Impacted Crop Diaries

Chicken is still alive, and it seems her crop has emptied enough for me to feel the actual impaction. She also has a bit of spunk this morning and wouldn't let me dip her beak in the water so easily. If she continues that I will have to go back to the dropper, but I think she was just being a shot. Occasionally I drop a kit of something minced into a pulp into the water to get her interested in catching it and therefore get her to drink a little on her own, I did it this morning and she immediately tried so I think she is a bit more alert than before. The amount in the water is so incredibly small that I'm not worried about it hurting her, just trying to get her to drink on her own.

Yea, that's good progress.
 
Update on Chicken:
This morning she was refusing water, all through the day I've had to give her droppers full of it to keep her hydrated, but she is also moving and twitching her head and neck around a lot today, and actually making a bit of noise sometimes, which she hadn't been doing since we brought her inside... I think she's trying to clear the impaction with all this twitching..
She also poops a lot. And considering I have not given her anything to eat since bringing her inside I figure this is good news. There was a little spec of red in some of it, which I think was blood, but wasn't enough for me to worry about her. her poop seems more firm than a normal chickens, but not incredibly so.
With all the twitching she is doing right next to me right now I really hope she is passing this thing, or at least changing it enough to pass it soon.
 
I don't know. I'm not sure what the leg issue is. Could be she's just weak. Could be Mereks or she could have sprained it. Let's focus on getting the crop cleared and get her eating and see if the leg thing doesn't just resolve itself w/ some time.
Need some advice this morning.
I checked on Chicken this morning and her crop is empty... however she is looking really bad. She is extending her neck and breathing deeply. she looks like she is in pain, I don't have any baby asprin, or any asprin at all as I don't usually use it for myself or my family. We have given her tiny amounts of water (as she wont handle more than that) through the dropper, and I gave her some wet food scooping tiny bits into her mouth, and she swallowed a little, but she looks so bad and I don't want to over do it...
I feel like we did good to get to this point, but now I feel even more sure she may die.
 
Need some advice this morning.
I checked on Chicken this morning and her crop is empty... however she is looking really bad. She is extending her neck and breathing deeply. she looks like she is in pain, I don't have any baby asprin, or any asprin at all as I don't usually use it for myself or my family. We have given her tiny amounts of water (as she wont handle more than that) through the dropper, and I gave her some wet food scooping tiny bits into her mouth, and she swallowed a little, but she looks so bad and I don't want to over do it...
I feel like we did good to get to this point, but now I feel even more sure she may die.

Gosh, that's a tough one. That's awesome that the crop is empty. She's got to be hungry, the poor thing.

I would let her try and eat some really wet mash on her own. She may have gotten water in her lungs w/ the dropper and that's causing the heavy breathing. If she's still alive, then that's a good sign. But let's see if she'll eat/drink on her own. Raise up the food and water onto something so she doesn't have to bend over to drink/eat.
 
Gosh, that's a tough one. That's awesome that the crop is empty. She's got to be hungry, the poor thing.

I would let her try and eat some really wet mash on her own. She may have gotten water in her lungs w/ the dropper and that's causing the heavy breathing. If she's still alive, then that's a good sign. But let's see if she'll eat/drink on her own. Raise up the food and water onto something so she doesn't have to bend over to drink/eat.
Chicken is looking worse and worse... she hasn't eaten anything all day except a few bites that I set in her mouth, most of which she shook her head to get rid of, but a few she swallowed...I doubt she will make it through the night... which will be difficult to explain to my oldest son who has a very soft spot for animals.
If the water I've given to her got into her lungs it would have been so little, but that is a possibility. She wheezes now when I try to give her any water which makes me think that she isn't even trying to avoid it going the wrong way.
Her whole body moves with each breath she takes now.Also in my effort to check her crop again she seems to be filling it with air, and if I press on it she burps (if that's what you can call it.)
I almost wish she would just die, I feel like she is in so much pain, and I can't do anything about it at this point.... (not sure I could cull a chicken, and I don't know how either).
 
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Chicken is looking worse and worse... she hasn't eaten anything all day except a few bites that I set in her mouth, most of which she shook her head to get rid of, but a few she swallowed...I doubt she will make it through the night... which will be difficult to explain to my oldest son who has a very soft spot for animals.
If the water I've given to her got into her lungs it would have been so little, but that is a possibility. She wheezes now when I try to give her any water which makes me think that she isn't even trying to avoid it going the wrong way.
Her whole body moves with each breath she takes now.Also in my effort to check her crop again she seems to be filling it with air, and if I press on it she burps (if that's what you can call it.)
I almost wish she would just die, I feel like she is in so much pain, and I can't do anything about it at this point.... (not sure I could cull a chicken, and I don't know how either).

I'm so sorry. It's sooooo rough. I could never cull one of my hens. I have a vet who will do it for $15 which is the best $15 I can spend sometimes. Not sure if you have access to a vet but worth checking out. Course, tomorrow is Sunday and it's not sounding good for your little hen. Keep her warm and keep her safe. Sometimes, that's the best you can do at this point.
 
I'm so sorry.  It's sooooo rough.  I could never cull one of my hens.  I have a vet who will do it for $15 which is the best $15 I can spend sometimes.  Not sure if you have access to a vet but worth checking out.  Course, tomorrow is Sunday and it's not sounding good for your little hen.  Keep her warm and keep her safe.  Sometimes, that's the best you can do at this point.

Chicken passed away Saturday at about 8pm. I'm thankful her suffering is over. Though I wish things could be different I was raised with animals and livestock and they do sometimes die so I'm not taking it too hard. My oldest son even handled it better than I thought he would. He is seven almost eight and just loves all animals, he is also the primary person to collect eggs and feed and water my girls since I had the baby two months ago. I'm also thankful for his keen eye that saw something was wrong with chicken to begin with.
 
Chicken passed away Saturday at about 8pm. I'm thankful her suffering is over. Though I wish things could be different I was raised with animals and livestock and they do sometimes die so I'm not taking it too hard. My oldest son even handled it better than I thought he would. He is seven almost eight and just loves all animals, he is also the primary person to collect eggs and feed and water my girls since I had the baby two months ago. I'm also thankful for his keen eye that saw something was wrong with chicken to begin with.
Oh, I'm so very sorry. She's in a better place now. I wish I could be there to give you a big hug. I totally feel for what you are going through. We do everything we can for out little feathered friends but sometimes they just were not meant to be with us that long. I'm also glad your son is doing okay. I had chickens when I was 8 years old and losing them was so rough at that age. Especially, those that were considered mine and would come when I called them.

Have a peaceful holiday season.
 

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