vometing pullet, please help she is fading

[embrown]

OMG! My DD just went out to let everyone else outside, clean the coop and feed and water. She noticed some blue mold on the food, on top, and some where the girls might eat from. The food felt dry, has not got wet as it is inside. I did not add food yesterday as the feeder was full enough. We checked the bag/container of food we have, it is almost new, less than 120 days old. I would never see mold on the food if I filled it as I am blind. I feel terrible, is this what made Gabriella sick? If so, what now? What about the others. We dumped out that food, I am going to bleach/ water wash the container and re-fill, I will have someone sighted check what I pour from now on. My DH poured the amount I will add to the feeder after I wash it. What happened? what now? I think I will keep the feeder less filled and not have the kids top off, but rather wash and refill. I just never wanted the girls to run out.

Can I do anything for my sick girl, what should I do for the others preventatively?

Help!
beth

 

[robin416]

Probably. Go get her some new food, get it mixed up in a wet mash and start giving that to her. She needs to get on a more balanced diet for those droppings to clear up. They are like they are because she's not had any true nutrition.

Until then, cook her up some oatmeal and offer that to her.

On the feed; feed is a problem. Feed will always be a problem because we have to depend on the mill to get it right and the feed store to keep it properly and not for it to be old when we buy it.

Since your daughter has excellent vision and the hubs is around ask them to check the feed regularly. If that bag doesn't smell good when you open it or is loaded with fines, return it. Hopefully, you have it in an air tight non metal container to help protect it.

I try to buy my feed as fresh as possible. I'll pass up on the six week old bag and dig down for the four week old bag.

 

[embrown]

The bag of feed does not smell bad, there is no sign of mold in the bag of food, she is definitely more perky she did walk around a bit, enough to pooh where I would rather her not, on the carpet. She is clucking as she does not seem to want to be in the pet carrier, but some said I should keep her in there at least through tomorrow. She is refusing to eat, I tried to give her some ground up feed, plus milk enough to make it runny, with yogurt, but she just turns her head away. She did peck at a design on my shirt, something she has not done since Monday afternoon. She is pecking at the paper towel in the bottom of the carier I was using to catch the pooh and make clean-up easier, maybe I will have to remove it.

How do I get her to eat? If eating is going to put on weight and clear up her pooh I have to get her to do it? Is there something that might be more enticing? I will try boiled yolk with some yogurt and electrolytes as soon as I can get the eggs boiled and cooled, but she had one this morning. How do I get the proper nutrition in to a chicken who will not eat? I am not sure she is drinking on her own either, still giving her 5/10 CC of electrolytes every 1.5 hours or so. she has water with the electrolytes in the carrier with her nothing is notecably gone. I left her alone with the mash and she does not seem to be eating that either.

Is food and electrolytes all I can do right now.

Still looking for ideas for the others who may have eaten the molding food.

Beth

 

[threehorses]

That very dark green in her scant droppings indicates that she's not eating much. That's bile, typical of a bird who isn't getting much nutrition.

The diarrhea scattered in the urine portion of the droppings and the extreme smell concerns me. I feel she has a bacterial infection, possibly clostridium (which is of the same family of botulism - so not sure which clostridium it would be as there are at least two types that effect poultry much less botulism. The trick about these is that they're not treatable with the usual antibiotics, but apparently may be treated with Tylosin. (They're gram-positive bacteria. And of course there are the other more normal enteritis bacteria.

Really to accurately determine which, it would take a vet visit and a fecal stain exam for bacteria with a follow up of a culture and sensitivity to determine which antibiotics are used for the problematic bacteria.

If you don't have a vet available to consult, you could try First State Vet supply's consultation service. (There's a $25 fee but he really is good.)

Or you could try an antibiotic (Tylosin, tylamox, sulmet or sulmet/aureomycin, etc), but the problem therein is that antibiotics also decrease the good bacteria of the gut. And yet again we don't know what we're treating exactly.

I'd try again with getting her to eat. Mix probiotics or at least yogurt with egg when she takes it. I'd not give watermelon as it tends to produce more watery droppings. At least not if you can get her to drink or take electrolyte water. So yes I'd do that feed. And try the cooked oatmeal in that.

As far as a possible toxin, it could be anything. She could have gotten into anything, or this could have originated from a simple bacterial infection (digestive) or even just an imbalance of bacteria and stress.

At least the little signs of interest - preening, etc - these are good things.

 

[robin416]

One of the indicators for impacted crop is lack of droppings, she pooped. So figure she is not impacted.

Give her her feed if she doesn't already have it. Nutrition comes second to water for recovery.

Sometimes our birds are down and we have no idea why and no answers are ever found. But for some reason we stumble across something that pulls them back. That's what happens more frequently than you can imagine.

