HalfaceMischief
In the Brooder
- Sep 1, 2018
- 5
- 9
- 17
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.
Ameraucana hen, 1 year and 4 months old. She seems slightly thinner than usual, but is not emaciated.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
General appearance of feeling unwell, unusual colored droppings.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
About four days for the Ameraucana, and I have noticed the other birds' symptoms today.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Yes, recently all, if not most, of my other 6 chickens have yellow-tinged droppings with undigested food in it. They don't appear to have lost weight, however.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
There was bleeding from feathers pulled out of the front of her neck, but I disinfected the wound and treated it with peck-no-more coat (essentially BluKote). I don't think this is related to her problem.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
The only thing to precede this issue was (possible) egg binding and bullying from the flock members.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She is eating and drinking well.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Runny to normal. Most are tinged yellow and recently are full of undigested food.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation, Electrolyte water and when that ran out, water with ACV in it. I am feeding her a mixed bowl to her with scrambled egg with mashed layer feed (oyster shell included), hulled-raw-unsalted sunflower seeds, millet, flavourless greek yogurt, and rolled oats since I wanted to encourage her to eat anything at all since that would be better than nothing, and I'm not sure what's wrong with her. The other hens have NOT had access to this mix, but I have put ACV in their water recently shortly before when this started.
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?
There are no avian vets available around where I live, so any treatment must be something that I can do myself/hopefully afford myself.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Picture inserts in the novel below.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Recently switched their perch from one that was 4ft off the ground to one that is 1ft off the ground. I use pine shavings for their bedding and mix in DE for mite/parasite deterrent. I change their bedding every 3 weeks-1month.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Background about the Ameraucana hen in question: Seemed to have experienced egg binding, but successfully laid the egg. She has access to grit/oyster shell/calcium along with her layer ration, but lays rather fragile shelled eggs. Is bullied heavily now by the other hens (enough to pull feathers and draw blood) (currently though, things are peaceful), despite having been at the top of the pecking order. I assume this is because of her perceived illness.
About a four days ago, I noticed that my Ameraucana hen had been panting a lot and had an unusually pale face. I live in Southern California where the weather gets hot, but it was not hot enough to warrant the amount of panting and general pale look she was afflicted with.
(I provide them with fresh, cool water from a nipple waterer from a bucket as well as an open bucket on the ground, so she had access to that and plenty of shade. I'm familiar with how she responds to heat stress since her breed is not adapted to heat, but this was unusual for her)
She appeared listless, and disinterested even in her favourite treat of millet as well as drinking so I brought her inside just in case. When I did bring her inside, I noticed her feet were borderline cold despite it being warm that day. I feared she might have been suffering from heat stroke so I treated her for that, but I don't think it was that since she didn't appear any more alert/her condition didn't improve.
She was adamant about remaining standing, and her posture fluctuated between the hunched "I don't feel well" pose stereotypical of chickens
(that was her at her worst), and acting alert and hopping around and making noise and seeming upset that she was quarantined. I did NOT treat/believe she was suffering from egg binding again because she laid a normal, strong shelled egg the day that I noticed her changed behaviour and change in dropping color. It has been 4 days since she laid an egg as of when I'm posting.
Her droppings appeared normal at first, and then became runny diarrhea that had increasingly brighter yellow urates. This was it at its worst:
She never expressed a disinterest in eating or drinking when I presented the mix listed above to her, and she ate almost all of it up and continued to do so for the time that I've isolated her so far.
Her droppings then were normal again as of about 3 days ago after giving her some TLC, solid and no funky colors. Now from 1 day ago, they're solid, but yellow tinged again, with the brown body slightly tinted green with pieces of undigested food clearly visible in it.
The other members of my flock are also leaving droppings that look similar to this, but may be less solid.
Her comb's color is now back to a rosy color and is consistently no longer pale. She is acting normal in isolation aside from the fact that she is still panting while doing anything, now that it's cool and cloudy and a comfortable 55 F.
Her butt feathers are consistently clean and her vent looks normal. Her eyes, nose, and mouth are clear of any abnormalities. I felt inside her with a glove and did not feel an egg. Her shanks look normal. She only seemed lethargic for one day, but was still eating and has since perked back up to her energetic and lively self. Everyone's crop is emptying fine.
The odd droppings are cause for concern considering that it seems to be affecting my whole flock. One of my older black Australorps has started displaying listless behaviour and a dirty bottom covered with white diarrhea, but otherwise physically looks good (no pale comb either). I don't know if this is related or a different problem entirely.
I'm posting because I haven't seen anything else like this. The only other similar cases had the bird in much worse condition and did not improve and was an isolated event, whereas my Ameraucana seems to have improved and the unusual droppings have spread to my whole flock.
Could the feed possibly have gone bad?
I feed them Ace Hi Feeds Big Feeder Lay Pellets, oyster shell and the occasional millet as a treat.
Or is it something like worms, lice, mites?? I have never dewormed them or had a problem with lice/mites. Is this a result of putting ACV in their water? Or some kind of liver/kidney issue...?
