Help! sick chickens

[CathrynK]

I have one chicken with what I believe is sour crop and pendulum crop. I have been trying to help her for quite some time now. I have tried medicated water, little to no food, "burping her", yogurt, etc. Nothing seems to be working. She has not laid in a long time (possibly months). I have another chicken who, starting today, is shaking like she is cold. I have put a heat lamp over her, but she is still shaking. She has not laid that I know of. I have both these chickens in the house, but I am worried about that as I have 2 baby chickens in the house also. (They are not near each other) and I have eggs in the incubator.

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to seek some veterinary help since you are not getting any results. Crop impaction or sour crop can kill them if not treated. a pendulous crop can happen with chickens who overeat often, stretching the crop out to where it may not function or empty properly. Some use crop bras to hold it in. Here are some articles to read:
http://www.hensaver.com/Crop-Bra.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

 

[chickens really]

I have one chicken with what I believe is sour crop and pendulum crop. I have been trying to help her for quite some time now. I have tried medicated water, little to no food, "burping her", yogurt, etc. Nothing seems to be working. She has not laid in a long time (possibly months). I have another chicken who, starting today, is shaking like she is cold. I have put a heat lamp over her, but she is still shaking. She has not laid that I know of. I have both these chickens in the house, but I am worried about that as I have 2 baby chickens in the house also. (They are not near each other) and I have eggs in the incubator.

You have two sick Birds........


Water is the most important thing they need..........What have they been fed until this happened.....Everything given before this started..........How long have you had these birds?

Explain a day in the life of the Birds.....




Cheers!

 

[CathrynK]

My one chicken that was shaking had sour crop from what I figure. I kept her in the night and she seemed better the next day so I went to put her out and she brought up some 'really bad-smelling' liquid. So I burped her and kept her in the house one more day/night. She's been fine ever since. Buttters on the other hand ...
Butters. Where do I start. She has had this problem for months. For quite some time I figured it was just sour crop. I could burp her ever couple days and it would just come back. I let her go for awhile because I wasn't getting anywhere. Then I would try again. They free range in my backyard and they get (usually) layer pellets. For a while, I would give them treats at night that was usually torn up tortilla or bread. I stopped that about a month ago thinking that maybe that was the problem. They get mealworms now for a treat. Butters does not usually get the treats because she has been in the house for so long. Her crop is now quite hard and she isn't bringing anything up. I have not been trying to burp her as I don't feel that this is good,if she doesn't need it. I have even tried wormer on all my chickens, thinking that maybe that is the problem. I'm stumped and throwing a lot of eggs away.

 

[CathrynK]

Btw. The bird that is fine now is over a year old. I have had her since she was a chick. Butters was a hatch here the middle of February 2016.

 

[chickens really]

My one chicken that was shaking had sour crop from what I figure. I kept her in the night and she seemed better the next day so I went to put her out and she brought up some 'really bad-smelling' liquid. So I burped her and kept her in the house one more day/night. She's been fine ever since. Buttters on the other hand ...
Butters. Where do I start. She has had this problem for months. For quite some time I figured it was just sour crop. I could burp her ever couple days and it would just come back. I let her go for awhile because I wasn't getting anywhere. Then I would try again. They free range in my backyard and they get (usually) layer pellets. For a while, I would give them treats at night that was usually torn up tortilla or bread. I stopped that about a month ago thinking that maybe that was the problem. They get mealworms now for a treat. Butters does not usually get the treats because she has been in the house for so long. Her crop is now quite hard and she isn't bringing anything up. I have not been trying to burp her as I don't feel that this is good,if she doesn't need it. I have even tried wormer on all my chickens, thinking that maybe that is the problem. I'm stumped and throwing a lot of eggs away.

Try this person....@TwoCrows

She can help........Best of luck


Cheers!

 

[TwoCrows]

My one chicken that was shaking had sour crop from what I figure. I kept her in the night and she seemed better the next day so I went to put her out and she brought up some 'really bad-smelling' liquid. So I burped her and kept her in the house one more day/night. She's been fine ever since. Buttters on the other hand ...
Butters. Where do I start. She has had this problem for months. For quite some time I figured it was just sour crop. I could burp her ever couple days and it would just come back. I let her go for awhile because I wasn't getting anywhere. Then I would try again. They free range in my backyard and they get (usually) layer pellets. For a while, I would give them treats at night that was usually torn up tortilla or bread. I stopped that about a month ago thinking that maybe that was the problem. They get mealworms now for a treat. Butters does not usually get the treats because she has been in the house for so long. Her crop is now quite hard and she isn't bringing anything up. I have not been trying to burp her as I don't feel that this is good,if she doesn't need it. I have even tried wormer on all my chickens, thinking that maybe that is the problem. I'm stumped and throwing a lot of eggs away.

Slow and sour crops can happen for so many reasons from worms, coccidiosis, enteritis, grass impactions, yeast infections in the crop and further on down the line, some sort of internal swelling that is clamping off the exit of waste, egg binding, internal laying, ascites, etc....SO many things can cause a crop to become slow.

Sounds like Butters, the one with the hard crop may have a roaring yeast infection now? I am presently dealing with a case like this and with my gal, I believe she is internally laying or has some sort of liver disease. Anyway, about your hen...is the crop doughy?...as in you can almost knead it like bread and it stays there? If so, you need to get her on Acidified Copper Sulfate. Yeast infections this bad and especially as long as your bird has had this, will only respond to Acidified Copper Sulfate, IF it's that simple. I just cleared my gal out with it, however she is still sick with something, but at least I got the doughy yeast out of her system. 1/4 teaspoon of the Copper Sulfate to a gallon of water. You use this mix for a few days. This stuff if used correctly is a wonderful anti fungal and kills off e.coli, some canker and even some species of Coccidiosis in the system. Use for 5 or 6 days, 7 days is max on it.

