Emergency- Chicken vomiting brown liquid (does not have any odor)

[Jen Tevyaw]

Help! This morning I would my 2 year old hen looking very lethargic. At first I thought she might be egg bound so I gave her an epsom salt bath and checked around her vent. It had a bit of yellow discharge. It did not feel swollen though and I could not feel an egg. As I was lift her out of the water a tiny bit of brown liquid dribbled out of her mouth. I quarantined her with a water dish. When I checked on her 3 1/2 hours later her chest was very swollen. I read up on impacted crop and sour crop. She has eaten quite a bit of long grass in the last few days. I tried massaging her crop for a few seconds and then I picked her up and she vomited a lot of brown (yet somewhat clear) liquid with NO ODOR- not sour smelling at all. Probably at least 1/2 cup. She did not seem well afterwards (had trouble standing and was gurgling). I was worried she had aspirated the liquid. I tried calling vets in my area but none treat chickens (we live in a rural area). I left her with a blanket over her cage for an hour and when I went back she had perked up and seemed more alert. I let her walk around a bit outside for 10-15 mins. She didn't eat anything just pecked a bit at the dirt. When I picked her back up she vomited more of the same odorless brown liquid. I decided to bring her in the house just now for the night, she vomited again when I picked her up and massage her crop.
Any suggestions of what this could be and what else I can do?? The fluid seems to be building up very quickly without her drinking liquid...

 

[Banana01]

Sounds like she is lacking grit in her gizzard and it may be gizzard impaction.
I like this article and recommended treatment.
♧https://www.farmhealthonline.com/US/disease-management/poultry-diseases/crop-impaction/

Although I'm not sure about turning the bird upside down at this point. The food can't pass and this is a very dangerois condition. I've used coconut oil and honey mixtures

Edit: do not turn bird upside down or force vomiting. That is the last resort when her condition is grave

 

[Jen Tevyaw]

Sounds like she is lacking grit in her gizzard and it may be gizzard impaction.
I like this article and recommended treatment.
♧https://www.farmhealthonline.com/US/disease-management/poultry-diseases/crop-impaction/

Although I'm not sure about turning the bird upside down at this point. The food can't pass and this is a very dangerois condition. I've used coconut oil and honey mixtures.

View attachment 2680490

Thanks for this information. Did you give the chicken coconut oil and honey with a syringe or just let the chicken drink it up off a dish?

 

[Aapomp831]

Thanks for this information. Did you give the chicken coconut oil and honey with a syringe or just let the chicken drink it up off a dish?

Please do not follow the above advice... it does sound like an impaction, but it’s in the crop not the gizzard. If you turn your chicken upside down and try to evacuate the contents of the crop, you can aspirate it and it can die. They are numerous articles on crop impaction here on BYC please look for that and don’t follow anything you find on Google or elsewhere

 

[Banana01]

Syringe or eyedropper. Do like a 1mL coconut oil, 1 mL honey, 8 mL water mixture. Keep giving the liquid until it starts dripping back out of her mouth then stop for a while. If you can fill her crop that is all you can hope for.

Yea don't turn her upside down or force vomiting.

 

[Jen Tevyaw]

Syringe or eyedropper. Do like a 1mL coconut oil, 1 mL honey, 8 mL water mixture. Keep giving the liquid until it starts dripping back out of her mouth then stop for a while. If you can fill her crop that is all you can hope for.

Yea don't turn her upside down or force vomiting.

Her crop is already ballooning with water though! Not sure how much more liquid she could fit in there!

 

[Jen Tevyaw]

Please do not follow the above advice... it does sound like an impaction, but it’s in the crop not the gizzard. If you turn your chicken upside down and try to evacuate the contents of the crop, you can aspirate it and it can die. They are numerous articles on crop impaction here on BYC please look for that and don’t follow anything you find on Google or elsewhere

Ok, I will keep reading. I was just a bit confused about the info I read on her for crop impaction because I can not feel a hard lump. It is like a big balloon of water in her crop that just keep refilling somehow and the liquid is just spilling out of her mouth every time I move her or pick her up.

 

[Aapomp831]

Syringe or eyedropper. Do like a 1mL coconut oil, 1 mL honey, 8 mL water mixture. Keep giving the liquid until it starts dripping back out of her mouth then stop for a while. If you can fill her crop that is all you can hope for.

Yea don't turn her upside down or force vomiting.

Ok, I will keep reading. I was just a bit confused about the info I read on her for crop impaction because I can not feel a hard lump. It is like a big balloon of water in her crop that just keep refilling somehow and the liquid is just spilling out of her mouth every time I move her or pick her up.

Take food and water away and check again in the morning. You don’t want to feed her anything at all right now... the food is not going down, which causes sour crop as the food sits there and ferments. In the morning after at least 8 to 12 hours with no food or water, the crop should be flat and empty. Feeling like a water balloon is common in an impaction situation bc the bird keeps drinking water trying to get the food down - kinda when you have something stuck in your throat. And when you pick et up you’re pressing on it and it’s spilling out.

 

[Banana01]

Please do not follow the above advice... it does sound like an impaction, but it’s in the crop not the gizzard. If you turn your chicken upside down and try to evacuate the contents of the crop, you can aspirate it and it can die. They are numerous articles on crop impaction here on BYC please look for that and don’t follow anything you find on Google or elsewhere

Crop impaction you can easily feel for. Gizard impaction is deep and blocks the whole digestive tract.

Ok, I will keep reading. I was just a bit confused about the info I read on her for crop impaction because I can not feel a hard lump. It is like a big balloon of water in her crop that just keep refilling somehow and the liquid is just spilling out of her mouth every time I move her or pick her up.

Okay, you are bordering on an emergency since it started this morning and hasn't improved. Chickens can die and suffer from this in short time.

You can do the above advice and wait to see if the crop goes down in the morning, which would be indicative that the gizzard is freed up somewhat and she will live.

Option 2
Or you can tip her forward to dump some of the liquid out of her crop or whatever liquid is in there to make room for some oil and honey mix. I know people won't like emptying the crop but the idea for the oil and honey is to loosen the gizard and stimulate the ball of grass to move. When crops are full of water it's very common to just tip the chicken a little bit forward and the crop will empty. Since its mainly water this is not so bad. Just be cautious of her airway she needs to breath in between dumping out the water.

Up to you now that you know what you are dealing with. Her condition is very dangerous and any sign that the digestive system is moving is good, but the vomiting indicates a full blockage in the gizzard.

 

[Aapomp831]

Crop impaction you can easily feel for. Gizard impaction is deep and blocks the whole digestive tract.



Okay, you are bordering on an emergency since it started this morning and hasn't improved. Chickens can die and suffer from this in short time.

You can do the above advice and wait to see if the crop goes down in the morning, which would be indicative that the gizzard is freed up somewhat and she will live.

Option 2
Or you can tip her forward to dump some of the liquid out of her crop or whatever liquid is in there to make room for some oil and honey mix. I know people won't like emptying the crop but the idea for the oil and honey is to loosen the gizard and stimulate the ball of grass to move. When crops are full of water it's very common to just tip the chicken a little bit forward and the crop will empty. Since its mainly water this is not so bad. Just be cautious of her airway she needs to breath in between dumping out the water.

Up to you now that you know what you are dealing with. Her condition is very dangerous and any sign that the digestive system is moving is good, but the vomiting indicates a full blockage in the gizzard.

No, no. Please... I’m summoning an expert bc this is terrible advice, I’m sorry.

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