Yellow watery diarrhea (picture included)

[Scott G in CT]

You can find Calcium Citrate+D3 at Walmart, CVS, etc. give 1 tablet once daily for 5 days.

For deworming, you can use Safeguard liquid goat dewormer, dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once daily for 5 days in a row.

Sounds like she and the other hen are good friends. It's not uncommon for hens to have spurs. It's always nice for them to have another that visits with them.

At least she has some comfort in a friend even though she is sick. My girl is getting beat on by all because she is sickly. Good luck and sounds like you gave her a good life!

 

[wild chick]

She's still hanging with us, but the same. Normal for a while, then back to the yellow runs. She eats and drinks but not much. I got a new bunch of chicks and she has been staying close to them in this stall set up in the barn. It's been 2 months since I started this thread. This past week she is laying down more often, and I do sit her in warm water which she seems to enjoy if her bum gets too nasty. The poop dries like concrete then pulls at her feathers. She is thin, but not emaciated. I was hoping the chicks would peek her interest and they did, but this week though she's not coming into the stall much to look at them and she's not getting on the roost at night. If I place her on it she will stay, so I think she's loosing strength.I'm contemplating culling, but I have no way of knowing if she's in extreme pain or just weak.

I honestly didn't think Dixie would live this long, but now I have to think of mixing the flock or keeping them separate - they are 5 weeks old now and I've extended their pen to half the 12 x 12 stall. Cocoa has shown no real interest in the chicks at all, just looks at them and moves on.

This was June 18th - Cocoa, 7 yr old healthy non-laying cuckoo marans and Dixie, 9 year old ailing Wyandotte looking at the newly hatched chicks:

This is July 6:

Thanks for everyone's advice and warm wishes. I don't really consider my chickens pets, but 9 years is making this one pretty special.

 

[Scott G in CT]

She's still hanging with us, but the same. Normal for a while, then back to the yellow runs. She eats and drinks but not much. I got a new bunch of chicks and she has been staying close to them in this stall set up in the barn. It's been 2 months since I started this thread. This past week she is laying down more often, and I do sit her in warm water which she seems to enjoy if her bum gets too nasty. The poop dries like concrete then pulls at her feathers. She is thin, but not emaciated. I was hoping the chicks would peek her interest and they did, but this week though she's not coming into the stall much to look at them and she's not getting on the roost at night. If I place her on it she will stay, so I think she's loosing strength.I'm contemplating culling, but I have no way of knowing if she's in extreme pain or just weak.

I honestly didn't think Dixie would live this long, but now I have to think of mixing the flock or keeping them separate - they are 5 weeks old now and I've extended their pen to half the 12 x 12 stall. Cocoa has shown no real interest in the chicks at all, just looks at them and moves on.

This was June 18th - Cocoa, 7 yr old healthy non-laying cuckoo marans and Dixie, 9 year old ailing Wyandotte looking at the newly hatched chicks:

View attachment 4180121

This is July 6:

View attachment 4180122

Thanks for everyone's advice and warm wishes. I don't really consider my chickens pets, but 9 years is making this one pretty special.

Chickens are pets if you care this much. Most people that just want eggs or meat will cull the sick chickens so it doesn't spread. I believe the concrete poop is indictive of a disease. I want to say cocciodiosis, but don't quote me. Have you tried a cycle of amprolium (Corid). I got mine from TSC online shipped since it was out of state. You mix in water. May be worth a try.

 

[Scott G in CT]

I treated my girls with the amprolium and still nothing. I just started another week long dose yesterday. The one that bullies her the most has the same poop on and off, but is healthy, other than being a spaz

 

[wild chick]

Today we put Dixie down and I did a necropsy of sorts (I'm not any kind of expert). She had two shell-less "eggs" that were not anywhere near down the pike to lay. I cut them both open and they presented much like a boiled egg. One was about normal egg size, the other was huge, maybe goose egg size. The crop was extremely full but not sour, her liver and gizzard were normal. She wanted to eat and drink, but would only eat tiny amounts and kept losing weight and was getting very weak. If anything, I feel bad for not putting her down sooner.

Is the retained eggs/boiled egg what they call internal laying? or something else? I do have photos but won't post unless someone wants to see.

 

[wild chick]

Further reading on this forum suggests it was Salpingitus / lash eggs, and all the photos look just like mine. She never laid a lash egg that I ever saw, but definitely what was inside of her.

 

[Bawkbok]

I'm sorry to hear about Dixie. You probably did the right thing by sending her on her way, as difficult as I'm sure it was.
It sounds like she may have been dealing with Salpingitis....? The goose sized egg would probably have continued to grow and grow until it made her very uncomfortable. Her condition is probably why she laid around a lot - that and age. I hope I'm lucky enough to experience a 9 year old chicken. Your girls are beautiful. Best of luck with the littles. Hugs on losing her. You have many special memories.

 

[wild chick]

Thank you @Bawkbok.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Today we put Dixie down and I did a necropsy of sorts (I'm not any kind of expert). She had two shell-less "eggs" that were not anywhere near down the pike to lay. I cut them both open and they presented much like a boiled egg. One was about normal egg size, the other was huge, maybe goose egg size. The crop was extremely full but not sour, her liver and gizzard were normal. She wanted to eat and drink, but would only eat tiny amounts and kept losing weight and was getting very weak. If anything, I feel bad for not putting her down sooner.

Is the retained eggs/boiled egg what they call internal laying? or something else? I do have photos but won't post unless someone wants to see.

Further reading on this forum suggests it was Salpingitus / lash eggs, and all the photos look just like mine. She never laid a lash egg that I ever saw, but definitely what was inside of her.

I'm sorry to hear about Dixie

She lived a good many years and was well taken care of.

Did you happen to get any photos of what you found? I know that can be difficult to do.

From your description, it does sound like Salpingitis (Lash Egg). You mention they were not anywhere near down the pike to be laid. Were they in the Oviduct (Reproductive System) or in the abdomen?
Not all lash eggs are expelled, they can remain in the oviduct and slowly gain in size due to accumulation of exudes. Sometimes they can also be found in the abdomen where they have been deposited through reverse peristalsis.

It's good that you were able to explore more and find out what had been ailing her. Hopefully this will give you some measure of comfort to know you did what you could for her and that she had a good life.

 

[wild chick]

From your description, it does sound like Salpingitis (Lash Egg). You mention they were not anywhere near down the pike to be laid. Were they in the Oviduct (Reproductive System) or in the abdomen?
Not all lash eggs are expelled, they can remain in the oviduct and slowly gain in size due to accumulation of exudes. Sometimes they can also be found in the abdomen where they have been deposited through reverse peristalsis.

*** Note to sensitive folks, necropsy photos below ***

I'm not expert enough to say where things were, nor did I spread everything out to take better notes. It was so obvious that the large masses were her problem I didn't bother with details (and don't know enough to know what details to look for). The fat was an abnormal bright yellow. I did cut open the crop and the gizzard which didn't reveal anything that looked abnormal except as little as she ate the crop was very full - perhaps her condition didn't have the body energy left to process the food? But it didn't smell sour or rotten, so ? I don't know. I'd given her some dandelion leaves cut up which she really liked and the gizzard contents were mostly bright green with a few small seeds, I presume from the little bit of scratch treats I gave her. Her body was in very poor condition - even with the full crop she was clearly starving. I did not pick her up often, she was not a lap pet even though she was friendly and I thought it would just add to her stress.

I'll state again, if I had done anything at all differently, I would have relieved her of her misery much sooner.

Pictures of necropsy: