (She was in a drop pen outside, see don't touch.)

This morning she's lethargic, her crop did empty overnight, her poops still look fairly normal. (To me anyway) It's 70 degrees here right now and she acts cold. I'm attributing that to the fact that she doesn't have any body fat.

I'm going to weigh here again in the next few days. How fast should she be gaining weight? (If we are just dealing with malnourishment not something else.) She has started eating this morning.


Edited for poop pics.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Should I go ahead and Worm her with safeguard? Or would it make her weaker to worm her right now?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update: She did great yesterday! She was acting much more chicken like. Eating, drinking, scratching around. Crying because she wanted to be with my other chickens. (She was in a drop pen outside, see don't touch.)

This morning she's lethargic, her crop did empty overnight, her poops still look fairly normal. (To me anyway) It's 70 degrees here right now and she acts cold. I'm attributing that to the fact that she doesn't have any body fat.

I'm going to weigh here again in the next few days. How fast should she be gaining weight? (If we are just dealing with malnourishment not something else.) She has started eating this morning.


Edited for poop pics.

Her crop not emptying is a concern.
Are you providing chick grit for her? Sometimes birds will eat bedding or they may have a little inflammation somewhere that's causing the crop to slow.

To me, the poop has mucous, your mention of her acting like it's cold - is she fluffed or huddled up?
I would be inclined to treat for Coccidiosis. Get some Corid at your feed store, it's found in the cattle section of TSC.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Don't give electrolytes or extra vitamins during the course of treatment.

She may need a little additional heat. Do you have a heat lamp or a heating pad? A heat lamp is going to be pretty hot, so make sure that she doesn't overheat. A heating pad (for me) works well. I have one that doesn't have a shut off, so it stays warm continually.
Making a cave out of the heating pad is what I do, she's small so she may appreciate that.

Keep us posted.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Her crop not emptying is a concern.
Are you providing chick grit for her? Sometimes birds will eat bedding or they may have a little inflammation somewhere that's causing the crop to slow.

To me, the poop has mucous, your mention of her acting like it's cold - is she fluffed or huddled up?
I would be inclined to treat for Coccidiosis. Get some Corid at your feed store, it's found in the cattle section of TSC.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Don't give electrolytes or extra vitamins during the course of treatment.

She may need a little additional heat. Do you have a heat lamp or a heating pad? A heat lamp is going to be pretty hot, so make sure that she doesn't overheat. A heating pad (for me) works well. I have one that doesn't have a shut off, so it stays warm continually.
Making a cave out of the heating pad is what I do, she's small so she may appreciate that.

Keep us posted.

Thank you for the info, I was under the impression that you only treated for cocci if there was blood so I will start treating her now!

I think you may have misread, I said that her crop WAS emptying

I haven't checked on her this morning but will soon and let you know how she is.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the info, I was under the impression that you only treated for cocci if there was blood so I will start treating her now!

I think you may have misread, I said that her crop WAS emptying

I haven't checked on her this morning but will soon and let you know how she is.

You're right! I did misread about the crop, that's good that it's emptying.

With the lethargy, acting cold and mucous in the poop, I would treat for Coccidiosis.
There are 9 strains of Coccidia and only 2 present with blood, so poop would not always be bloody. Some symptoms include - lethargy, not eating/drinking, huddling/fluffed up, unkempt appearance, poop with mucous or blood.

Do let us know how she's doing.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Just put the Corid in her water. She's eating like a champ! A bit more active this morning.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Good to hear!