4 month old gasping for air! Need Help!!!

[hazen]

Let the little girls out in the garden for their evening free time. Put them up as normal. I heard a bunch of noises coming from their brooder. I went in and saw my sweet EE gasping for air and limp as a dish rag. Her crop was hard as a rock. I gave her several doses of olive oil to help loosen up whatever seems to be choking her. she seems alittle better but she is still gasping for air. Help!!!

 

[hazen]

i moved them to big girls food about a week ago and have seen no issues yet. could this be what shes choking on? please advise soon!

 

[java girl 2]

stike your finger down her mouth to clear her throt sorry,

the keys do not work sometimes

 

[Celtic Chick]

Quote:
How long between retyrning to the brooder & you discovering her?
Do you give her grit?
She shouldn't be on adult food until 20-22 weeks or until they start laying.
It isn't sour crop, but you might consider this:
For sour crop you can give vegetable oil from an eyedropper and massage the crop gently downward. Do this for 4-5 times a day for about 10 days. You can put a small drop of honey into the dropper with warm water as well, it'll help loosen what is in the crop....keep up with the the oil and massage. (This is what I have read, never had that problem personally)
I sure hope she gets better for you.

 

[turtlebird]

Do the ladies have access to grit? Did she fill her crop with fibrous greens/grasses with nothing to grind it up with?
*Sometimes* the chickies seem to do this gape-y thing with their mouths to re-adjust their crops, but you said she was all limp. Sounds like an impacted crop. Can you gently massage the crop to help her pass what ever is lodged in there?
Do a search on impacted crop.
Good luck with your little lady.

 

[flyppr2002]

look up gape worms and check down its thoat for signs of them. good luck!

 

[hazen]

This morning she was back on her feet but still alittle off. i gave her another dropper of oil and massaged her crop. not near as hard as it was last night. i dont give them grit but they do peck around in the garden hour hours at a time. i know they are nibbling up alot of sand and other little things. shes not gasping for air at all this morning. that has to be a good thing. she went from fine and dandy to bad shape in a matter of an hour maybe two at the most last night. i squeezed her crop this morning and it was still full compaired to the other two little ones. when i squeezed it fairly hard she started squirming pretty bad. any more suggestions y'all. ridiculous, im a 34 year old grown man and my chickens got me freaked out. wild. thanks for y'alls help

 

[hazen]

oh and ill pull the big girl feed out and get some more chick starter. they have seemed to handle it very well though. eating and pooping like crazy. i just hope that the big girl food didnt play a role in the situation that we have on our hands now. if "Poop" doesnt make my three year old little chicken wrangler will be very sad. "Poop" is his favorite, and obviously he had the naming rights on her.

 

[turtlebird]

Offer grit, free choice, whenever they are eating things other than crumbles/pellets. This helps their crop to grind up anything fibrous they may be eating (treats from the garden, grasses, dandelions, etc). Glad she is doing better and still hanging in there.

Keep up the crop massages, inform yourself on treatment for impacted crop.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Grit is an essential requirement for chickens, since they have no teeth in which to chew their food. If their food does not get ground up in their crop, they can get impacted or sour crop &/or suffer from malnutrition or any number of other health issues.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-ch … hicks.aspx
Grit
Ever heard the saying "scarce as a hen's teeth"? That's right, chickens don't have them! Instead they eat tiny pebbles and store them in their "gizzard". When the food enters their gizzard, the pebbles grind it up to make digestion easier. For baby chicks, sand, parakeet gravel or canary gravel, available at your local pet store or grocery store pet aisle, will suffice. You can either sprinkle this in their feed or provide it in a small cup or bowl.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/content/kn … ng+poultry
Q. Why do chickens need grit?
A. Birds do not have teeth to break down food for digestion. Food is swallowed whole and goes to the crop to be stored and mixed with saliva. The feed then passes to the stomach where it mixes with digestive juices. From the stomach, the feed then passes into the organ called the gizzard. The gizzard contains small stones, which the bird has eaten to help the gizzard to grind up the food for digestion. Nutrients are then absorbed as the feed passes along the intestine. The chicken must swallow the stones that the gizzard requires to grind up the food. Grit is the term for these tiny stones. Granite and cherry stone are two recommended grits. Limestone and Oyster shell are good for shell production, but are not acceptable substitutions for grit because they are too soft.

Q. When is it necessary to feed oyster shell?
A. When the laying hen’s diet is deficient in Calcium, the hen lays eggs with thin shells, or no shell at all. Selecting a complete layer feed such as DuMor 16% Poultry Layer provides adequate nutrients in the proper proportion and allows the hen to produce eggs with good shells. If thin shells become a problem, a supplemental supply of calcium should be provided. Oyster shell is the most widely used form of supplemental calcium. When oyster shell is to be fed, it is recommended that 2 lbs. of shell be added to every 100 pounds of complete layer ration.
Also on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizzard

Chicks, because they’re babies, need different kinds of food from adult birds. Commercial feed companies formulate chick starter feed with more of the protein that these babies need — 16 to 22 percent. Never give chicks adult feed. The minerals in it, especially calcium, which is important for laying hens, can severely damage a chick’s kidneys.