Give her food, back off the electrolytes. If she will eat on her own then vitamins are probably not necessary either. Supposedly B Complex will help boost appetite, I keep it in liquid form for my girls that are broody.

 

[embrown]

she is pooping, she is still not wanting to eat. But, I am encouraged. She is clucking, kind of a growly type, but making regular noise. she is pecking at the front of the ccarrier, and will push the door open and walk around the room if we do not latch it. She will come out to me when I open the cage, this just started, before that, I had to drag her out and she would not walk. She is now perched on my shoulder. Should I be as happy as I feel? Or is there still concern. I am going to try to feed her again.

She took two pecks of her normal food, but refused the rest. I offered yogurt and she ate about six bites. An egg is boiling now.

My questions:
1. Is it likely that the whole bag of food had mold spores and I should pitch it, do not want to as we have no money and a new bag will come out of feeding the kids. I do not see any mold in the bag at all.
2. what can I do to make her eat? behavior is better, more energy, pooping more regularly, eyes open more often. She is pecking around and at the front of cage, so she is better. But she does not really want to eat.
3. Some have proposed to do anti-biotics, I can only buy two over the counter and none I can get are those recommended.
4. If it was the mold in the food will it pass like food poison and she will get better or is it going to be a long road to recovery or death?
5. What about the rest of the flock, all are acting fine now?
6. I need something that will be good for her that she will eat. How much does she need to eat? And, how often.
7. A vet is not really an option, but I might be able to ask a few questions of a vet we use for cats, I know she has had her own chickens. What should I ask?
8. Should I give her grit and shell now or will that be too rough on her system still? If she does eat some food I want to make sure it goes through the crop and we do not create another problem.
10 someone suggested to stop the electrolytes and force watering, but she does not seem to be drinking, so what should I do. She is now strong enough to eat/drink herself, but is not doing it.



Thank you all for suggestions and support. Keep the prayers coming, I think they are working.

Beth

 

[robin416]

I would not do antibiotics for the simple reason that she's improving. She's improving without them so it is not bacterial in nature.

I understand the budget thing, boy do I ever. Answer this question, how long was the feed in the feeder?

If its only been in there a few days then the bag has a problem and maybe any other bags you bought at the same time. Take them back, make them exchange them for fresher feed.

I've been there and returned it. Our feed store had a sprinkler go off, they "thought" they removed all of the affected feed. They didn't and I lost three birds because of it.

You'll have to nag her. She's gone down so far that sometimes we have to be creative in getting them eating again. When I have one like that I go nag about every two hours with whatever I can get some interest in.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:

 

[embrown]

yes, the food was in there for I do not know how long. My neighbor was watching the girls while we were away. She had topped off the food before I got home on Sunday. I do not know whether what she put on top was dry but the underneith was damp, or whether the food was bad or what. She does not remember seeing anything weird about the food. I am wondering if it was a bit damp, then she added more and the dry fell to along the sides leaving the sort of clumpy moldy stuff in the middle.

I am not sure whether it is instinct or pickiness, but Gabriella does not want anything to do with the food or anything I try to mash it in to. she will eat plain yogurt and boiled yolk pretty hardily, but not the food alone, not the food mashed with milk, yogurt, I will try oatmeal next. and see if she will take that.

Still she is more vocal, she continues to walk out of the cage, pooh is more like hourly, still yucky though, the smell is now more like normal chicken pooh and not so sulfury stinky. I had to take the paper out of the cage as she was pecking and pulling at it and I did not want her to get any in her beak. If we let her out, she walks around and has even done a few little flying hops when a small child or the cat came in. Her eyes are open more than 50% of the time and I have not noticed any drooppy wing or head/neck.

It is an interesting thought that if she is getting better without the anti-biotic maybe she does not need one.

Thanks for the thoughts.

I am slightly more encouraged.

question:
1. How will I know when to put her back out with the others?
2. When could I let her roam in the outside pen where she would be able to get grass and other stuff? I think that is much harder on digestion.
3. Should I now offer grit and shell.


Still praying:

Beth

 

[embrown]

Okay,

Iwil keep her in.
I will keep trying to feed the ground up food.
I will hold off on grit and shell.
I will offer food every 2 hours and leave some in there too.
I put the chick waterer in there with her with electrolytes in the water
We will get a new bag of food
I will call MSU extention, the university is only 10 min away, but I am not sure, especially with buying a new bag of food, if we could do even the $25 fee, but I will call about this.

She is clucking a lot, I think she wants out, the carrier is kind of small for a chicken who is up moving around. I may need to find a big box or something.

Okay, I put her in a big box, with pine nuggets in the bottom, put in a waterer with electrolytes, and she had the boiled yolk an hour ago, She is pooping more often, but still runny.

I have to go get a new bag of food.

I will keep you all updated.

Beth