Chicken bald back

[pkirk25]

Hi all,

 

I had 5 hens and sadly, they are getting sick and having to put them down. Last November I had to put down a hen with vent gleet that was very sick. In April, a second one went the same way. Now I have another with same issue and woudl appreciate advice.

 

The hen is 2 years old. She lays eggs every day though sometimes she lays one with no shell. For a week now she has had dried poop around her vent, is very tired all the time and her comb is turning black. She drinks more water than the others and she seems to still eat.

 

Here is a photo of the vent area: https://www.dropbox.com/s/11b02001ttpkhz1/Sick%20hen%20May%2022-1.jpg?dl=0

 

Here is the pale watery poop: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ffepu12kddhjivv/Sick%20hen%20May%2022-2.jpg?dl=0

 

Here is the blackened area of the comb: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lcp9vjz6r7puawm/Sick%20hen%20May%2022-3.jpg?dl=0

 

Is there a disease that would cause this? I spoke to a vet but he said a call out woudl be well over £100 and possible he would just advise me to put the hen down as pullets are cheap compared to vet fees.

[Cat tails]

Sorry no answer from me, but I made the links clickable.

 

Hi all,

 

I had 5 hens and sadly, they are getting sick and having to put them down. Last November I had to put down a hen with vent gleet that was very sick. In April, a second one went the same way. Now I have another with same issue and woudl appreciate advice.

 

The hen is 2 years old. She lays eggs every day though sometimes she lays one with no shell. For a week now she has had dried poop around her vent, is very tired all the time and her comb is turning black. She drinks more water than the others and she seems to still eat.

 

Here is a photo of the vent area: https://www.dropbox.com/s/11b02001ttpkhz1/Sick%20hen%20May%2022-1.jpg?dl=0

 

Here is the pale watery poop: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ffepu12kddhjivv/Sick%20hen%20May%2022-2.jpg?dl=0

 

Here is the blackened area of the comb: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lcp9vjz6r7puawm/Sick%20hen%20May%2022-3.jpg?dl=0

 

Is there a disease that would cause this? I spoke to a vet but he said a call out woudl be well over £100 and possible he would just advise me to put the hen down as pullets are cheap compared to vet fees.

[pkirk25]

Thanks Cat Tails

[The Dogmother]

Hmmm, have you had a diagnosis from a chicken-savvy vet?

 

Just doesn't sound like vent gleet to me, and it's not normally fatal either just like Thrush in humans. Impossible to diagnose online, but I would strongly suggest that you take the sick hen, and a faeces sample to a vet who knows what they are doing with poultry. Do let us know how you get on

[pkirk25]

I took her to Companion Care in Winnersh where the vet said she has coccidiosis.

 

http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/coccidiosis/index.aspx

 

It was a gloomy meeting. The hen is in considerable pain and that is why she is haunched over and not eating. I have medicine to give twice a day for 10 days but with Coccidiosis apparently the chicken doesn't show symptoms until its too late to save them. He advised that she be put down if there are not clear signs of improvement by Saturday.

[The Dogmother]

I did wonder....

 

TBH, I would despatch her soonest - it is rare for a bird with Cocci that advanced to recover and be healthy. She will be in pain as well.

 

You need to look at their environment and why they are all coming down with it. Roughly where are you located? I am happy to help if you are near me.

[pkirk25]

I'm in Reading. The vet said the most likely causes were food that got mouldy and/or contact with wild birds. Reading is in one of the areas where free ranging has been forbidden since November so I suspect that it was a food getting mouldy.

 

The vet also said that its endemic in commercial farms and that they buy food that prevents it to enable chicks to grow. I'm not sure if I am just particularly unlucky or wild birds locally are spreading it when they hop around the cube looking for stray feed pellets.

[The Dogmother]

It is very unusual in mature birds, which is why I asked. They usually get it as chicks, if at all.

 

I would strip back your housing and run, give it a very thorough jetwash and scrub, spray with a disinfectant like Viratec, an sprinkle the run with Ground Sanitising Powder on a weekly basis, between mucking out sessions. Use a litter like Aubiose in the run and housing as it is very dry and will soak up any droppings between weekly cleans..

 

Feed should be stored in clean dry containers, air tight if possible, and used by the date on the sack. Try not to over-fill feeders so that they eat it all in one day, and replenish feed and water every day.

[pkirk25]

Its the weekend and the sick hen is now eating normally, extremely feisty when I give the meds twice a day and clearly pining to get back to her old run.

 

The vet and meds cost £29. I know its more than she is worth but they are pets as well as egg layers so as long as she returns to laying after treatment is done I am fine.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[Hippie Chick]

That's brilliant news! I hope she continues to recover and she's out and about again soon.

 

As far as the money, I'd do the same and spend as much as it takes to make any one of mine better

[Millie-Annie]

Glad she is better and in my opinion £29 is a bargain

[pkirk25]

The vet did warn that it can recur but I had no idea it would be so fast. A few days ago, I noticed she wasn't moving right and all around the vent was getting covered in liquid again. Yesterday she was obviously sick and in pain and I put her down.

 

In my opinion, the 2 weeks I spent giving her antibiotics twice a day while she was separated from the flock were incredibly stressful for the hen. If she had been cured, it might have been worth it but now I think that if I see a hen with this disease, I'll just put her out of pain as soon as its clearly taken a grip.

[The Dogmother]

Sorry to hear that - it's best to despatch really - experience will show you that they don't recover. You'll learn to get an insight into their condition as you gain experience, but sometimes they just ail from 'non-specific-chicken-itis' and there's no obvious cause, even to a vet.