Help! What’s wrong with my chicken?

[SnowHugs]

The green and white dropping look like she is still not eating enough, but the urates are a healthy white. Did that particular dropping have yellow material in it, or maybe it didn’t ?

No, I don’t think that particular dropping had yellow in it. But I think that two others did, but I could find them when I had my phone with me

 

[SnowHugs]

You said her crop feels squishy as well?

How long has she been sick?

I believe that whatever your hen has, mine most likely has it too. Unfortunately she has been sick for over a month to no avail and she went downhill drastically yesterday.

What do you feed your chickens?

I discovered she was sick on Saturday, but my mom says she hadn’t been laying for about three days before. We feed them Producers Pride Mini Layer pellets. Do you free range your chickens? We don’t anymore, but when we did we never had this problem. We also had gotten a different food though

 

[GlicksChicks]

I discovered she was sick on Saturday, but my mom says she hadn’t been laying for about three days before. We feed them Producers Pride Mini Layer pellets. Do you free range your chickens? We don’t anymore, but when we did we never had this problem. We also had gotten a different food though

I do not free range mine because there are too many hungry feral cats around here.
Maybe start off trying to treat sour crop. Take her off food for 24 hours, she can still have clean water in that time though.

 

[SnowHugs]

I do not free range mine because there are too many hungry feral cats around here.
Maybe start off trying to treat sour crop. Take her off food for 24 hours, she can still have clean water in that time though.

I don’t know, she already went over 24 hours without eating and just started eating again yesterday. I wonder if not free ranging has something to with whatever this problem is? Because we use to free range, but we stopped since too many predators were killing them. But during that at least four year time period, we never had this type of problem

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

I do not free range mine because there are too many hungry feral cats around here.
Maybe start off trying to treat sour crop. Take her off food for 24 hours, she can still have clean water in that time though.

I'm new to chicken keeping but I'm trying to learn from experienced chicken keepers. From the short time I have been here on BYC Eggcessive has stood out to me as a very knowledgeable, experienced, and kind chicken keeper. I take what they say very seriously.

Just a few posts ago Eggcessive said "The green and white dropping look like she is still not eating enough". I would be very wary to follow the advice to take a hen off of food for an extended period of time after someone very knowledgeable had just expressed concern about them not eating enough.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Do you have any pictures of the dropping? It sounds like she is feeling better, and glad to hear that she is eating and drinking. Reproductive disorders can make them feel weak and uncomfortable, so it is good that she seems better. I would try to get her eating more, and things like small amounts of scrambled egg, tuna, and canned cat food can help tempt them.

I heartily agree with @Tiffany Wikk! Our family is actually specifically looking up Eggcessive's posts to learn as much as we can from them. Here is even a quote that Eggcessive already advised trying to get the hen to eat more. Thank you Eggcessive for taking your time to help people like us!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would offer some foods that most chickens cannot resist, but just a little to temp her to get started eating. Those include tuna, scrambled egg, ground meat or canned cat food. Mushy wet chicken feed is also good, and chicken feed should be most of her diet. Check her crop early each morning to make sure that it is emptying overnight. If they have a reproductive disorder or other illness, many times the crop and digestive system slows way down, which can lead to impacted or sour crop.

 

[SnowHugs]

I would offer some foods that most chickens cannot resist, but just a little to temp her to get started eating. Those include tuna, scrambled egg, ground meat or canned cat food. Mushy wet chicken feed is also good, and chicken feed should be most of her diet. Check her crop early each morning to make sure that it is emptying overnight. If they have a reproductive disorder or other illness, many times the crop and digestive system slows way down, which can lead to impacted or sour crop.

Ok, thank you! Should I still be trying to give her the Tums?

 

[GlicksChicks]

I'm new to chicken keeping but I'm trying to learn from experienced chicken keepers. From the short time I have been here on BYC Eggcessive has stood out to me as a very knowledgeable, experienced, and kind chicken keeper. I take what they say very seriously.

Just a few posts ago Eggcessive said "The green and white dropping look like she is still not eating enough". I would be very wary to follow the advice to take a hen off of food for an extended period of time after someone very knowledgeable had just expressed concern about them not eating enough.

So how do you address the possible sour crop? They wont be able to properly digest their food with sour crop anyway.

 

[GlicksChicks]

I don’t know, she already went over 24 hours without eating and just started eating again yesterday. I wonder if not free ranging has something to with whatever this problem is? Because we use to free range, but we stopped since too many predators were killing them. But during that at least four year time period, we never had this type of problem

Oh, okay I did not know that she had been off food already. Then her issue is either worse than sour crop or a severe case of sour crop.
I dont know, I have had hens that aren't free range that had 0 problems but then I had some that are not free range that had multiple problems.