NewFlockOnTheBlock
Songster
I've posted about our sick girl before, and subsequently posted an update, but it appears that starting a new thread is a more effective way to get help than reviving an old thread, so here goes:
Our RIR girl Nutmeg, about 4 years old, is having crop/digestive issues and won't eat. It all started with diarrhea that consisted of clear, yellowish liquid with opaque white/yellow and dark green bits. She also started hanging out more by herself and acting more subdued, and was no longer joining everyone in their rush for treats.
We started bringing her inside to give her some extra nutrition and at that point we noticed that she'd lost interest in regular chicken feed, but she'd still go for treats like hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, sardines, cooked pasta, and ground beef. We also had our state lab do a fecal float on our flock's poop (I made sure that some of Nutmeg's poop was included) and it came back negative for cocci and worms.
Eventually we noticed that Nutmeg's abdomen had become distended, and she was eating and drinking less and less. After about 10 phone calls, we found a vet about 40 miles away that is the only one in our area that will treat chickens, and took her a little over a week ago. By then, she was barely eating or drinking at all. The vet drained about 2 cups (!!!) of clear yellowish fluid from Nutmeg's abdomen and sent us home with a two-week supply of Baytril mixed with a nutrient solution and syringes for abdominal draining at home as needed. (She also said she'd send a sample of the fluid to the state lab for testing; we haven't heard back about this yet.)
The day after the vet visit, Nutmeg stopped eating completely. She also developed a terrible, nasty fermented smell from her mouth, and her crop became large and squishy and was still not emptying overnight, all of which of course means sour crop and possibly also impacted crop. I called the vet for advice and she didn't really have much to say besides to continue to try give Nutmeg food and water. The vet's assistant recommended apple cider vinegar and chick electrolytes in water, as well as holding a hand over Nutmeg's crop and kidneys for about 15 minutes several times a day, which she said can help get things moving in there. (Weirdly, she called this technique "processing.")
Here's where we are today:
Nutmeg won't eat on her own. I feed her small amounts of plain yogurt and fruit-and-quinoa baby food once or twice a day. She gets it down but it's really tiny amounts, about 2 cc per "meal," and she resists mightily. She is still on the Baytril/nutrient mix.
She drinks willingly out of the waterer in the coop, so I take her there once a day and she drinks her fill. (The rest of the time she is in the house or in a small outdoor pen where she can graze without being bothered by the other chickens.) I also force her to drink some water with poultry vitamins, electrolytes, apple cider vinegar, probiotics, and oregano oil by dipping her beak in it a couple times a day, but she doesn't like it and only drinks a very small amount.
Based on a video I watched online about sour crop, we started her on vaginal yeast infection cream, 1/2 cc by mouth twice a day. For some reason the video said to use the 7 day cream but to give it for only 3 days. Today is Day 3 and I'm thinking about continuing for the full 7 days.
The GOOD news is that Nutmeg is no longer accumulating fluid in her belly (in fact, she passes A LOT of fluid out of her rear end) and the fermented smell from her mouth is gone. However, her breath is still a bit off and her crop is still huge and squishy, and overfills easily; she will sometimes "burp" after swallowing food and water and some fluid will come up. There is less fluid coming out of her beak in the past couple of days but I can tell that it backs up into her mouth and then she swallows it again. And, she is very skinny and weak.
Based on all of this, what do you think is going on? If we were able to stop the fermentation, why is her crop still large, soft, and overflowing? Is there anything else we can do to promote normal digestion and help things pass? Should we consider doing crop surgery at home? We're scared to death of killing her by doing it wrong. Another possibility is that she simply won't make it through surgery, or won't be able to heal, due to how weak and malnourished she is.
Any advice/suggestions appreciated! We're willing to try almost anything at this point. Thank you!!!
Our RIR girl Nutmeg, about 4 years old, is having crop/digestive issues and won't eat. It all started with diarrhea that consisted of clear, yellowish liquid with opaque white/yellow and dark green bits. She also started hanging out more by herself and acting more subdued, and was no longer joining everyone in their rush for treats.
We started bringing her inside to give her some extra nutrition and at that point we noticed that she'd lost interest in regular chicken feed, but she'd still go for treats like hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, sardines, cooked pasta, and ground beef. We also had our state lab do a fecal float on our flock's poop (I made sure that some of Nutmeg's poop was included) and it came back negative for cocci and worms.
Eventually we noticed that Nutmeg's abdomen had become distended, and she was eating and drinking less and less. After about 10 phone calls, we found a vet about 40 miles away that is the only one in our area that will treat chickens, and took her a little over a week ago. By then, she was barely eating or drinking at all. The vet drained about 2 cups (!!!) of clear yellowish fluid from Nutmeg's abdomen and sent us home with a two-week supply of Baytril mixed with a nutrient solution and syringes for abdominal draining at home as needed. (She also said she'd send a sample of the fluid to the state lab for testing; we haven't heard back about this yet.)
The day after the vet visit, Nutmeg stopped eating completely. She also developed a terrible, nasty fermented smell from her mouth, and her crop became large and squishy and was still not emptying overnight, all of which of course means sour crop and possibly also impacted crop. I called the vet for advice and she didn't really have much to say besides to continue to try give Nutmeg food and water. The vet's assistant recommended apple cider vinegar and chick electrolytes in water, as well as holding a hand over Nutmeg's crop and kidneys for about 15 minutes several times a day, which she said can help get things moving in there. (Weirdly, she called this technique "processing.")
Here's where we are today:
Nutmeg won't eat on her own. I feed her small amounts of plain yogurt and fruit-and-quinoa baby food once or twice a day. She gets it down but it's really tiny amounts, about 2 cc per "meal," and she resists mightily. She is still on the Baytril/nutrient mix.
She drinks willingly out of the waterer in the coop, so I take her there once a day and she drinks her fill. (The rest of the time she is in the house or in a small outdoor pen where she can graze without being bothered by the other chickens.) I also force her to drink some water with poultry vitamins, electrolytes, apple cider vinegar, probiotics, and oregano oil by dipping her beak in it a couple times a day, but she doesn't like it and only drinks a very small amount.
Based on a video I watched online about sour crop, we started her on vaginal yeast infection cream, 1/2 cc by mouth twice a day. For some reason the video said to use the 7 day cream but to give it for only 3 days. Today is Day 3 and I'm thinking about continuing for the full 7 days.
The GOOD news is that Nutmeg is no longer accumulating fluid in her belly (in fact, she passes A LOT of fluid out of her rear end) and the fermented smell from her mouth is gone. However, her breath is still a bit off and her crop is still huge and squishy, and overfills easily; she will sometimes "burp" after swallowing food and water and some fluid will come up. There is less fluid coming out of her beak in the past couple of days but I can tell that it backs up into her mouth and then she swallows it again. And, she is very skinny and weak.
Based on all of this, what do you think is going on? If we were able to stop the fermentation, why is her crop still large, soft, and overflowing? Is there anything else we can do to promote normal digestion and help things pass? Should we consider doing crop surgery at home? We're scared to death of killing her by doing it wrong. Another possibility is that she simply won't make it through surgery, or won't be able to heal, due to how weak and malnourished she is.
Any advice/suggestions appreciated! We're willing to try almost anything at this point. Thank you!!!
