11 Month Old RIR Found Sitting In Run

[Mimi13]

This morning when I went to let the birds out out of the run my RIR just continued to sit in the shavings, like they all do after they eat on these cool mornings.

But not this gal. She is out of that run, lickety split. Ruby suffers severely from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), a new anagram I learned from @staceyj last week. She’s the one that will jump 4’ to take the peanut butter cracker out of my mouth. She’s also the one that’ll beat every other chicken to me when I holler “Chick Chick Chick!” And she’s just plain nosy, period.

I picked her up and took her to the house. While in the run and on the deck all she’d do was lay down. She did get up and walk but she seemed very unsteady. She was vaccinated for Mareks as a hatchery chick, but I’m sure that’s not completely fool proof. And I’ve had no previous Mareks in my flock. Both pupils look normal and round and dilate and constrict as she focuses on things.

I soaked her for about 20 minutes in a warm epsom salt bath and then lubed my finger and checked her vent. Found nothing in there other than what she squirted out after I pulled my finger out, which startled my 2.5 yo grandson. I am going to attribute the watery poo squirt to the bath as some may have entered her vent as I was massaging around her vent and her abdomen.

After I dried her really well I gave her some Nutri Drench and then scrambled her an egg, which she scarfed down. All the while I was working with her she mostly kept her eyes closed. She would open them every once in a while. I don’t know if she just enjoyed it or if she just couldn’t keep them open.

She drank a little water via wicking it from a syringe and then I put her in her play pen with feed and water. I know she stood in the pen for over an hour, never moving. The last time I checked on her she plopped down and hasn’t moved since. Prior to my feeding her, her crop did have some food in it. It wasn’t full but had a 50 cent sized wad in it.

Her comb and wattles are bright red still and as far as I know she has been laying regularly. Nothing seemed amiss this morning when I fed them as I generally stand for awhile and look the whole flock over for any abnormalities.

Just went to check on her and take a picture and a bunch of things have changed. First poop in about 5 hours.

Yucky! And she has not stopped drinking, on her own. Literally, I think she’s drunk 4+ oz.

Maybe the Nutri Drench and scrambled egg have made her feel better. She is also making soft sounds to me.

Anything else I might do as I wait out her possible return to normal? Do these “things” just happen?

Thanks for all your responses.

ETA: I have brought her outside and she’s slowly walking around and pecking at things.

 

[staceyj]

Hi Mimi.
I’m going to tag some others here.

@Wyorp Rock , @casportpony
@Eggcessive

Now I have a few questions for you.

When has she last laid an egg?
Have you seen any questionable looking matter in the coop such as a lash egg?
When you had her inside and soaked her, did you by any chance notice any swelling under her abdomen between her legs?

In the photo where she’s exiting her playpen, her crop appears to be pretty good size.

Was that before or after she drank all the water?

When you felt her crop and said it was about 50 cent piece size “wad” in it, was the wad a hard ball or was it a broken collection of food and your estimating the amount for us?

Was her crop otherwise... (some possible descriptors) squishy or soft or flat or airfilled or doughy?

 

[Mimi13]

Hi Mimi.
I’m going to tag some others here.

@Wyorp Rock , @casportpony
@Eggcessive

Now I have a few questions for you.

When has she last laid an egg?
Have you seen any questionable looking matter in the coop such as a lash egg?
When you had her inside and soaked her, did you by any chance notice any swelling under her abdomen between her legs?

In the photo where she’s exiting her playpen, her crop appears to be pretty good size.

Was that before or after she drank all the water?

When you felt her crop and said it was about 50 cent piece size “wad” in it, was the wad a hard ball or was it a broken collection of food and your estimating the amount for us?

Was her crop otherwise... (some possible descriptors) squishy or soft or flat or airfilled or doughy?

That picture was before she drank all the water that I witnessed. She may have had some prior to when I saw her. But based on the size her crop feels, that picture is misleading. When I first felt her crop, about 6 hours ago now, it felt like she had eaten wet mash, which is what I feed them in the mornings. And that is about what it felt like while ago too. I will have to double check tonight and in the morning as well. It was not hard like all the crops are at roosting time. The “wad” was an estimation of amount in the crop. When I let her outside a bit ago she pecked around and then went straight for the bushes and that is where she is now. Her pace was fairly slow.

She quite possibly laid an egg this morning. All of my girls are laying with the exception of three of my originals. I’m sure she laid yesterday though.

I haven’t ever seen anything odd except for the occasional shell-less egg I find on the droppings board - a gift from one of my originals, my Red Star, with reproductive problems.

Her abdomen was not swollen or saggy. It felt fairly normal sized to me.

I’m worried now that she’s just standing under the bushes. I’ve got to go get her before sunset approaches. I probably need to keep her inside even though she seems to be feeling a lot better.

 

[staceyj]

That picture was before she drank all the water that I witnessed. She may have had some prior to when I saw her. But based on the size her crop feels, that picture is misleading. When I first felt her crop, about 6 hours ago now, it felt like she had eaten wet mash, which is what I feed them in the mornings. And that is about what it felt like while ago too. I will have to double check tonight and in the morning as well. It was not hard like all the crops are at roosting time. The “wad” was an estimation of amount in the crop. When I let her outside a bit ago she pecked around and then went straight for the bushes and that is where she is now. Her pace was fairly slow.

She quite possibly laid an egg this morning. All of my girls are laying with the exception of three of my originals. I’m sure she laid yesterday though.

I haven’t ever seen anything odd except for the occasional shell-less egg I find on the droppings board - a gift from one of my originals, my Red Star, with reproductive problems.

Her abdomen was not swollen or saggy. It felt fairly normal sized to me.

