Is this coccidiosis? Please help?? What's wrong with this girl?

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

Still trying to diagnose what's wrong with our astrolorp. After about 2 weeks she still acts exhausted ... or in pain? She's eating ... kinda. Drinking ... kinda. But not chasing around with the others. Even mealworms are just sorta interesting, but not too much.

We've added vitamins and electrolytes to her water and she does come out of the coop with the others. But she's still sleeping in the nest box and barely walking around. She has white-ish poo stuck on her backside again (I've cleaned it off once about a week ago, but it's building back up again.)

I don't know if I should be concerned about the rest of the flock? They're all in their 3rd summer ... and almost NO eggs either. What's going on?

What should we do? Help help?

 

[Judy]

It doesn't sound like cocci to me. What I've read is, hens with cocci will eat or drink little if at all. They sit hunched down and fluffed up as if cold.

I'd be concerned it was internal laying -- but I'm wondering if it could be vent gleet? The treatment I found in't expensive or particularly bad if the chicken has another problem.

I hope you get this sorted out, and whsh I could help more.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/a-couple-chicken-problems-and-how-to-fix-them

 

[Fancychooklady]

Could be gleet. Use the search at top of page, there are some very good photos.

 

[ten chicks]

Still trying to diagnose what's wrong with our astrolorp. After about 2 weeks she still acts exhausted ... or in pain? She's eating ... kinda. Drinking ... kinda. But not chasing around with the others. Even mealworms are just sorta interesting, but not too much.

We've added vitamins and electrolytes to her water and she does come out of the coop with the others. But she's still sleeping in the nest box and barely walking around. She has white-ish poo stuck on her backside again (I've cleaned it off once about a week ago, but it's building back up again.)

I don't know if I should be concerned about the rest of the flock? They're all in their 3rd summer ... and almost NO eggs either. What's going on?

What should we do? Help help?

I agree with previous posts,sounds like vent gleet. As for lack of eggs,are your girls 3 or older? There is a decrease in eggs as hens get older,this is normal. They still lay,just produce fewer eggs.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could she be broody? Is she in the nest box at night when everyone else is on the roost? If you can get a picture of her vent through the poo it might be helpful. The pictures I have seen of vent gleet show a very reddened bald area sometimes with white or yellow patches that aren't poo. Yogurt is a good treatment, and some people recommend the use of mycostatin or monistat. I have some chickens that just have poopy buts--that is normal for them, and nothing else wrong.

 

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

Vent gleet. I hadn't heard about this one. I looked at the helpful link (thanks so much flockwatcher!!) ... What a great article. But it doesn't quite describe what's going on I don't think. She definitely has the reddened bald vent, but I don't see any signs of white or yellow patches on it. And her tail is up. I don't think she's broody, as she's sleeping in the box and going to bed really early and getting up late, but during the rest of the day she seems to be out with the rest. Although she's typically off by herself in the corner unless I make oatmeal (which she loves).

Here's what I was thinking of doing .... does this make any sense?

The girls were born in April 2011, so are all in their third summer. I did expect a slow-down ... but we get maybe an egg a day out of six girls. That seems really low. So I'm wondering if maybe we shouldn't worm them all and see what that does?

Their coop has a sand base, which is raked every day and kept as clean as possible. But it hasn't been changed out since we first built the coop in July/August of 2011. So I thought maybe we should clean out all of the sand and replace it, do a bleach/water solution wipe down of all surfaces in the coop, change out the straw in the nesting boxes (which we do every three months or so typically), and then worm the girls and start putting apple cider vinegar in the water? And adding yogurt back into their diets?

I'm concerned a bit that if one of the girls has this issue, maybe it's just lying in wait in the others. And we have seven pullets that are now about four months old that definitely need to be out of their temporary pen and baby coop and in with the big girls. But I'm nervous about combining everyone until we know what's going on with our Astrolorp ....

Oh and I should say ... this all seemed to start a couple months ago when I switched the girls from Purina Omega3 Layena pellets to Scratch & Grain organic feed. Laying came to a huge stall. And then we lost one girl to what was probably being egg bound (but I didn't figure it out). So after one bag of the organic stuff, I went back to Layena. And now this girl is looking really sad.

Thank you all for your ideas so far. This chicken-raising is complicated!

 

[Eggcessive]

How much protein was in the organic scratch and grain? Just the name sounds like scratch which is 8%, and laying hens need closer to 16% at least. Your idea of using yogurt and ACV is good--Bragg's or other brands of unfiltered are good. You really don't have to bleach out the coop and run, but it wouldn't hurt to clean. Look up some pictures on BYC in the search above for vent gleet pictures--it's just a yeast infection.

 

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

How much protein was in the organic scratch and grain? Just the name sounds like scratch which is 8%, and laying hens need closer to 16% at least. Your idea of using yogurt and ACV is good--Bragg's or other brands of unfiltered are good. You really don't have to bleach out the coop and run, but it wouldn't hurt to clean. Look up some pictures on BYC in the search above for vent gleet pictures--it's just a yeast infection.

Hmmm, I don't have the bag for the scratch and grain, which is a local brand sold by our feed store. We DO buy scratch from the same company, but this bag said it was feed. Now I'm not sure though.

I did look for pictures for the vent gleet, but she doesn't really have a yellow-ish sticky runny goo on her butt ... it's more white and pasty looking? I'll try to get a picture when I get back in from work late this afternoon and post it.

Do you think worming will hurt them?

 

[ten chicks]

Vent gleet. I hadn't heard about this one. I looked at the helpful link (thanks so much flockwatcher!!) ... What a great article. But it doesn't quite describe what's going on I don't think. She definitely has the reddened bald vent, but I don't see any signs of white or yellow patches on it. And her tail is up. I don't think she's broody, as she's sleeping in the box and going to bed really early and getting up late, but during the rest of the day she seems to be out with the rest. Although she's typically off by herself in the corner unless I make oatmeal (which she loves).

Here's what I was thinking of doing .... does this make any sense?

The girls were born in April 2011, so are all in their third summer. I did expect a slow-down ... but we get maybe an egg a day out of six girls. That seems really low. So I'm wondering if maybe we shouldn't worm them all and see what that does?

Their coop has a sand base, which is raked every day and kept as clean as possible. But it hasn't been changed out since we first built the coop in July/August of 2011. So I thought maybe we should clean out all of the sand and replace it, do a bleach/water solution wipe down of all surfaces in the coop, change out the straw in the nesting boxes (which we do every three months or so typically), and then worm the girls and start putting apple cider vinegar in the water? And adding yogurt back into their diets?

I'm concerned a bit that if one of the girls has this issue, maybe it's just lying in wait in the others. And we have seven pullets that are now about four months old that definitely need to be out of their temporary pen and baby coop and in with the big girls. But I'm nervous about combining everyone until we know what's going on with our Astrolorp ....

Oh and I should say ... this all seemed to start a couple months ago when I switched the girls from Purina Omega3 Layena pellets to Scratch & Grain organic feed. Laying came to a huge stall. And then we lost one girl to what was probably being egg bound (but I didn't figure it out). So after one bag of the organic stuff, I went back to Layena. And now this girl is looking really sad.

Thank you all for your ideas so far. This chicken-raising is complicated!

If vent gleet isn't the problem,then i would look again for mites/lice,given the fact that her vent area is red and missing feathers, something is going on. Look at base of tail feathers,under wings,around vent. Mites look like black pepper,lice are light in color.

 

[casportpony]

Have you wormed her? Dust her with poultry dust for mites/lice even if you cannot see any.

-Kathy