Clara Schumann not eating

[Phospho]

Clara (~4 years old, Rhode Island Red) has the following symptoms:

• Started declining a couple days ago. Not visibly in pain or uncomfortable, just... slowing down. Today she wouldn't leave the coop and has a very pale comb.
• Has a history with calcium deficiency and eggbinding (see basically all my past posts lol). This is very different though; she doesn't look puffed up, her comb is pale instead of dark, and she doesn't have the hard abdomen that has come with her past issues.
• Crop feels like a pit in her chest--completely empty. At first I thought it was impacted crop but then I realized I was just feeling her spine.
• Interested in little bits of food (flakes of oatmeal, toast crumbs), but won't eat a large amount of food (yet; I've only been observing her for like 10 minutes). I offered her oatmeal with an egg cracked in it; a healthy bird would have eaten it before I could say "here you go," but she just looked at it and left it alone.

My treatment so far:

• Kennel in a dim room, replaced the overhead lighting with red lights
• A little bit of olive oil through a syringe (administered during the 5 minutes I thought she had impacted crop)
• The following available in her kennel: water; normal food; oatmeal with egg; oatmeal with ground up eggshell, white vinegar, and cinnamon (my catch-all medicine brew, particularly designed for eggbinding issues but never a bad thing)

Other information:

• No other birds are exhibiting symptoms.
• I haven't been watching her long enough to know if she's pooping.
• I will not be able to take her to a vet. Probably.

Any thoughts or advice are appreciated!

 

[TillyPeeps]

Check for mite/lice. How does her poo look like? When did you deworm your chickens last time?

 

[Phospho]

Check for mite/lice. How does her poo look like? When did you deworm your chickens last time?

Poo is normal. No mites or lice. I have never dewormed my birds; is that something that should be done regularly? And how?

Do I need to know they have worms in order to deworm them? I once considered checking for parasites using this fecal exam guide, but I ended up not because it seemed like a lot of work. I still could, though, if necessary.

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your climate like right now? Location? When having a sick bird, it can be a good thing to rule out a lot of different possibilities. Worming with Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer can help if that is a problem. Worm eggs cannot be seen without a microscope. Has she lost weight when you pick her up and has she laid eggs recently? Is her lower belly between the legs enlarged, tight or firm? Oatmeal is not as good for her as her regular balanced chicken feed with some water added. Cooked egg is also good. Pictures of poop are good.

 

[TillyPeeps]

Poo is normal. No mites or lice. I have never dewormed my birds; is that something that should be done regularly? And how?

Do I need to know they have worms in order to deworm them? I once considered checking for parasites using this fecal exam guide, but I ended up not because it seemed like a lot of work. I still could, though, if necessary.

It's really hard to say what's the problem, since so many things can cause the symptoms. The most common reasons include coccidiosis, worm, infection, tumor, food poison, etc. Since she is an older hen with no environmental change, chance of her getting coccidiosis is low. Worm is the most easy and safe thing to be treated. This article has great details: https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/how-to-deworm-chickens/

Since she had reproduction issues before, infection is possible. But you should notice abnormal poo, difficult to breath, or water belly, etc. if it's a kind of infection. I usually don't use antibiotics unless necessary.

 

[Phospho]

What is your climate like right now? Location? When having a sick bird, it can be a good thing to rule out a lot of different possibilities. Worming with Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer can help if that is a problem. Worm eggs cannot be seen without a microscope. Has she lost weight when you pick her up and has she laid eggs recently? Is her lower belly between the legs enlarged, tight or firm? Oatmeal is not as good for her as her regular balanced chicken feed with some water added. Cooked egg is also good. Pictures of poop are good.

• Climate and location: Northern Minnesota. It's about room temperature outside most days, although it's starting to get down into the 50s at night.
• Float test: I do have a microscope. Would it be better to do a float test first and then order a dewormer, or just to order the dewormer to save time? I don't know how long she'll last; she hasn't touched her food.
• Weight: She has lost weight.
• Eggs: I have not seen if she's layed eggs, but it's distinctly possible that she hasn't: I have 6 birds and usually get about 3 eggs/day.
• Belly: normal
• Poop:

 

[Phospho]

It's really hard to say what's the problem, since so many things can cause the symptoms. The most common reasons include coccidiosis, worm, infection, tumor, food poison, etc. Since she is an older hen with no environmental change, chance of her getting coccidiosis is low. Worm is the most easy and safe thing to be treated. This article has great details: https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/how-to-deworm-chickens/

Since she had reproduction issues before, infection is possible. But you should notice abnormal poo, difficult to breath, or water belly, etc. if it's a kind of infection. I usually don't use antibiotics unless necessary.

Thank you, that article was really helpful. At this point, it seems like my best bet is to just get some Safe-Guard and treat everybody. Is that a logical next step?

 

[TillyPeeps]

Thank you, that article was really helpful. At this point, it seems like my best bet is to just get some Safe-Guard and treat everybody. Is that a logical next step?

Yeah, I would say it's a good choice for the next step. If you want to get some antibiotics just in case, I find Baytril works best for me. You can order it for pigeon without prescription.

 

[Eggcessive]

The pictures of droppings is not very clear, so hard to look for any possible worms. A fecal float would be good if you are used to doing them. But most of us just use Valbazen 1/2 ml orally (repeat in 10 days) or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound orally for 5 consecutive days. Those dosages treat most all chicken worms except for tapeworms, which are more rare and there are better treatments. Antibiotics can make sour crop worse. Hers doesn’t sound sour yet, but if it develops, most would use an antifungal along with an antibiotic. The antifungal (Monistat cream or suppositories given orally, or Nystatin, Medistatin powder in water, fluconazole) can be given alone with sour crop treatment. There is a lot of info in azygous article about crop disorders:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Phospho]

Just ordered SafeGuard. Should I force-feed her until it gets here, or would that just hurt her?