Help! My Ash isn't doing well!

[NubbyRyuu]

While I solved the one problem with my baby Pepper and her slipped tendon, I'm faced with another. My 6mo silkie roo, Ash, has been fighting something for a while that I thought I knew what it was. For two nights, I noticed he'd be the only one with an empty crop before bed, so I'd have to take him in, and he ate on his own filling his crop. But now it seems like he's deteriorated. He hardly touches the feed wet or dry, still drinks fine, has green/white droppings, seems lethargic, is now pale instead of having a beautiful ruby red in his face, lost weight (that I'm trying to keep up). He does still tend to fend off Pumpkin (his brother; has wry neck) when it comes to eating. He ate some scrambled eggs all by himself this morning, but wouldn't touch the wet cat food, and I force fed him some Kaytee Baby Bird formula so his crop would be full. I've been trying to treat him with Enrotex Broad Spectrum Antibiotic, Thrive Sick Bird Formula, and adding in some Echinacea Goldenseal to help his immune system.

From what I tried googling, it almost sounds like he has some kind of fungal infection that only he has; everyone else is fine, including Pumpkin and Pepper. Why would only one chicken be affected? I mean, it's good news it's only one, but it still boggles my mind. Funnily enough, he will still hold his tail up and have that roo stance.

Any idea what this could be? It's the weekend now, so no vet is open till Monday, and I have no Emergency Vets that see chickens.

 

[Thunder344]

I simply dont have enough experience with diseases in chickens. I hope someone else comes along and helps you.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

@azygous

 

[azygous]

The green poop is mostly bile, meaning there isn't any food for the liver to metabolize. He's starving, Whether he's not eating due to illness or being bullied away from the feeder, it produces similar symptoms - weakness and lethargy, inappetite, and green poop.

Once a chicken becomes weak, they will have a problem getting enough to eat to sustain them. So you need to tube feed to get their strength up enough so they eat on their own. I don't like to tube feed for more than two days as the chicken will forget what it feels like to be hungry and want to eat.

Start by giving sugar water and Poultry Nutri-drench. It's more than just vitamins. It's formulated to be unnecessary to be metabolized by the liver and it therefore works immediately. That should revive him. He may then want to eat. If not, tube feed the baby bird formula.

If he's being bullied away from the feeder, he will need to be fed in sight of the flock but apart so they won't shove him away from his food or eat it before he does. Try setting up a corner of the run with a partition so he can try to eat in peace but still have the comfort of being with the flock.

It won't hurt to keep up with the round of the antibiotic just in case he's fighting an infection. Yeast can single out one chicken if their immune system is low functioning. If his crop is full of liquid in the morning before he eats or drinks, then you'll know he likely has a sour crop, too, which needs to be treated. That can work at cross purposes with the antibiotic since it encourages yeast due to killing off his good intestinal microbes.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

The green poop is mostly bile, meaning there isn't any food for the liver to metabolize. He's starving, Whether he's not eating due to illness or being bullied away from the feeder, it produces similar symptoms - weakness and lethargy, inappetite, and green poop.

Once a chicken becomes weak, they will have a problem getting enough to eat to sustain them. So you need to tube feed to get their strength up enough so they eat on their own. I don't like to tube feed for more than two days as the chicken will forget what it feels like to be hungry and want to eat.

Start by giving sugar water and Poultry Nutri-drench. It's more than just vitamins. It's formulated to be unnecessary to be metabolized by the liver and it therefore works immediately. That should revive him. He may then want to eat. If not, tube feed the baby bird formula.

If he's being bullied away from the feeder, he will need to be fed in sight of the flock but apart so they won't shove him away from his food or eat it before he does. Try setting up a corner of the run with a partition so he can try to eat in peace but still have the comfort of being with the flock.

It won't hurt to keep up with the round of the antibiotic just in case he's fighting an infection. Yeast can single out one chicken if their immune system is low functioning. If his crop is full of liquid in the morning before he eats or drinks, then you'll know he likely has a sour crop, too, which needs to be treated. That can work at cross purposes with the antibiotic since it encourages yeast due to killing off his good intestinal microbes.

It's so weird how he started out "okay" but thin. I know he's not being bullied, otherwise he would've picked up right away. I even have a new feeder on the way 'cause I'm thinking they don't like the other one much.

Okay, I'll get Nutri-Drench now that I know how it works. I dob't tube feed since I don't have a proper apparatus, and I'm afraid of hurting them, but syringe feeding works. I'll have to force feed him again before bed; I tried making him scrambled eggs again but he didn't go for it.

As for sugar water, how much do I mix? I was thinking of getting him yogurt to help replace the good bacteria too. I smelled his breath and there's no smell so sour crop is out (that I've been through before), but I hear what I assume is his stomach growling.

 

[azygous]

A teaspoon of sugar to a cup of water.

Sour crop doesn't smell in the early stages. The only way to be certain is to check his crop in the morning when it should be empty. If it isn't he has a crop issue.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

A teaspoon of sugar to a cup of water.

Sour crop doesn't smell in the early stages. The only way to be certain is to check his crop in the morning when it should be empty. If it isn't he has a crop issue.

Oh it's empty in the morning. My last bouts with sour crop resolved themselves after maybe a few days to a week. Though I have a hen who's crop is never completely empty in the morning, but she's perfectly fine (damn pig of a chicken). She's 4yrs and I've had her since Nov-Dec I think, and that's just how she is; she's also the boss and makes it quite clear even to my top roo XD

I'll have to try the sugar water at some point. I gave Ash a mL of Nutri-Drench straight. No real changes yet, and I syringe fed him. I'm starting to wonder if this weather's gotten to him more than the others? It always seems more unstable as we get into spring.

 

[Myrshine]

Have you checked over his body for lice or mites? Has he been dewormed? Worms can be deadly if not treated.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

Have you checked over his body for lice or mites? Has he been dewormed? Worms can be deadly if not treated.

No lice or mites. None of them have been wormed, but if worms were the case, why is he the only one that's sick? He's finally turning around and eating on his own, and I got him a vet appointment for tomorrow.