What's wrong with my butt? It is a Staph infection!

[Miss Lydia]

Chickens are amazing aren't they. Hope you can figure this out and get her fixed up. I hope to get some Silkies in the Spring...

 

[ultasol]

Yogurt=lactose. Birds are not milk drinkers, they do not have the enzymes needed to digest lactose from what I have been told. I would stick to probios, but unless she has a poopy butt I wouldn't worry too much about it. I wouldn't put fungus cream on, I would keep her clean and dry and watch her for any other signs of a change in health (weight loss, poor feathering, listlessness, etc). If it's not related to lice or mites or skin irritation then it is something I haven't dealt with before. It is not related to the tape or from the loss of a few feathers, I am fairly certain. I trim and pluck silkies bottoms all the time to facilitate breeding and aid in fertility. In fact, all adult silkies are currently trimmed or plucked (depending on when they might show next).

I will hope Gaga is a pullet, but if she's a boy she'll be a nice black showgirl cockerel for you! I know you are working towards more showgirls, and either way he/she will be a good addition. I will check out the other thread for more recent pictures.

BTW the tape was not duct tape. I had tried to tape some lavender eggs to the inside of the box as a bonus. Needless to say it didn't go as planned. Lesson learned.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

It is etiher yeast or fungus! Not something I have seen before. I will check her again as soon as the sun come up. Yesterday afternoon I did see some improvement. I wanted to give good bacteria to help incase it is some sort of yeast. ProBios on eggs it will be. I do not think it is vent gleet as there is no odor and no puss just the crusty gook on the feather shafts around the vent. Either way I will get my girl better.
Thanks for the help girls
Tisha

 

[tammye]

glad to hear she is improving, maybe just the warm baths will help to remove what ever it is and that will help her resolve the problem, just like when we wash out a wound to remove most of the bacteria, then our immune system fights the rest. good luck

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have never given my chickens milk, except for yogurt and butter milk and keifer, they've never had a problem with those. so hopefully you'll be able to give her a little probiotics and that will help. At least she's eating good and doesn't seemed bothered by it so hopefully thats a good sign...

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

I wanted to update this for everyone's information.
I took Bells to see Dr. Hoover today and it is a staph infection. He perscribed her SMZ/TMP 1/2 ml for 10 days 2 times a day. He also gave her a spray called GenOne to be applied 2 times a day till she has not shown symptoms for 2 days. He expects her to make a full recovery. Yay. I am just glad she is ok.

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
My girls love milk and have never had any problems. But they do get mostly fresh raw cows milk. They love the left over whey from making cheese. I didn't know I wasn't suppossed to give them milk. oops.

 

[Miss Lydia]

SSS so happy to hear you finally found out what was going on with your girl.. and to hear she is recovering.. thats great.

I read that chickens are lactose intolerant. but maybe raw is better, and my chickens & dogs love the whey from the kefir I make. very good for them.

 

[ultasol]

So odd! Staph is something you usually see in bumblefoot. Did he do a culture? Just curious. I hope this takes care of it. You would think that either she would be able to fight it off completely over time, or it would get much worse causing health problems. She's still acting healthy and eating well, right?

So strange! I've never seen it before.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Jen I am not sure! Dr. Hoover put it under the microscope and he did collect some of the flaky stuff around the feather shafts. He said she could have gotten it from stress. I am just glad I found out what it was because I had never seen anything like it. She never acted like it bothered her at all. I just wanted her better and I am glad I took her in. Maybe I can get her in condition to show. She is the sweetest girl. I will try and get you pics this weekend of all of them. We had some pretty bad storms here last night.
Hope you are well!