What is this poop indicating? Please help

[Magsy]

My 2.5 year old ISA brown has been unwell for what seems like months. A few weeks ago she had sour crop which I treated and seems to have resolved, but now I think she may have vent gleet. I just want to get opinions on what it could be. Have posted photos of her poop from today and will list symptoms below. The whiter/creamy looking poop is more what they’ve been looking like for the past two weeks. The one with more green in it is the first one like that I’ve seen, which she did this morning.

Signs/symptoms I have noticed:
- lethargy, flopped over comb (but still quite vibrant red)
- diarrhea/watery droppings, all of which seem to have the white/creamy stuff in it. Have not seen her do a “healthy” poop for very long (2ish months potentially)
- missing feathers around vent area and some caked on watery/creamy poop. The vent opening itself doesn’t appear red or agitated but looks swollen/the general area looks very bloated and the vent is puckering often
- has not laid an egg in over a month
- not moving much, sitting often
- recently has stopped grazing and drinking water. She will only eat live mealworms which she still goes nuts for so I have been giving her plenty. I’ve been giving her water by syringe from today
- she almost sounds as if she has lost her voice or something. She still tries to make her usual vocalizations but they sound almost whispery and a bit hoarse

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

It could be a reproductive disorder especially since she hasn’t laid an egg in a while. Let me tag some experts for you because I don’t have any experience with this personally @azygous @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

How does her crop feel? Has she lost weight or does she have an enlarged lower belly under the vent? Are other hens picking her feathers around her vent? Have you seen any soft or shell-less eggs in the nest boxes recently. Her dark green dropping is common when they are starving themselves. The yellow urates could be part of that or a reproductive egg laying issue. Isould work on trying to get her to drink some fluids, maybe an electrolyte or Poultry NutriDrench for a day or two, and mix up a bit of mushy wet chicken feed and and a bit of scrambled egg. Check her crop each morning early to make sure it is emptying overnight. Weighing her on a kit hen scale can help to keep track of weight loss.

 

[azygous]

That poop looks to me like she still has a yeast infection, only now it's all the way down her digestive tract. In this case, miconazole is not as effective as when the yeast is localized to the crop.

I suggest the three-day Epsom salt flush to neutralize the yeast all the way through the system while hosing it out. It does require a small animal tubing kit and the willingness to tube feed the solution two times a day for the full three days.

You can get the tubing kit from Amazon or a local vet. I will provide detailed instructions.

 

[Magsy]

That poop looks to me like she still has a yeast infection, only now it's all the way down her digestive tract. In this case, miconazole is not as effective as when the yeast is localized to the crop.

I suggest the three-day Epsom salt flush to neutralize the yeast all the way through the system while hosing it out. It does require a small animal tubing kit and the willingness to tube feed the solution two times a day for the full three days.

You can get the tubing kit from Amazon or a local vet. I will provide detailed instructions.

Thank you! Can you please let me know more detail about the epsom salt flush? Do I still need to offer her food and clean drinking water for the 3 days? And could I syringe feed the epsom salt water rather than using a tubing kit?

 

[Magsy]

How does her crop feel? Has she lost weight or does she have an enlarged lower belly under the vent? Are other hens picking her feathers around her vent? Have you seen any soft or shell-less eggs in the nest boxes recently. Her dark green dropping is common when they are starving themselves. The yellow urates could be part of that or a reproductive egg laying issue. Isould work on trying to get her to drink some fluids, maybe an electrolyte or Poultry NutriDrench for a day or two, and mix up a bit of mushy wet chicken feed and and a bit of scrambled egg. Check her crop each morning early to make sure it is emptying overnight. Weighing her on a kit hen scale can help to keep track of weight loss.

Her crop each morning has been empty but interestingly this morning I felt it and it feels full and like a water balloon. Does this mean the sour crop is back? or her digestive system is not functioning? She has definitely lost weight. Poor girl is so thin and is barely eating.

I only have one other chicken and she is very kind to her. No pecking or plucking going on.

She does have an enlarged abdomen, under the vent area. Just seems very swollen and bloated.

 

[azygous]

Syringing the Epsom solution, which is half a cup with one teaspoon Epsom salts, is way too much and way too stressful. It would take you an hour of pushing it in, refilling it, etc. Tubing is once for inserting the tube, and just a few minutes to get all half cup into the patient.

Here are my instructions:

Tube feeding a chicken is about the safest most fool-proof things a chicken keeper can do. There is pretty nearly nothing that can go wrong. Even a child can do it, and this past spring, two kids on this forum successfully saved the lives of several hens in their flock by tubing a life-saving solution over three days.

First, obtain the small animal kit from a vet or from Amazon. You can fashion your own from oxygen tubing or aquarium tubing. You would need to find an oral syringe to fit the tubing that holds about one to two ounces. A slender one millimeter syringe is too small to do much good.

Next, cut the bottom off at around nine or ten inches to make it easier to manage. You will prepare a solution of raw egg, a little yogurt, maybe a little soy protein powder and enough warm water to make it flow through a tube. I add a squirt of poultry vitamins such as Poultry Nutri-drench. Or you can buy baby bird formula from a pet store. This is to feed a weak or starving chicken. Other uses would be to give electrolytes to a shock victim or a flush solution to an impacted chicken. For an average chicken, about half a cup of solution will be how much to tube in.

