URGENT!!!! Red Star hen with large, red crop, foamy vent, etc... Help!

Our 4 Red Star hens and their RIR rooster have been free ranging all day, as usual. But before we put them to bed, we noticed that Penny, one of the Red Stars, had a large, red crop. It feels very soft and mushy and she vomited a tiny bit of something that looks like the layers mash/pellets that we feed all of our chickens. Also, her vent looks foamy and smell AWFUL! It has been like this for a while...all the feathers around her vent have poop on them, so I've tried trimming her feathers and cleaning her up a little but it hasn't worked very well.
Penny(along with the other chickens) has recently had roundworms again but we've been treating them all with DE mixed in with their food every day and the worms haven't been seen in their droppings lately. We also have a bad chicken lice infestation on all of our chickens that we've tried treating with DE but went to a stronger powder that we bought from our local feed shop. It's made for mites and lice and is much stronger than DE. We are currently still working on getting rid of the lice.

Penny is acting normal and active like the rest other than the foamy vent and swollen crop(and panting a little because it's so hot out, but all of our chickens do this when it's really hot out).

Is this something that we should really worry about?
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Extra Info:

Age: unknown...maybe 2+ years(still laying about everyday)

Breed: Red Star

Weight: Unknown

Height: Unknown

Recent disease: None...just lice and roundworms

Symptoms: Foamy vent, vomited a tiny but of food once, red, mushy and large crop.

Free ranging? Yes, about everyday from morning until dark

Laying? Yes, about everyday...lays normal sized and shaped, brown eggs

Hope this helps!

77 horses wrote: Our 4 Red Star hens and their RIR rooster have been free ranging all day, as usual. But before we put them to bed, we noticed that Penny, one of the Red Stars, had a large, red crop. It feels very soft and mushy and she vomited a tiny bit of something that looks like the layers mash/pellets that we feed all of our chickens. Also, her vent looks foamy and smell AWFUL! It has been like this for a while...all the feathers around her vent have poop on them, so I've tried trimming her feathers and cleaning her up a little but it hasn't worked very well.
Penny(along with the other chickens) has recently had roundworms again but we've been treating them all with DE mixed in with their food every day and the worms haven't been seen in their droppings lately. We also have a bad chicken lice infestation on all of our chickens that we've tried treating with DE but went to a stronger powder that we bought from our local feed shop. It's made for mites and lice and is much stronger than DE. We are currently still working on getting rid of the lice.

Penny is acting normal and active like the rest other than the foamy vent and swollen crop(and panting a little because it's so hot out, but all of our chickens do this when it's really hot out).

Is this something that we should really worry about?
---------------

I answered:

Well the issue is that they still have worms because DE doesn't treat infestations. Her intestines are inflammed, and now because of the delay in treatment her whole digestive tract is backed up and likely infected.

Seeing worms in the droppings means you have an incredibly huge infestation. Even if a bird has worms, you often won't see them in the droppings because they're supposed to stay up inside the bird to live - they only shed by shedding eggs. The only way to tell that they DON'T have worms is getting a fecal egg count done. You really should treat with wazine, including this sick hen, and just be rid of them. Then follow up with a broad spectrum wormer that kills the larva. If you do that, their digestive tracts won't be as ravaged.

Additionally, DE isn't meant to kill lice on the bird when they're infested - it's meant to help control infestations, just like it is with worms. If something overcomes DE's limited power, then you have wormy and licey birds. For lice, permethrin powder (comes in a shaker can - make sure permethrin is the active ingredient) for poultry and livestock at the feed store is actually a chemical duplication of simple natural insecticide from a flower petel (In the old days, they ground up flowers to make it). It's very safe and gentle on birds.

DE is a wonderful product, but people expect it to be a super-product and do things it's not designed to do. That always makes me a bit sad as it gives DE a bad name when really it has an indispensable place in the armory of a chicken owner.

Please use at least Wazine repeated and kill the worms. You will see paralyzed worms in the droppings. Follow up in 2-4 weeks with fenbendazole (SafeGuard for horses or goats), ivermectin pour on (which will also kill the lice that week), or another broad spectrum wormer.

In the state in which this hen is, if you don't do it soon she won't be able to be saved.

As for her crop, check it in the morning. If it's not empty before they eat, then you may have to empty and cleanse it. Then she will need to be put up (which I'd recommend anyway honestly) by herself, her droppings monitored, easilly dissolved foods given (*please* no DE at this time as her digestive tract is already irritated very badly), yogurt dailiy to replace the good bacteria. No antibiotics please. They'll make things worse. yes to electrolytes in the water to replace those she's lost in her diarrhea.
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

thanks!

three horses info sounds great. I too was thinking some yogurt might help crop/ digestion with all those meds. Also maybe a squirt of ACV to help clear out crop problems.. Good Luck!!!

Quote:
What is ACV?

Ugh! At the moment we don't have really anything to help her...it's too late to go to our local feed store to get Wazine(if they even have any) and we don't have any electrolytes or ACV(whatever that is). All we have right now is the DE and lice/mite duster. I called my dad and told him to get the Wazine as soon as possible.

Quote:
What is ACV?

Apple Cider Vinegar. ya, I didn't know it at first but many folks here use the acronym. Seems like great remedy for sour crop. what do you think?

For electrolytes you can use the stuff for human babies, they have non flavored Pedialyte, sold at supermarkets and drug stores. Also heard some folks use Gatorade but the flavor and dye don't seem very nice....

Quote:
What is ACV?

Organic apple cider vinegar used in the water (1 teaspoon per gallon of water).

On not having stuff now, it's ok - you need to see if her crop empties tomorrow anyway. So it's alright.