white runny poo, not eating, listless - whats up with my Barred Rock

[Spring Chook]

one of my beautiful barred rocks is ill. please help
Yobbo (for that is her name), is 5 months old and has been laying for about a month. for the last 3 days she has been listless and not eating. She is doing watery white poos though earlier this morning I saw her pass a very long dark poo which turned out to be some long pieces of virtually undigested grass.

I separated her from the others immediately and she has access to a small patch of grass and a section of the coop. She can see the others which I feel is important. She has been free ranging in our large garden so could have picked up anything. According to the store where I bought her she was given all her shots or whatever they give chicks these days. I have 3 other chickens from the same place and they all seem very healthy and happy. I have had her for about 3 months.

I have offered her yoghurt, pellets, pear etc but she isnt interested. any ideas. I dont want to go to a vet as last time i did this they charged me $80, said the bantam would be fine and she died 4 hours later (she had an infection in her crop)

any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Sophie

www.beloveforall.com

 

[Spring Chook]

i forgot to say that I checked her crop and it feels normal and empty

 

[Kittymomma]

Do you know if she has layed any eggs the last few days? You can try giving her some scrambled eggs, that usually goes over pretty well. If she won't eat those she might go for some canned cat food. Keeping her seperated so you can monitor her food/water intake and see what is coming out the other end is a good start. If it's cold where you are you might consider bringing her in so she's not having to use energy to try too stay warm.

 

[Spring Chook]

she laid an egg yesterday, nothing today though. we're in Topanga, california so its not too cold. I will try scramble eggs later today. poor little thing ...

 

[darkfur]

sounds a bit like coccidiocis - google that and see if it matches. You would need a specific antibiotic for coccidiocis, not a broad-spectrum OTC antibiotic, because cocci is a protozoan not a bacterium. Some people get good results with yoghurt.

 

[Kittymomma]

I'd expect to see some blood by this point if it was cocci + she's a little older then usual for it. Not impossible, but a parasite load or even just eating something that didn't set right seems more likely. Corid works well for cocci and you can hopefully get it at the feed store if you need to. It's a good thing to have on hand when you get chicks and also when you first put young birds out in the coop.

Do a search or another post asking for information on the poop page. I have the link saved on my computer, but it's down right now so I don't have it handy. Anyhow, you might find a match to her droppings on there and have a better idea what you're dealing with.

Since she laid an egg yesterday you're probably not dealing with an eggbound or internal laying hen. I think supportive care is the best bet for now and if you can post some pictures of her and her droppings that would help (us) too. I hope she's feeling better soon.

 

[Spring Chook]

thanks so much for your advice and interest. early on her first runny poops had a bit of red in them that could have been blood but I dont think its Cocci. now she is pooing creamy white stuff (apart from the long grass poop that was dark and hard). I will try to take a poop shot tomorrow. she ate a tiny bit of oatmeal and scrambled eggs this afternoon and drank a bit which makes me hopeful. no egg today though. All the other ladies are fine still.

 

[Spring Chook]

Here are two pictures of my ill chicken and her poop, any thoughts oh wise chicken people?! She's not eaten anything today and is fading fast ... I am very very worried for her

Sophie

 

[Kittymomma]

Hi,

Sorry I missed your post. I haven't been online much this weekend and haven't been able to get email updates at all. My chickens have watery urate loaded poos once in awhile too, but if that is all she's doing it might be a kidney problem from what I could tell from the poop page-- http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

Looking at her picture she really doesn't look bad--good color to her comb and wattles, comb and tail both seem to be upright and not drooping....

I'm really hoping she is doing better, even though from you last post it didn't sound very good.

 

[Spring Chook]

I wanted to give you an update on my sick Barred Rock. She survived! A couple of people, James for one, suggested she had coccidiosis, and although I wasnt convinced it was this, I went ahead and started her on sulmet. I didnt have high hopes as she hadnt eaten for at least 6 days by this stage and had stop drinking. I resorted to administering sulmet plus water with a syringe and within 4 days she was back to her old self. Thank you everyone. I had just about given up hope, and had even gone as far as digging a grave for her.

She hasnt laid an egg yet but I am hopeful that will come eventually. I have just spent 2 hours cleaning the coop - i dont want any more outbreaks

thanks all

Sophie
www.beloveforall.com