What is wrong? 2 dead and another on her way out?

undergroundchickens

Songster
9 Years
Apr 13, 2010
215
0
109
Utah
I have lost two chickens and another one is looking pretty bad. Here is what has been going on in hopes someone will have an idea as to what is wrong.

I had a hen that I posted about previously at this link. Click here. She started out not being able to use her leg. This progressed over several months to the loss of the use of both her legs and then she stopped eating and drinking. I put her down. I tired vitamins and wraping her leg and rest/isolation to no avail.

The same day I put this hen down I found another one of my girls dead in the yard. She had seemed healthy to me. She had a messy bum but was active and eating. She had been running around 2 hours before I found her dead chasing bread I was throwing to the girls for a treat. Two hours later dead with no obvious signs of how or why she died. I figured heat stroke or heart attack.

Now I have another chicken who has been sick. I treated her with Sulmet but she is sick again. Here is the previous post about her. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=524510

She started to act sick again with the same symptoms about a week after she seemed to have recovered with the first Sulmet treatment. I treated her for 4 days again with sulmet and she seemd to start feeling better but then quit eating again after two days off the sulmet. I didn't want to re-use the same meds on her in fear of causing antibiotic resistance so I treated her with duramycin 10 for 7 days with no results. I then wormed her with wazine. She does not have an impacted or sour crop. It is empty all the time unless I force feed/water her. I have also treated her with Corid for the past 5 days with no results. She is still sick and wont eat. Any ideas as to what could be going on? I do have a few chickens with messy bottoms and have purchased some Verm-x for possible worms/parasites. The current sick chicken has never showed signs of a messy bum. She is my cleanest and most active bird.

1) What type of bird , age and weight. EE, 1.5 years old, light from weight loss due to not eating/drinking.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. She sits hunched up with eyes closed. Lethargic. Wings a bit droopy. Not eating or drinking.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Almost 3 weeks.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No.
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. No idea.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She is not eating or drinking. I have been force feeding/watering ground up dog food/yogurt/chicken mash with syringe.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Runny but on the normal side now that I am force feeding her. She was not pooping before I started force feeding. The poo has a very strong unpleasant smell. Only poops a few times a day. I may not be feeding her enough but she goes into a coma like state after feeding so I hate doing it to her.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? She has been wormed with wazine 17, been on Sulmet, Duramycin 10, and currently on Corid. She must be foce feed and watered as she shows no interest in food and water..
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 til you can get to a vet? Self. Husband wont allow expensive vet intervention.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. She is living in the house (isolated from the other birds) with us in a box with wood shavings.
 
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Update. I started her back on a HEAVY dose of Sulmet (she was 3.8 lbs and I gave her dosing for a 5 lb hen) and she was doing a little better the next day. I gave her this for 7 days and she is back to her old self minus some weight. I am now trying to reintroduce her to the flock and fatten her up again.
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