Take a look at this article I wrote on crops and what ails them and maybe you can figure out what is going on with your hen...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

Definitely keep them warm at 75 or so degrees Fahrenheit. Soft foods only like warm mushy corn grits (the plain stuff...no salts, flavorings or anything) chopped apples are wonderful for yeast infections, scrambled eggs, even cooked mashed potatoes...just easy things to digest. No hard seeds, grass or anything that the gizzard needs to work on.

And if you can get this cleared up, I would get them wormed with Safeguard or Valbazen (not sure what you used but you want to use a broad spectrum wormer) and maybe even some Corid run through them just in case this is from a Coccidiosis outbreak.

 

[High Prairie]

@TwoCrows

I've read your crop post numerous times the past two days. I have a hen who is approximately 1 year old. She's a consistent layer--5 to 6 eggs a week. I noticed she seemed off two days ago. She was in the nest box when I let them out for the morning, and I saw her lay an egg. It was normal size and color but had a thin shell. That's not normal for her. When she jumped down from the nest box, I saw that she was looking lethargic. She had no interest in food but drank a lot. I thought she was just cold and went about my day. Then yesterday I noticed she was even more withdrawn ... stayed on the perch huddled up with eyes closed. I brought her in and offered food--crumble and scrambled egg--as well as water. Again, she drank a lot but would not eat. That's when I noticed her large water balloon crop. You can hear water sloshing around in it if you manipulate it. I don't notice any foul odor around her beak. I regularly massage her crop and have chosen to not attempt to vomit her. She's had two doses of monistat and will get another tonight until the full course is done. She's pooped three times since I started observing her yesterday, and it's been an equal mixture of dark brown and white and a loose consistency. Today I noticed just the tiniest specks of blood so I'm also dosing her with Corid in case it's cocci. Additionally, I've given her one dose of dulcolax as well as a syringe of Epsom salts in case she is impacted. I was giving them all sunflower seeds--in shell--as cold-weather treats and saw where someone's birds got impacted from that. I feel like I'm just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks and hope I'm not hurting her by overdoing it. The vet is not an option so we're going it alone.My fiancé is willing to euthanize her if it comes to that. She looks miserable today--droopy wings and a little unsteady on her feet--but we're not quite ready to give up on her. Do you have advice on when we might see results if any of these treatments are going to work. I really hate to lose her.

 

[TwoCrows]

@TwoCrows

I've read your crop post numerous times the past two days. I have a hen who is approximately 1 year old. She's a consistent layer--5 to 6 eggs a week. I noticed she seemed off two days ago. She was in the nest box when I let them out for the morning, and I saw her lay an egg. It was normal size and color but had a thin shell. That's not normal for her. When she jumped down from the nest box, I saw that she was looking lethargic. She had no interest in food but drank a lot. I thought she was just cold and went about my day. Then yesterday I noticed she was even more withdrawn ... stayed on the perch huddled up with eyes closed. I brought her in and offered food--crumble and scrambled egg--as well as water. Again, she drank a lot but would not eat. That's when I noticed her large water balloon crop. You can hear water sloshing around in it if you manipulate it. I don't notice any foul odor around her beak. I regularly massage her crop and have chosen to not attempt to vomit her. She's had two doses of monistat and will get another tonight until the full course is done. She's pooped three times since I started observing her yesterday, and it's been an equal mixture of dark brown and white and a loose consistency. Today I noticed just the tiniest specks of blood so I'm also dosing her with Corid in case it's cocci. Additionally, I've given her one dose of dulcolax as well as a syringe of Epsom salts in case she is impacted. I was giving them all sunflower seeds--in shell--as cold-weather treats and saw where someone's birds got impacted from that. I feel like I'm just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks and hope I'm not hurting her by overdoing it. The vet is not an option so we're going it alone.My fiancé is willing to euthanize her if it comes to that. She looks miserable today--droopy wings and a little unsteady on her feet--but we're not quite ready to give up on her. Do you have advice on when we might see results if any of these treatments are going to work. I really hate to lose her.

Sounds like you are doing all you can right now. I always throw as much as I can at things like this, especially if I know their ability to stay alive could take a turn for the worse. And I will worm, use antifungals, dulculax and anything else I think will work. Sometimes the bird can't wait for each treatment to run it's course.

The only other thing...have you checked her for egg binding? Some odd shaped egg could be stuck in her oviduct or even a lash egg. (sometimes these come from infections and other times they are yolks that have built up in the uterus and have cooked there) Put on a latex or some sort of disposable glove and gently go back into the vent. If you can go in 2 inches and don't feel anything, then nothing is causing trouble.

But keep at it with all these things. I am dealing with a hen right now that had a doughy crop SO bad I had to turn to the Acidified Copper Sulfate and FINALLY it all moved through her. She is still not well and I am not sure exactly why she is sick, but at least her yeast infection is under control and she is not wearing a doughy tennis ball around her chest.

These yeast infections can take a week or even 2 weeks to clear, so treat the things you can until you can possibly figure what is exactly causing the issue.

Great Job!

 

[High Prairie]

@cathrynk

I jumped into your post because I think we're both dealing with sour or slow crops and I want to folllow to read suggestions. I started a thread yesterday, but the only replies I got were from me.

I hope everything works out with your birds!