Chicken bald back

[pook]

I have a poorly chicken who I've taken to the vet twice - I'd love some advice what to do next. So far we've tried Baytril and Xeno 450 to no avail. I got some Coxoid delivered today and started her on that. I have Flubenvet being delivered tomorrow and am unsure whether to try that at the same time - don't want to overwhelm her system with meds but I know that Xeno 450 doesn't work against all types of chicken worms. She's been pretty unwell for a week now though so I feel like we don't have much time left to try things out.

 

Symptoms are no laying, lying in the nesting box all day, yellowish runny droppings with a small amount of blood and not well digested food. She's eating a bit but only if I deliver her favourites (oats/bread soaked in water) to her in the nesting box. The vet says she's not egg bound.

 

Any thoughts really much appreciated!

Lucy

[Daphne]

First of all, welcome to the forum and sorry its under such circumstances

 

Most importantly, don't give her coxoid and flubenvet at the same time - it will be too much for her.

 

I think we need to understand a little more of the background to try to help, so

 

Did the vet say what he/she was treating for?

 

I presume you are trying coxoid because of the blood in the droppings? How old is your bird?

 

Have you seen worms or is it a case of she hasn't been wormed for a long time?

[pook]

Thanks so much for this advice Daphne - I'm relieved I didn't give her both now!

 

Yes the vet is not sure what it is - the only thing she found is that she had a look under the microscope at a dropping which Jez the chicken produced on cue and could see a lot of one type of microbe. She thought maybe coccidiosis or a type of bacteria that doesn't respond to Baytril but we can't know without sending off to a specialist lab. All getting a bit costly but it may be worth considering.

 

Do you know how quickly chickens show signs of improvement from cocci after coxoid treatment, if that's

 

Thanks again!

[pook]

Oops my phone just chopped up my message. Was going to say she's 6 months old, we got her a couple of months ago and hadn't wormed her yet.

 

We're crossing fingers the coxoid will have some effect - got some into her today via medicated mealworm flavoured porridge!

[Daphne]

OK. I'd see how the coxoid goes, from memory it's a 7 day course but it says on the bottle, and you need to give it all. Be warned, I'm sorry to say not all birds pull through, it just depends on the bird and the strain of cocci if that's what it is. It would be good to worm her but I wouldn't until she is absolutely A1 as cocci and the treatment is very debilitating. Fingers crossed for you.

[pook]

Thanks Daphne! I'll definitely wait a while before worming her then, if she pulls through. I hope the coxoid will help and not make her worse. I guess it's worth a try. I picked her up today as I hadn't seen her get up at all since yesterday morning and thought she might be sitting in dirty bedding. Popped her down for a moment and she wandered off into the garden and spent a good hour or so having a dust bath and eating before going back in. Not sure if this is any sign of recovery or if I just disturbed her comfy position. Have been sort of expecting her to die any moment all week and somehow she's still here - fingers firmly crossed.

[pook]

Just for an update - our chicken has now nearly finished her course of coxoid, but hasn't really improved or deteriorated. She still seems exhausted, and has now been sitting in the nest box all day for nearly 2 weeks. She eats quite enthusiastically when I put her food inside the nesting box. Every couple of days I lift her outside for a stretch and she will potter around, have a dustbath, eat some grass for a while then go back in. She has the runs really badly, very watery droppings with semi-digested food. I don't know if this is a side effect of having taken Baytril and Coxoid, or whether it's a symptom of another illness we haven't cured.

 

I've been giving her various combinations of rehydration solution, probiotics, gut tonic, and a few drops of cider vinegar with her food - thinking of giving her some more time on these and multivitamins once the coxoid is finished and will see if she improves. Any other ideas most welcome! I've checked her over but can't find any further symptoms. Possibly the heat isn't helping at the moment. I'll worm her at some point but wait a while as Daphne advised.

[Daphne]

I think you have 3 choices - carry on and see how it goes, take her back to the vet for another consult and find out how much lab tests will cost or cull/have her PTS. Personally, as she has been ill for a fortnight I would not just carry on. She is obviously in a bad way. If it is cocci, then I am very much afraid, speaking from experience the only time I encountered it in a form which sounds quite similar although my birds stood about rather than sitting down, that the outlook is not good. She is likely to eat/drink less and less and eventually die. It could be worth investigating lab tests as normally cocci hits chicks or growers, although it can occur later in life, so it may possibly be something else. However, you may well feel that the cost is too high and in any case the tests may reveal something incurable. From your description I can't think of anything obvious that she may be suffering with, it is likely to be something internal which an expert might be able to diagnose - birds do get tumours and so forth. Whatever it is, undigested food is never a good sign, and neither is her behaviour.

