Cochin - pale comb, lethargic, squishy crop.

Hello fellow chicken lovers. This is my first post after lurking for over a year and gaining knowledge from all of you. You all have helped me without knowing through many situations with my very loved flock. Now, I am at a loss and need some help. I have read all the old threads that could possible pertain to this situation....but I'm still guessing and need help from seasoned chicken lovers.

Barbie is my 1 1/2 year old Buff Cochin. She has been a big girl up until now, but I have never really weighed her. I must inform first that I lost one of our Australorps three days ago to what seems the same symptoms but I think I caught it too late.

Barbie has looked pale in the face and comb for about two weeks. Yesterday she did not jump off her perch when the coop doors opened, she just sat there quietly. (This is how it started with the Australorp so I acted right away). I took her down and out of the coop, inspected her for mites (didn't see any but dusted her with DE anyway), inspected vent (no impacted egg), bottom looked runny and poopy.

She did not want to eat or drink so I got out the eye dropper and started her on water with molasses, homemade yogurt and some olive oil. I took her inside and kept her in a cage. I had some mushy rice, she pecked a little but didn't really eat it. I administered liquids for most of the day regularly, she had her first BM about 4 hours later. It was dark and runny. No visible worms. I made a cereal of oatbran and warm water and she started to eat some, but not like a chicken. She laid an egg in the afternoon. In the evening I squirted the yogurt and olive oil on the cereal and when I did, she would eat it up her self and began drinking the sugar water herself. She whimpers a little and sits quietly, not standing but for a few minutes.

Barbies crop feels full and squishy. I have been massaging it regularly. I can feel a whole lot of grit inside, the Australorp was the same way. I went out to feel the rest of the flock (23 others, all hens; RIR, Australorps, Golden Comets, Speckled Sussex all bright red combs running about as normal).

I feed an organic layer pellet from Nutrena and supplement a daily batch of homemade organic scratch; barley, oats, wheat berries. Also daily scraps from the kitchen, mostly breads, rices and things like that. This has been their diet since their whole life. Also, we save, bake and grind their eggshells and mix in the pellets. They live in a metal shed with a good size run. Their bedding is pine shavings and we use hay in their boxes. During the day, we rotate free ranging girls while we are outside. They stay with us for the most part.

I do not intend to bring her to a vet as it is not in our budget, but would like to give her the best chance I can. She's my Garden Barbie, my helper.

I have never wormed, I didn't really think I'd have to. I read on a thread that I could use DE and cayenne (?), it was too vague for me to act on. I wouldn't know what to give her for worms.

I am guessing that it's a sour crop (I've ruled out impacted because it's very squishy), but her breath smells fine. Still, I'm giving the yogurt, olive oil and molasses water. She's very pale.


Any other thoughts as to what could be wrong with her? Any other treatment options? I'm not sure I could hold her upside down and do the whole crop emptying thing. She is sweet and gentle and very trusting.

Thank you for your time.

Its hard to tell from the pic but do her feathers appear to me upright than normal? Is she drinking a lot of water?

If the feathers appear different then give her a light for warmth. If she's drinking a lot of water then put her on Sulmet for three days. That will cure sour crop if that's what it is.

Since she's in a cage you can monitor droppings, what do they look like? Are there any? If there isn't then chances are it is impacted.

Her feathers are pretty normal, but her tail is tucked down. She is not drinking a lot of water, if I show it to her she'll drink. Her droppings are very runny and dark. She is not going as much as usual but then she's not eating that much either.

Where do I get Sulmet? A friend of mine today told me that it's coccidiosis...I just walked in the door and have to look it up to read about it. Does anyone think that's what it may be?

SHE MAY HAVE COCCIDIOSIS BUT MORE THAN LIKELY IT IS THE SOUR CROP
THE FLUSHING IS DONE WITH THE CHICKEN ON THE TABLE IN FRONT OF YOU
do not hang her up side down as chickens do not vomit or thro up as humans
To flush a crop is not hard to do this:


once again I will try and express the manner in which you do a flush

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO THE CHICKEN

(1) chickens do not throw up!!!
DO NOT PUT THE CHICKEN BEING FLUSHED UP SIDE DOWN???


(2) so it is you that have to keep them right side up and come up from below the crop and push, bringing the spoiled food etc out the chickens beak. tHIS IS DONE WITH YOUR PUSHING WITH YOUR HAND UP AGinst the chickens crop area.