Any thoughts/input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Ameraucana hen, 1 year and 4 months old. She seems slightly thinner than usual, but is not emaciated.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
General appearance of feeling unwell, unusual colored droppings.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
About four days for the Ameraucana, and I have noticed the other birds' symptoms today.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Yes, recently all, if not most, of my other 6 chickens have yellow-tinged droppings with undigested food in it. They don't appear to have lost weight, however.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
There was bleeding from feathers pulled out of the front of her neck, but I disinfected the wound and treated it with peck-no-more coat (essentially BluKote). I don't think this is related to her problem.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
The only thing to precede this issue was (possible) egg binding and bullying from the flock members.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She is eating and drinking well.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Runny to normal. Most are tinged yellow and recently are full of undigested food.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation, Electrolyte water and when that ran out, water with ACV in it. I am feeding her a mixed bowl to her with scrambled egg with mashed layer feed (oyster shell included), hulled-raw-unsalted sunflower seeds, millet, flavourless greek yogurt, and rolled oats since I wanted to encourage her to eat anything at all since that would be better than nothing, and I'm not sure what's wrong with her. The other hens have NOT had access to this mix, but I have put ACV in their water recently shortly before when this started.
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?
There are no avian vets available around where I live, so any treatment must be something that I can do myself/hopefully afford myself.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Picture inserts in the novel below.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Recently switched their perch from one that was 4ft off the ground to one that is 1ft off the ground. I use pine shavings for their bedding and mix in DE for mite/parasite deterrent. I change their bedding every 3 weeks-1month.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Background about the Ameraucana hen in question: Seemed to have experienced egg binding, but successfully laid the egg. She has access to grit/oyster shell/calcium along with her layer ration, but lays rather fragile shelled eggs. Is bullied heavily now by the other hens (enough to pull feathers and draw blood) (currently though, things are peaceful), despite having been at the top of the pecking order. I assume this is because of her perceived illness.
About a four days ago, I noticed that my Ameraucana hen had been panting a lot and had an unusually pale face. I live in Southern California where the weather gets hot, but it was not hot enough to warrant the amount of panting and general pale look she was afflicted with.
(I provide them with fresh, cool water from a nipple waterer from a bucket as well as an open bucket on the ground, so she had access to that and plenty of shade. I'm familiar with how she responds to heat stress since her breed is not adapted to heat, but this was unusual for her)
She appeared listless, and disinterested even in her favourite treat of millet as well as drinking so I brought her inside just in case. When I did bring her inside, I noticed her feet were borderline cold despite it being warm that day. I feared she might have been suffering from heat stroke so I treated her for that, but I don't think it was that since she didn't appear any more alert/her condition didn't improve.
She was adamant about remaining standing, and her posture fluctuated between the hunched "I don't feel well" pose stereotypical of chickens
(that was her at her worst), and acting alert and hopping around and making noise and seeming upset that she was quarantined. I did NOT treat/believe she was suffering from egg binding again because she laid a normal, strong shelled egg the day that I noticed her changed behaviour and change in dropping color. It has been 4 days since she laid an egg as of when I'm posting. Her droppings appeared normal at first, and then became runny diarrhea that had increasingly brighter yellow urates. This was it at its worst:
She never expressed a disinterest in eating or drinking when I presented the mix listed above to her, and she ate almost all of it up and continued to do so for the time that I've isolated her so far.Her droppings then were normal again as of about 3 days ago after giving her some TLC, solid and no funky colors. Now from 1 day ago, they're solid, but yellow tinged again, with the brown body slightly tinted green with pieces of undigested food clearly visible in it.
The other members of my flock are also leaving droppings that look similar to this, but may be less solid.Her comb's color is now back to a rosy color and is consistently no longer pale. She is acting normal in isolation aside from the fact that she is still panting while doing anything, now that it's cool and cloudy and a comfortable 55 F.
Her butt feathers are consistently clean and her vent looks normal. Her eyes, nose, and mouth are clear of any abnormalities. I felt inside her with a glove and did not feel an egg. Her shanks look normal. She only seemed lethargic for one day, but was still eating and has since perked back up to her energetic and lively self. Everyone's crop is emptying fine.
The odd droppings are cause for concern considering that it seems to be affecting my whole flock. One of my older black Australorps has started displaying listless behaviour and a dirty bottom covered with white diarrhea, but otherwise physically looks good (no pale comb either). I don't know if this is related or a different problem entirely.
I'm posting because I haven't seen anything else like this. The only other similar cases had the bird in much worse condition and did not improve and was an isolated event, whereas my Ameraucana seems to have improved and the unusual droppings have spread to my whole flock.
Could the feed possibly have gone bad?
I feed them Ace Hi Feeds Big Feeder Lay Pellets, oyster shell and the occasional millet as a treat.
Or is it something like worms, lice, mites?? I have never dewormed them or had a problem with lice/mites. Is this a result of putting ACV in their water? Or some kind of liver/kidney issue...?
Any thoughts/input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Last edited:
