Sick chicken- reading a lot about crop problems. Advice appreciated!

[leedyfeathers]

Thanks - that is good information. I wondered how to feed her an electrolyte as all I know about is Gatorade. I bought probiotic yogurt for her and I had kombucha which is a probiotic too. The grit soaked in olive oil, she liked. The yogurt not so much... Lol ... But I got some in her. I went out at dusk to make sure she made it into her coop and she did but she isn't up roosting. She's in a nesting box. I won't read too much into that as she's been through a lot in 3 days. Three days ago she didn't have the strength to get into the coop. Man. I have learned a LOT in these 3 days.

everyone id great at helping as much as possible i stayed on here for hours reading and reading to hubby till i heard snoring lol

 

[ShelleyHar]

So just a follow up since it's been close to 2 weeks. (I always read threads and wonder how the chicken did in the long run! ) she's still very much alive and protects her pecking order with her 9 sisters but she had another crop issue last week. So i massaged it and cleared it for her and kept her isolated for a day. She recouped quickly.
She lost weight overall and isn't producing eggs again but seems fine. I am careful what I feed her, her appetite seems fine.
A friend suggested she may be gorging herself because she just started laying.
I don't know that she is functioning at 100% but I am sure trying to help her heal. Time will tell.
On a side note, I sure have been impressed with our golden sexlinks. Social and great layers.

 

[MFChickens]

My chicken is showing the same signs as yours did. Her crop is swollen like a balloon. I tried to empty it by massaging it while she hung upside down and nothing came out. I have her a surrenge full of baking soda and warm water and she kinda coughed a little but nothing. All she does is sleep. She is bone thin. The reason I didn't catch this earlier was because I was out of town. The poor thing can't even walk just hobbles a bit and lays back down.
Might need to try some probiotics and see what happens.
Is yogurt with probiotics available at most grocery stores?
I have been posting replies on every post about this subject hoping to get some answers. So far no responses.

 

[ShelleyHar]

Sorry you are going thru this too! I know there are strong opinions on vomiting your chicken as they could asprate but it seemed to be the best thing for mine. Along with isolating her in my quiet basement in a dog kennel for a few days.
I didn't let her eat anything for the first day, she didn't want to anyway. I let her rest and that night i checked her crop and tipped her to clear it out. The next day I fed her some mash soaked with olive oil and yogurt and warm water. Later that night is when she perked back up.

The probiotic yogurt you can usually find is called Mountain High. Anything that shows it has the active bacteria would work. If I mix it with mash is the on,y way she eats it. It's tart!

There is a video on here somewhere about cradling the chicken on your lap on her side and dipping her head to make her clear her crop. That's what I did. I can find it for you.

 

[ShelleyHar]

Massaging:

And vomiting:

 

[MFChickens]

Thanks for the info!
Tried the videos and they didn't work. I have watched some. I'll check my hen in the morning and hopefully the crop went down. She really needs to eat.

 

[ShelleyHar]

Try getting some olive oil in her system. I really think that helped my girl, along with isolation that forced her to rest.

 

[MFChickens]

Checked her crop this morning and it was small and empty. I gave her some yogurt with live cultures and some warm water. Then felt her crop and it was slightly bigger which means it's going in I guess.
She was choking with straight yogurt. I gave her about 3 table spoons full (surrenge) and she seems a little more alert after an hour. Still very weak, will continue to give her the yogurt.

 

[ShelleyHar]

That's great news! Hopefully she recovers quickly now! I went out to check on my girl and she's still doing well and is spunky. Just hoping for her to get some weight back and not have a crop problem anytime soon.

 

[MFChickens]

I just have a bad feeling that I won't be as lucky. Have a feeling she might be too far gone. She's comfortable but still just sleeps the day away. Hopefully she will snap out of it or nature will take it's course. My kids would be devastated and mad at me if I culled her.
Hoping for the best! Thanks again for all the info!