Now, what most people fear most - the part where you insert the tube. But this is very easy as the chicken has a direct channel going from the right side of the throat right into their crop, by-passing the airway so there is zero chance of aspiration.

After wrapping my chicken securely in a towel to confine wings, I hold my chicken on a work bench with my weak arm. With that hand I pry open the beak holding it open, and with my strong hand, I insert the tube in her right side of the beak, going slightly under the right side of the tongue. This channels the tube right into the esophagus which goes directly into the crop. You can see this in the photo below, only it will be the tube and not the syringe.

I measure the tube from the beak to the bottom of the chicken's crop and make a mark so I'll know when the tube has reached the lower part of the crop. The first time if you hit the wrong hole your chicken will start to cough. It's okay, no harm, just back out and try again. Once the tube is in, the chicken will be calm and comfortable. Then you can begin feeding. It feels pleasant to the chicken, and most are very cooperative throughout the process.

If the chicken struggles and bucks all of a sudden, it's not because of anything you did. They get bored and tired of the process like a toddler would. Pause until the chicken settles down again and finish. The whole process takes no more than five minutes. Each time you do it, it gets easier and quicker.

Learning this can save the life of your chicken, and it can save you so much time and frustration. And it's very, very safe. Anyone can do it.

Epsom salts flush:

Mix I/2 cup warm water with one teaspoon Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate unscented). Tube into the crop two time a day for three consecutive days. Tube before the chicken eats. May have food and water in between flushes.

 

[azygous]

I forgot to answer about the chicken eating during the flush. Do the flush first in the morning when the crop is empty. Afterward, you may offer regular food and especially water as the flush is dehydrating.

Then in the afternoon, stop access to food and water a couple hours before the second flush of the day. Then do the flush once the crop has emptied. Try to do it several hours before bedtime to give her a chance to fill her crop if she wishes before she sleeps.

Once the three days of flushing is completed, give a probiotic daily to install good microbes that will help keep the yeast away.

 

[Magsy]

Syringing the Epsom solution, which is half a cup with one teaspoon Epsom salts, is way too much and way too stressful. It would take you an hour of pushing it in, refilling it, etc. Tubing is once for inserting the tube, and just a few minutes to get all half cup into the patient.

Here are my instructions:

Tube feeding a chicken is about the safest most fool-proof things a chicken keeper can do. There is pretty nearly nothing that can go wrong. Even a child can do it, and this past spring, two kids on this forum successfully saved the lives of several hens in their flock by tubing a life-saving solution over three days.

First, obtain the small animal kit from a vet or from Amazon. You can fashion your own from oxygen tubing or aquarium tubing. You would need to find an oral syringe to fit the tubing that holds about one to two ounces. A slender one millimeter syringe is too small to do much good.

Next, cut the bottom off at around nine or ten inches to make it easier to manage. You will prepare a solution of raw egg, a little yogurt, maybe a little soy protein powder and enough warm water to make it flow through a tube. I add a squirt of poultry vitamins such as Poultry Nutri-drench. Or you can buy baby bird formula from a pet store. This is to feed a weak or starving chicken. Other uses would be to give electrolytes to a shock victim or a flush solution to an impacted chicken. For an average chicken, about half a cup of solution will be how much to tube in.

Now, what most people fear most - the part where you insert the tube. But this is very easy as the chicken has a direct channel going from the right side of the throat right into their crop, by-passing the airway so there is zero chance of aspiration.

After wrapping my chicken securely in a towel to confine wings, I hold my chicken on a work bench with my weak arm. With that hand I pry open the beak holding it open, and with my strong hand, I insert the tube in her right side of the beak, going slightly under the right side of the tongue. This channels the tube right into the esophagus which goes directly into the crop. You can see this in the photo below, only it will be the tube and not the syringe.

I measure the tube from the beak to the bottom of the chicken's crop and make a mark so I'll know when the tube has reached the lower part of the crop. The first time if you hit the wrong hole your chicken will start to cough. It's okay, no harm, just back out and try again. Once the tube is in, the chicken will be calm and comfortable. Then you can begin feeding. It feels pleasant to the chicken, and most are very cooperative throughout the process.

If the chicken struggles and bucks all of a sudden, it's not because of anything you did. They get bored and tired of the process like a toddler would. Pause until the chicken settles down again and finish. The whole process takes no more than five minutes. Each time you do it, it gets easier and quicker.

Learning this can save the life of your chicken, and it can save you so much time and frustration. And it's very, very safe. Anyone can do it.

Epsom salts flush:

Mix I/2 cup warm water with one teaspoon Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate unscented). Tube into the crop two time a day for three consecutive days. Tube before the chicken eats. May have food and water in between flushes.View attachment 4285087

Thank you so, so much, I really appreciate this.
I can’t quite open the Amazon link you sent. My husband may have some tubing in his shed that I could use. Are there any specifications around the type/size/length of tube required?

Also, would you recommend I isolate her inside in a pen for these 3 days?

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you so, so much, I really appreciate this.
I can’t quite open the Amazon link you sent. My husband may have some tubing in his shed that I could use. Are there any specifications around the type/size/length of tube required?

Also, would you recommend I isolate her inside in a pen for these 3 days?

This is similar to what most get.

Here's a good video to see it done. You can start at 2:30 if you want to get to the best part faster, and it's the chicken's right side. This lady says left, but it's the chicken's right. Here's a more professional one.