 

I know this is going to sound tough, but I would cull the bird - or ask the vet to. If you don't feel able to go that route, then I would get some tests done the vet has the best chance of helping her as I don't think she is going to miraculously improve on her own. You've given her every chance but its just not working.

[The Dogmother]

I agree with Daphne. Personally I'd cull the bird.

 

Sorry.

[Plum]

If she's a pet you don't want to lose I think I would go down the route of sending a dropping sample for testing so you get the right treatment and save passing on to other hens.

 

You say she's eating and dust bathing when removed from the nest box. She's not broody as well as a gut infection is she

[pook]

Thanks all for the replies - much appreciated. I looked into lab tests and am getting some done by Retfords - seems very good value at £25 for basic bacteriology and worms and cocci, will see if that shows anything up. Good suggestion, thanks! We'll definitely consider the PTS option if she gets any worse - you may well be right she's heading in that direction. We're not quite ready to do it yet as you're right she is one of only two so rather treasured. She's still putting away a fair amount of food (as long as given room service in the nest box!) and having fun in the dust bath occasionally.

 

Funny you mention broodiness, Plum, I think there may be something in what you say! She's stopped laying herself since being ill. I thought yesterday our other chicken had missed a day's laying as well but then realised Jez had gathered up two eggs and was lying on them! She did the same today and it occurred to me I've found them under her a few times in the past week. But she is quite ill as well so I don't want to shove her out of the box too often. Hmm, they don't make our lives simple! I guess we'll aim to cure the gut infection first, make sure she eats, then worry about broodiness later... Maybe i'll try to get her out a little more.

[Plum]

A couple of times a day at least and why not put her in a run with no nest box? or shut the door after the other has laid. It won't hurt her with being under the weather, if she's resting because she is weak she can rest on the floor of the run, just watch out for the other bullying her.

 

£25 is a good price I paid £70 and then the vet couldn't tell me what type of cocci she had . Some are non pathogenic.

[pook]

I just looked up the symptoms of broodiness which I haven't come across before - she totally makes that odd growling noise when I open up the nest box and I've found quite a few of her feathers lying around. Very interesting - had just assumed both were because she was ill! If we're lucky maybe that's making her seem more unwell than she is - really don't know. Her gut symptoms are definitely bad though.

[pook]

Just saw your reply Plum - good plan, will do that! Yeah our vet said that doing lab tests via them were more than £100 for dogs and possibly the same for chickens, so I was glad to find another option to, saw it in a post here. It takes 3 days. Hopefully they are good.

[Plum]

They are more susceptible to problems when broody, they get run down so I try and break it early. Not always with success little madams

[Plum]

Hi Pook I keep wondering how your little hen is doing?

[pook]

Hi Plum, thanks for asking - I've been meaning to post an update for ages. She's recovered really well - running round the garden all day, droppings back to normal, even grabbing food from our other chicken who is normally more dominant. We're so happy and relieved! I think the broodiness really confused things - possibly the first round of antibiotics cured her but we didn't realise because she was lying around all day. Thank you so much for thinking of that! I didn't think hybrids really got broody. She wasn't pleased at all when we shut her out of the nest box during the day but improved straight away and the broodiness has gone now. She's still not laying but had only just started before she got ill, so hopefully will do again at some point. Happy chicken times once more!

 

Retfords came back and said candida and streptococcus, but now she's so well again I wonder if these were just side effects of being run down and the other medicines? Unsure whether to treat those...

[Plum]

Hey that's great news, such a relief for you.

 

Best thing would be to give your vet a ring and discuss it. Candida and streptococcus are normal in the gut but increase if on antibiotics. Probiotics redress the balance but it sounds as though that has already happened if her droppings are normal.

 

My miracle one egg a day come rain or shine, snow or avalanche girl hasn't laid since she was unwell Never mind they pay us back a hundred fold with their company and antics

 

Nearly forgot, you have to wait about 10 days after broodiness for them to lay

[pook]

Ah thanks, that's a relief to hear it can take a while to get back to normal. Yes main thing is they're happy and she definitely seems to be enjoying herself again. Her newest antic is she's learnt to jump on the windowsill and peer at us while we have dinner.

 

Thanks for the advice on the Strep / candida - yes I guess we sent off the sample from when she still had an upset tummy, but since then have had her on a teaspoon of live yoghurt mixed with other food each day, so maybe that's worked. We'll keep a close eye on her and keep up the TLC with vitamins and tonics.

 

I hope your miracle hen recovers fully soon, she sounds great!