I’m worried now that she’s just standing under the bushes. I’ve got to go get her before sunset approaches. I probably need to keep her inside even though she seems to be feeling a lot better.

Mimi I would bring her in for the night and keep her in tomorrow for observation.
I think your instincts are strong that something might be amiss and I am in agreement with this.

Will you go get her and update tomorrow?
Or even later tonight if anything changes?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would re-check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks. You mention her drinking a lot of water. I've found that if I have one that's drinking a lot, the crop is usually slow.
Since you only felt a small amount of food in the crop, she could have food/grass/whatever further in the process like in the gizzard and is trying to pass it on.
You can give her 1 teaspoon coconut oil and massage the crop really well before she goes to roost. I refrigerate the oil and break it up so they can just eat it.

Keeping her in is up to you if you feel like she needs checked on more frequently. Good way to get a look at more poop too.
Hopefully it's just a crop problem, but sometimes there's another condition that causes it.
Here's a good break down of crop conditions and treatments.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Mimi13]

Mimi I would bring her in for the night and keep her in tomorrow for observation.
I think your instincts are strong that something might be amiss and I am in agreement with this.

Will you go get her and update tomorrow?
Or even later tonight if anything changes?

I stood up around the coop tonight watching as all the birds filed in and Ruby went in like normal. I had planned on getting her and bringing her in tonight if I noticed any distress, but I didn’t. She marched right on in and roosted in her normal spot.

I would re-check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks. You mention her drinking a lot of water. I've found that if I have one that's drinking a lot, the crop is usually slow.
Since you only felt a small amount of food in the crop, she could have food/grass/whatever further in the process like in the gizzard and is trying to pass it on.
You can give her 1 teaspoon coconut oil and massage the crop really well before she goes to roost. I refrigerate the oil and break it up so they can just eat it.

Oh dear, I did not read this until after she had gone to roost. I am going to go up and give her some coconut oil (mine is not the solid kind so I’ll have to get her to wick it in) really quick and massage her crop. Her crop was very soft, maybe even mushy, so I am inclined to think her problem is in her digestive tract. I want her to be able to hopefully rid this tonight. I am going to read the link when I get back in.

Thank you both!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

You have been given good advice by others. I will check back in the am.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I stood up around the coop tonight watching as all the birds filed in and Ruby went in like normal. I had planned on getting her and bringing her in tonight if I noticed any distress, but I didn’t. She marched right on in and roosted in her normal spot.


Oh dear, I did not read this until after she had gone to roost. I am going to go up and give her some coconut oil (mine is not the solid kind so I’ll have to get her to wick it in) really quick and massage her crop. Her crop was very soft, maybe even mushy, so I am inclined to think her problem is in her digestive tract. I want her to be able to hopefully rid this tonight. I am going to read the link when I get back in.

Thank you both!!!

It's hopefully she went to roost with the others. I don't like separating them unless I have too, I feel like it stresses to be away from the flock.
My coconut oil is not really "solid" unless I refrigerate or freeze it for a few minutes, you can try that if you like.
Keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

[Mimi13]

It's hopefully she went to roost with the others. I don't like separating them unless I have too, I feel like it stresses to be away from the flock.
My coconut oil is not really "solid" unless I refrigerate or freeze it for a few minutes, you can try that if you like.
Keep us posted on how she's doing.

Well, I pulled her from the roost and sat down on a feed bucket with her cuddled in a towel on my lap. I made the light from my cap shine on the bowl so she could see to eat. (Even though I most likely shouldn’t have introduced any more food into her crop I decided to soak tiny pieces of a Bojangles biscuit with the oil.) I also had some drawn up in a syringe if needed. Nope, she had no problem inhaling the oil soaked biscuit. She ate that like she did the scrambled egg this morning, like she was starved to death. And she probably was very hungry. I gently massaged her crop while she was eating and a good 20 minutes after she finished. I think she enjoyed it. She made those soft little noises again like she did this morning. I’m sure there’s a name for the noise, not a cackle or a coo (I guess that’s what a dove does), but it’s sweet nonetheless. It’s like her thank you to me for helping her. Anyway, I put her back on the roost and continued to massage her crop. I also felt of several other girls’ crops around her. Their crops were hard, which is normal, and hers was mushy in comparison. I had also just fed her oil. Duh!

I kissed her and told her that I hoped whatever problem she was having would be rectified tonight.

P.S. I turned her butt AWAY from the white wall. Yeah, I can’t wait to see the outcome! No really, I hope the oil helps whatever it is ease on out.

Stand by. I’ll let you know. Thanks all!

 

[Mimi13]

This morning I met the birds in the run as they filed out of the coop. Ruby’s crop still was mushy and she was not really interested in the food, just water. Once she got started, she could not stop drinking.

Here’s the part I could kick myself over. As I dumped the wet mash into their trough, she let out a big old nasty, loose, oily poop. I quickly raked shavings on top of it before one of the other birds stepped in it, thinking the whole while there would be more on the droppings board I could examine. Nooooo! There was none! Yes, I could absolutely kick myself.

So here I am, kind of back to square one. I have read the article from @azygous three times now and based on what I’m seeing, I believe Ruby has a blockage somewhere further in the digestive tract, say the gizzard. There is no foul smell coming from her mouth. I am going to repeat the coconut oil process, but I have a question. The article describes massaging the crop in an upward circular motion toward the “opening” to drain it, not to vomit the bird, but to drain it. Is this “opening” what leads to the proventriculus? Just curious.

I guess my options are fairly limited with Ruby. I must give her more oil and Dulcolax, if the oil doesn’t seem to be working. At this point her crop is fairly distended with water. Is it okay if I give her the oil soaked in a quarter sized piece of biscuit or is it best if no food is given? I want to do what’s best for her.

Thank you all again.