Diarrhoea

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walter

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Hello again.... looking for advice please.
My flock now consists of 3 light Sussex and one Rhode Island Red. All appear healthy, looking for food , bright eyed , not moping etc. However one of the Light Sussex has had diarrhoea for about 2 months. Although she appears perky, she's not laying as her comb is small and dull.
I started the flock on Biostop about 5 days ago. No improvement to date.
All the birds were wormed about 2 months ago at the beginning of November. The other birds stools are fine. No sign of worms in any of the birds poo. I feed them all layers pellets, and give them a small handful of meal worms and corn to scratch around for daily.
I know when my dogs have had diarrhoea the vet has advised to stop their feed for 48 hours and just supply plenty of water. Can I do this with the Light Sussex ? .....or any other advice welcome... Thanks..... Walter.
 
The diarrhoea may be due to sour crop, in which case the vet advice of water only for 48 hours is good. Massage (lightly) the crop regularly. If she doesn't drink on her own trickle syringe water into her (give her time to swallow it)-at least 100mL a day in 15mL lots. The crop usually feels slightly warmer to the touch than it would and very soggy, sometimes accompanied by bad breath. In two months she may have lost a lot of weight.

It can also be due to worms -did you use Flubenvet Walter? You may not see them in the poo -if you do that is a very bad case.
 
Before treating her for sour crop, I think you need to get a positive diagnosis before starving her etc, Walter. Does her breath smell bad, and is her crop squishy to the feel? If not, this is more probably a bacterial gut upset as you can pretty well rule out that she has been eating anything unsuitable and she hasn't got a heavy worm burden so long as you used Flubenvet 2 months ago when you wormed them, correctly administered. A small dull comb is normal at this time of year for hens not yet in lay, though of course it may also indicate underlying illness. And even if she does have sour crop symptoms, these may result from a more deep-seated gut infection that needs treatment as well. Diarrhoea can have several causes, and be linked to other symptoms. How old is she!
I think that unless you can be certain this is simply sour crop, fasting her etc would only pull her down more. Has she been eating normally?
What is the colour and texture of her poo? If it's green, especially if a sort of bluish lichen colour, this may indicate a liver infection. My Marigold once had this but it cleared up after antibiotics from the vet.
If she's a young and valuable bird I would advise a visit to the vet before doing anything else, taking a poo sample with you. Intervention by starving or syringing would be stressful and possibly unhelpful to an undiagnosed problem, I feel. Whatever the result, a course of live natural ŷogurt would help restore her gut flora. There's a special sort called Beryls which is formulated for chickens, but ordinary Yeo Valley etc added to her warm mash would also be good.
 
Thanks for the two responses.
These chickens I have at the moment have always been very nervous and wary of me. So handling them is a problem. My last batch of hybrids were much more human friendly and accepted being handled.
The chicken with diarrhoea is about 2 years old… I’ll try and smell the breath tonight by getting her off the perch. Also try and have a go at feeling her crop for squishhyness (although I’ve had a go at this before and don’t really know what I’m supposed to be feeling !!)
I did use Flubenvet last November and administered it as directed in the right quantity and no other food given.
She appears to have an appetite and be eating normally.
Her poos are splashed all over the droppings board beneath the perch, but I would describe them as brown and very watery , some parts almost transparent. Not green or blue tinged.
If I take her to the vets and antibiotics are administered, am I right in thinking that I would not be able to use her eggs.
Would it be worth trying the live natural yoghurt now ?
Thanks again… Walter.
 
You should be able to see and feel the full crop quite easily. It's a lump on her chest, just at the base of her neck. If it's sour crop, it will feel like a balloon full of water. If it's full of food, then it will feel like a very full bag of dry beans from the shop (this is a very, very rough approximation).
 
Yes, you would have to destroy her eggs after antibiotics. For how long would depend on which antibiotic was used, and the vet would advise you on this. Many people would say you couldn't ever eat eggs from a treated hen. Obviously you have to be very cautious about eating eggs from a bird who has been treated with antibiotics, as the residue could be transmitted in the egg to the person eating it, and then probably increase their body's resistance to the effectiveness of antibiotics if needed for a human infection. There's a sticky post at the top of this action about the use of antibiotics on chickens, and many people feel they should never be used because of the very real risk that they will become ineffective through over-use. With a pet hen, many people feel they want to treat their bird, whatever the consequences, although keepers with more birds kept for production would consider it responsible to cull a bird rather than give any antibiotics. I have decided that, in future, I shall cull any of mine who get an infectious or terminal illness which could be treated by antibiotics, because I think there's a very real public health risk to their indiscriminate use in poultry.
See http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8760
 
I've just checked the bird's breath.... No foul smells... and can't feel anything like a balloon full of water around the crop area.

I've now been giving the Biostop for about 5 days... I intend to give it another week to see if this settles her.

Even if it's not cured... is it worth trying the yoghurt ????

My fear of taking her to the vets (other than the expense) is that they will want to administer antibiotics. I agree with your view Marigold about this and am not keen to go down this route. Additionally, if I was unable to consume her eggs afterwards, there is no way of me being able to identify which of the eggs laid within the flock of four belongs to her, so I wouldn't be able to consume any.

Walter. x
 
Yes do try the ŷogurt, it's harmless and might help her gut flora whatever is wrong. You would need to separate her within the run if she laid and you wanted to avoid her eggs, I suppose. Not a problem at e moment, though, as she's not in lY or on antibiotics.
Very often, sadly, not actually all that much that can be done for a sick hen, especially if you want to avoid antibiotics, plus the expense of a vet, which is out of proportion to the cost of a hen unless she is very special for some personal reason. - which I do understand. But it's also OK not to feel guilty about letting one go if recovery seems unlikely.
 
Thanks for your responses.... Marigold.... KittyKat.... Chrismahon
 
You will get watery poos if they are moulting Walter. They eat the sheaths from the new feathers as they preen. They are transparent, of little nutritional value, but still fill the crop. They drink as normal and think they have eaten, because there is material in their crop. It usually lasts a few weeks though, not a few months. But not eating pellets can become a habit and can be difficult to break. We've just had a case that has taken three months- we started her eating a wet mash of soaked pellets. Sprinkling a few bits of mixed grain on the surface can encourage them to eat it. The probiotic natural yoghurt will not do any harm, but it takes a good two weeks after a 20mL 'shot' for the flora to establish and the flora needs food, so if she isn't eating it won't have any effect.
 
I'm sure that what Chris reports about the connection between moulting and watery poos can happen, as it has in his flock, but I've never experienced watery poos for any reason other than bacterial infection of some kind.
 
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