Chicken bald back

[Cheeronthechickens]

Hi. We are currently on holiday while a friend (doesn't have chickens) is looking After them. On Friday, Sybil had what we thought was lice on her bottom. We then treated and cleaned her and the rest of the coop and eglu. She wasn't laying and was sitting alone so we assumed that she was broody. Yesterday we were told that she had a pale comb but again we assumed that it was due to lack of nutrients as she was broody. Today, we were told that she is exhausted and can barely stand up and falls asleep in the middle of walking in the run. Her poo is greeny yellow and runny and it sticks to the back of her bottom. We are going to return home early today but are very worried about how long she will last. Amy suggestions on what to do?? She has a very narrow pelvis so she may be eggbound.

Thank you so much

[Cheeronthechickens]

 

 

 

Sorry it is upside down

[Chickabee]

You could try a warm bath. Gently feel her abdomen. Try to get some nutri drops into her. Do you know if she's drinking. You might have to syringe her. Keep her in a nice box or crate with lots of comfy bed in the house for a little while.

 

If she is completely off her food and keeps losing her balance, or loses the use of her legs, I'm afraid it's Mareks. This will need urgent treatment from a vet. Hopefully it's not, that's just worst case scenario.

 

Most important thing now is to keep her well hydrated and comfy.

 

Good luck

[Cheeronthechickens]

Thanks chickabee! We are setting off now to return home. We rang the poultry where we bought her from and she said that it is unlikely that she is eggbound as she would have died already she said that it was most likely that she had worms so we are buying panacur on the way home. Does anyone have any eggsperience with panacur?! Thank you x

[Chickabee]

I don't. I thought you had to get it prescribed by a vet though?

[Beantree]

Hello Cheeronthechickens. Not a nice thing to happen whilst you are on holiday but good that your friend is very observant. Sounds like she is fighting an internal infection with a yellow/ green poo. As Chickabee says keeping her hydrated is very important and she needs to be syringed about 50mL of water a day, which is a lot and your friend will need help. It must go well down the throat to miss the airways. Now what her problem is exactly is just guessing, but a swollen, hard and overly warm abdomen would confirm that there is an abdominal infection. Or if the colour of the skin is red, not pink. Perhaps an urgent trip to the vet immediately is in order, as I am concerned about the pale comb? Presume your friend has all the details.

 

If she has a narrow pelvis she isn't egg bound, she isn't laying at all. Unless you are saying her pelvic bones don't move apart when she is in lay? It may be peritonitis but that's a wild guess at this point? Is she a hybrid?

 

I don't think it is worms. If she was that badly burdened with worms she is unlikely to survive the wormer as they give off toxins when they die. Presume you have wormed her with Flubenvet in the last 6 months?

[gavclojak]

I have heard of panacur for chickens, and i have seen it for sale in pet shops, I have brought it from amazon for my dogs before even though I thought it was POM

 

It doesn't sound like worms to me unless she had a really heavy load, the green poo and pale comb doesn't sound to good either, possibly Coccidiosis? I am by no means an expert but she does sound pretty poorly:((

[Chickabee]

I had one with cocci. She had blood in her poo though, so fingers crossed it's not that

[jimnpaula]

Don't know if it's any help but link to the poo thread.

[Cheeronthechickens]

Lady Sybil died last night:((((( she wouldn't open her mouth to accept treatment and kept on falling asleep in our arms. While we were carrying her to her eglu she violently discharged an extremely smelly watery liquid from her mouth. We learnt now that she had sour crop. She was a beautiful hen with a great character and will be missed greatly xx

[gavclojak]

Oh bless her, am so sorry

[Chickabee]

Oh that's sad. I'm sorry for your loss

[Beantree]

Very sorry to hear that Cheeronthechickens. We had two with similar stinky crop contents 6 months ago when we moved. The had impacted gizzards due to gorging on fresh long grass. Their previous run was bare earth.

[Luvachicken]

That's very sad.

I'm sorry you lost her xx