Yolk-like poop, napping bird

[SarahL2021]

I recently purchased a red sex link hen with 3 others, just 18 weeks old or so. The one I’m worried about has very odd poos and appears lethargic, just napping all day and not really eating or drinking. She does perk up when I go to move her. I now have her separated from the group in a dog crate in my house, I fed her some yogurt and have “chick save” electrolytes in her water. I’m just wondering if there’s a medication I should be giving her. Can’t decide from poo pictures online if it’s coccidiosis or egg peritonitis. Any ideas? Thank you!

 

[azygous]

If you can find some amoxicillin or penicillin, she might benefit from an antibiotic. The lower poop looks like it's from a chicken with an infection. There are all sorts of bacteria that can nail a chicken who might be experiencing a low immune response. She should be fine after a round of an antibiotic.

 

[SarahL2021]

Thank you! Our tractor supply store had some penicillin, which I researched on here a bit and injected for her. Some great directions about dosages and procedures on these boards.

We'll see what that does over the course of the next 3-5 days. It feels good to at least be providing something and trying to address whatever infection might be occurring. I wonder if the move to my house stressed her out and e.coli occurred or something. We'll see if this does anything to help her improve, for now, I'm glad I separated her and was doing a quarantine for the 4 that I just got. Appreciate your response.

 

[SarahL2021]

So update as I did take the hen to a vet. They diagnosed round worm and coccidia from a fecal sample! So did a round of invermectin (and again 10 days later) and some corid for 5 days. She perked up soon after and now seems almost back to normal, but just real skinny from lack of food. I let the flock free range with her one day after a few days of her in a mesh run next to theirs and all seemed well (she seemed to really want to get back to them), and at dusk she parked herself in their coop so I let her stay the night.

Unfortunately today I looked at her poo on the droppings board and it still doesn't seem great. Mostly normal but then a bright yellow substance that is tough/rubbery in consistency when I tried to break it a part. She also seemed more lethargic again in the afternoon after several days displaying more energy. I'm not sure if it was just discouragement or energy draining working her way back in the pecking order (it didn't seem too bad, at one point I separated one of the more aggressive birds in the adjacent mesh run for a time out). Anyway, I was a bit discouraged as I thought she was on the mend, but then today after being reintegrated into the flock she was a bit sleepy/lethargic again (still eating and drinking on her own though, so that's good). I'm leaving her in there and hoping she continues to get more energy and nutrients, hopefully her body can bounce back here. I didn't think she'd survive but she keeps on ticking. After a few days off from Corid I did start that again today just in case one round wasn't enough or I didn't do it for long enough.

 

[SarahL2021]

Final update although I don't know if anyone even reads these ... I took another fecal sample to the vet today hoping I could get some answers - either a definitive "yes she still has worms" or "yes she still has coccidia" do another round of corid or whatever. They didn't see anything in the fecal sample and just said she looked dehydrated and like it was diarrhea. They gave me some pills that might help her stomach repair and told me if I had more questions I should call the state Ag department as they could run better tests to see about specific strains of e coli or what not (I was wondering if that was going on).

When I talked with the poultry pathologist with the PA dept, they thought from her symptoms it seemed to be either some kind of systemic infection or disease (like cancer or something) or a generalized dysfunction with her reproductive problem like egg yolk peritonitis or a high up infection of the oviduct. This second seemed to be the most likely to the vet since this is occurring right about egg laying age for this chicken. She said just by talking with me on the phone that the prognosis didn't sound good and recommended I go to a poultry specialist vet for blood work and more extensive testing. After spending over $100 at my local vet I didn't know what another appointment would do for her. Her issues seem very mysterious, so I figured I'd try probiotics and repairing her GI tract for a bit to buy time.

Well she continued to have yellow diarhea (which I think is a sign something is up with her liver from what I'm reading on here) and I was force feeding her with a tube some electrolytes and probiotics/vitamins. When I went in this evening to do another round of that she had been sleeping and looking miserable all day, and she spit up quite a bit of yellowish fluid. I was very upset thinking she was in pain. Her crop looked bulged and doing research on here I was looking at sour crop etc., but still thinking even if she had that, this is secondary to whatever the actual issue is. I had my husband euthanize her because I just couldn't stand thinking of her alone in our garage dying over night, which she would have done since she had very little nutrients and didn't seem able to hold even water down. It was so sad to see. I had her just 3 weeks but I'm glad I did the quarentine so I didn't introduce anything to my current flock. I just wish I knew exactly what was occurring, but if it was cancer I guess there's no way I could know.

 

[April’s Zoo]

That’s too bad— Sorry for your loss... but it sounds like you gave her every chance for her body to repair itself. She knew love and kindness up to the end.
If you are really interested in what might have been wrong, put the hen in a trash bag and then into the fridge.... call back the Ag dept. in the morning, and ask them about the possibility of getting a necropsy done. There may be a small fee, but they ought to be able to give you details.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Mostly normal but then a bright yellow substance that is tough/rubbery in consistency when I tried to break it a part. She also seemed more lethargic again in the afternoon after several days displaying more energy.

@SarahChickenNewbie I'm sorry for your loss.

Without a necropsy there is no way to know for sure what caused your hen's decline, but seeing your description of the poop, it makes me think that she had Salpingitis, which is an inflammation of the oviduct. With reproductive problems, the crop can stop "functioning" or emptying because there is inflammation/infection or swelling that blocks the system.

I know this sounds terrible, but if you still have her body and are up to it, you could do your own information necropsy. Open the abdomen and take a look for fluid/egg matter, inspect the oviduct and internal organs. A lot of times you will see something obvious. If you do this, take some photos and post them here on your thread or on the necropsy thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ntains-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/page-40