Help! Slow crop, lethargic, and not eating

[applethechicken]

I have a black australorp hen who is not eating, lethargic, closing eyes, and has a medium sized crop this morning. The crop consistency was not liquidly, but still pliable. There is no apparent smell from her beak. Also no sores or weird things in the mouth. Poops have been inconsistent, small and liquidly, green, has a foul smell, and contains some undigested grains. She only weighs 3.8 lbs now.

I took her in the garage for last night, since she didn't want to go up to the roosts. She has been a little bit lethargic for the past week or so, but was still eating and playing. It has been cold (and will be colder) here in North Georgia. This morning, she doesn't want to eat, and doesn't want to open her eyes.

She is 2.5, and her molt started in September, so her feathers are all grown in already. She hasn't laid consistently since end of august, laid 2 double yolk in eggs in September, and none since.

Half a month ago, I had a hen (easter egger) die that I do not know the reason of, but she always had troubles laying soft eggs, and did not respond to CORID or antibiotics. I have another one (wyandotte) that is slow, and might be sick as well, as she didn't want to eat this morning. The other 5 are very active and regularly laying.

They all eat wet organic feed and a balanced mixture of soaked grains, peas, millet, kelp supplement, (+ alternating spices like acv, cayenne, garlic, cinnamon, herbs, etc), that is formulated at 16% protein. They also get veggies from my garden, some dried mealworms/ bsf larvae as treats, scrambled eggs occasionally, and yogurt occasionally. No recent changes to diet.

What should I do to treat her? I gave her a pill of 10 mg enrofloxacin (baytril) last night, but there is no improvement. I don't feel like it's sour or impacted crop; maybe a blockage somewhere lower? Molasses flush? Parasites? I haven't wormed her yet. If I should worm her, what should I use? Could it be Cocci?

 

[applethechicken]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive

If one of you can help me, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would re-check her crop again in the morning, if it's not emptied, then I'd begin treating that symptom according to this article https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

If you are giving a strong antibiotic like Baytril, you must suspect that she has a bacterial infection? Any idea what? Something reproductive, intestinal?

Sour Crop is generally fungal/yeast infection and antibiotics can make that worse.

More common would be she's having some type of trouble with production. She has molted and by now a lot of hens are starting to come back into lay. The transition from out of lay to lay can sometimes be filled with a few glitches or this is when reproductive disorders start to show.
I'd work on hydration, see if she will. I'd also get some extra calcium into her for a week. You can find Calcium Citrate with D3 at Walmart, CVS, etc. Just pop a tablet into her beak and let her swallow.

 

[applethechicken]

I would re-check her crop again in the morning, if it's not emptied, then I'd begin treating that symptom according to this article https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

If you are giving a strong antibiotic like Baytril, you must suspect that she has a bacterial infection? Any idea what? Something reproductive, intestinal?

Sour Crop is generally fungal/yeast infection and antibiotics can make that worse.

More common would be she's having some type of trouble with production. She has molted and by now a lot of hens are starting to come back into lay. The transition from out of lay to lay can sometimes be filled with a few glitches or this is when reproductive disorders start to show.
I'd work on hydration, see if she will. I'd also get some extra calcium into her for a week. You can find Calcium Citrate with D3 at Walmart, CVS, etc. Just pop a tablet into her beak and let her swallow.

Thank you. unfortunately, she passed later in the afternoon.

But I have another one (wyandotte) who is also a little bit lethargic and closing her eyes. She is only 9 months old, so she didn't molt in the fall, but hasn't laid eggs since mid December. Her poops are also runny with a. foul smell. No visible parasites. She also got cocci pretty bad when she was younger, but was cured with CORID. She is the lowest in the pecking order, so gets picked on a lot and eats very slow. Should I worm her? I checked her crop yesterday morning and there was lumpy golf ball sized, but it wasn't in the earliest morning, so maybe she ate little already. I can treat her for impacted crop as well.

For the australorp that passed, I thought there may be an infection due to her not laying, or infection somewhere in the digestive tract since her poops had a foul smell and was not normal, hence the antibiotic. I also didn't have anything else to give her, since she was extremely week already. They don't have any respiratory symptoms.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry you lost her.

Do you still have the body? If so, refrigerate it and send it to your State Lab for diagnostics you can find out why she died.

Since you have another that is not feeling well, if you lose this one, then definitely send for testing.

Check your feed to make sure nothing has molded or think if the birds could have gotten into anything moldy, rotten, compost or toxic.

Check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks, if it's not empty, then address that symptom.

Work on hydration and see that they are eating well.


https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[applethechicken]

I'm sorry you lost her.

Do you still have the body? If so, refrigerate it and send it to your State Lab for diagnostics you can find out why she died.

Since you have another that is not feeling well, if you lose this one, then definitely send for testing.

Check your feed to make sure nothing has molded or think if the birds could have gotten into anything moldy, rotten, compost or toxic.

Check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks, if it's not empty, then address that symptom.

Work on hydration and see that they are eating well.


https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

I don't have the body anymore, but if others pass I will send it to my state lab. I checked my feed and nothing is molded. they are in a large enclosed run that is mostly roofed, so no visible mold on the ground either. She does dig in the ground a lot and eat whatever she finds.

I will check her crop tomorrow morning. I gave her a few crop massages today. She did eat today like usual, but she is very very skinny. A problem I encounter is that when I separate my chickens from their flock when they're sick, they don't drink water. It is a different container because a 1 gallon waterer would take up too much space, but she just doesn't drink from the smaller bowls. So I let her back with her friends for a little and saw her drink. How do I encourage her to drink out of other containers?

Her poops are small and smell like rotten egg/ fish. What disease could that be a symptom for? Should I worm her? I took her into the garage for the night because another chicken keeps on pecking and fighting her in the coop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hold the cup up to her beak and see if she will drink.

If you have a chick water station, try using that when you separate out birds, they seem to recognize that little thing and will drink from it.

Photos of her and the poop may be helpful. There are so many things that affect chickens, it's hard to know.

 

[applethechicken]

Hold the cup up to her beak and see if she will drink.

If you have a chick water station, try using that when you separate out birds, they seem to recognize that little thing and will drink from it.

Photos of her and the poop may be helpful. There are so many things that affect chickens, it's hard to know.

I attached a few pictures of her and her poop from the night. No visible parasites, foul smell, and contains undigested grains.

She has a golf ball sized crop this morning, so I gave her a few massages. She also drank alittle when I held water up to her, but not a lot. She is eating steamed egg.

 

[tigger19687]

Is the crop hard?
Make sure there are shells and small pebbles for them to help digest the crop.
if you can hold her and massage the crop and see if you can smell in her beak.

I lost one, it was due to it eating a mouse and just couldn't digest it.

 

[applethechicken]

not rock hard. before she drank water, it was hard but still pliable. after she drank some water, it was easy to move around. I gave her a few massages. She ate some grit this morning. I'll double check to see if there's a smell.

Here is a poop from this morning, before she ate.

also, I have another chicken who lost 10 feathers today, and some in the past few days, but she finished her molt a few months ago. she's the alpha hen so its not from getting picked on. Could it be a sign of something?

Is the crop hard?
Make sure there are shells and small pebbles for them to help digest the crop.
if you can hold her and massage the crop and see if you can smell in her beak.

I lost one, it was due to it eating a mouse and just couldn't digest it