(3) to flush you need
1 pt of warm water
1/2 cup of baking soda
now mix and fill a childs ear syringe
as the syringe has a tuve on it then enter the tube to the right side to the back of the throat
then put the soda water into the chicken by pressing on the ear syringe gently to expell all of the water into the chickens crop

(4) so when flushing the crop you only want to get the spoiled things out of the crop
to do this you have to have the chicken on a table looking at you
it is good if you can have some one hold the chicken for you

now with your one hand on the chicken take the other hand and come up hard pressed against the chickens crop asrea

forcing the spoil food out the beak of the chicken
you do this manually as the chicken can't do it

(5) as for leaving the baking soda in the sour crop that is important as it is what cures the sour crop
so hopefully some of the baking soda stayed in the crop

(6) you have to do the flushing three times in a row when doing the flush. this generally gets the bird started on being well

(7)as that is what gets the spoiled food out

(8)
important is the day of flushingg do not feed any thing but give ACV in water

(9) next day and for a week only feed the chicken 1 slice of bread with milk on it
twice a day
and have ACV in the water all the time

(10) when back on regular feed crumbles feed some wet mash probiotic
email me for the recipe this is very important for the birds gut flora reactivated

any other questions email me

I will put up this information on using either Sulmet or Corid 9.6%

now when treating them for coccidiosis with which ever medication you choose PLEASE give them the medication coccistate for the 7-10 days as this will get them over the coccidiosis

Basically you can get coccidiosis more than once
as stated because of the 9 different kinds


here is my way of doing this treatment

THE WET MASH WITH THE MEDICATION IS GIVEN FIRST TWO MORNINGS
AS WELL AS IN THE WATER USE THE MEDICATION
and remember to use it full time either 5-7 days but do not start and then no bloody droppings DO NOT STOP treating with medication
#1 FOR COCCIDIOSIS


Use medication of choice
I give both medications and amts to put in the wet mash medicated with either corid or sulmet

also use the corid or sulmet in the water at same time for 5-7 days
SULMET )

A) for the flock do this
THIS CAN BE MADE INTO
1 QT OF DRY FEED
2 QTS OF WATER
AND THEN ADD THE 2 TSPS OF SULMET

CORID
If using corid 9.6% for the flock
1 QT OF of dry mash
2 QTS of water
add 2 tsp of corid 9.6% to the water
feed 2 tsp per chicken for a feeding
feed this two mornings to get the medication in the birds
MAKE SURE THE SICK CHICKS ARE PUT UP TO THE WET MASH
THEY WILL EAT IT AND GET MEDICATION IN THEIR GUT
THEN THEY WILL DRINK THE MEDICATED WATER

also at same time put the corid or sulmet in the drinking water for 7 days
each chicken gets 2 tbsp of the wet mash with coccidiosis meds

speckled hen gives corid(9.6%) liquid in 2 tsp per gallon of water a

And after medicating give the following things
either the corid amproylium or the sulmet will work but now you have a difficient gut problem with the E.coli
and it needs to have the Vitamin E put in the wet mash probiotic to help the E.coli gut problem


do this now the
WET MASH PROBIOTIC TREATMENT
natural probiotic recipe is is:
for each chick multiply by amt of chicks fed
2 tsp of dry crumbles
3-1/2 tsp of milk, sweet, sour, or buttermilk or a mixture of all or some
1 tsp of yoguart of non flavored yoguart ( no artificial sweetmer)
mix good
AFTER PUTTING vIT'S IN
PUT 1 TSP OF APPLE SAUCE FOR THE WET MASH PROBIOTIC

NOW THE IMPORTANT INGRIEDIENT FOR EACH CHICKEN FED
and add 1- 400 mg of Vit E by cutting the end off the vit E capsule for each chicken fed this wet mash
putting it in the wet mash

OR FOR each chicken your reating
so for each chicken use 2 tbsp of mixture and 1-400 mg of Vit E

twice a day for them till the manure is solid

and feed each chicken
2 tsp full of the wet mash probiotic and what they will clean up in 20-30 minutes
then clean wet feeders and restock dry crumbles

do this twice a day for a week
till the chickens manure is right
then quit the Vit E make just the wet mash probiotic
then once a week for life

All the while after mdicating the birds use
do not use ACV with medication

2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar per gallon of the chicken water so their gut flora wil be regulated

they should have this at least 3-5 days a week
then three days aweek after they are over coccidiosis
the vit's are neccessary to clean up the damaged gut problem

email me any questions

Bookmarking this so I can find it later....

By buff cochin seems to be acting the same as yours -

I'm so squeamish I don't know how surgery or "expelling" would go ...

my girl doesn't have the pale comb but she has dark black - tar like poo's - she's still active and is flying up to the high perch - but isn't as outgoing as she was.

I lost 3 rhode island reds this way. Tetracycline didn't seem to work. The treatment mentioned above sounds intense but I will try anything to save my birds

when i let my girl out this am (with the plan to separate her so I could hold her food for the day) she was the first at the door - grabbing bread out of my hand like she used to - I checked her crop and it was empty! - no rocks not squishy - empty ... could this mean she's finally passed whatever was bad in her crop?

she's very very nosy and i'm wondering if she just over indulged in something she shouldn't have?