14 week old sick barred rock

[Barred Rock Mom]

Current update as of 8.28.12 she has a swollen belly and I noticed this morning her poop droppings was not normal. Instead had long stringy grass / hay. Sounds like she is constipated, bound up.

What is normally given to a hen that could possibly be constipated and not having normal hen droppings.


We have a barred rock hen approx 14 weeks old. She is one of 10 that we have gotten. From day one all 10 acted as normal chicks do run around, eat a lot and drink plenty of water. Just a couple of days ago one hen is acting really wobbly not moving around a lot. She bends slightly to drink water and almost falls over when she comes upright. She is not moving around or jumping up on the roost like all other 9 hens. this morning I found her sitting in a corner of the coop with her eyes closed. We have her now separated from the others in a brooder pen. She is standing drinking some water, and eating a small amount. There is no sneezing or symptoms there of. No swelling around the eyes or such. the last few days we have had some humid weather, but I always change their water many times through out the day. All my hens always have had good fresh water for them. Fully vented screen door & windows to the coop, with opening for them all to go out into a large pen caged in area, with roof over top for shade. I even run a fan to move the air around in the coop. All other 9 hens are acting just fine. What could be going on. Could she need some added vitamin supplement? Can I give her vitamin water? Possible she has become dehydrated?

We have 7 other large laying barred rock hens, and they all are doing just fine. Eating, drinking, and laying plenty of eggs. We have two separate coops, one for the larger laying barred rocks, and one coop for the new 14 week old. So the larger hens never mix with the smaller newer babies.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

Sorry, not sure but I hope someone else will come along. Make sure she eats and drinks.
Good luck!

 

[Sebrightsrock]

Is the swollen area where the crop is?

 

[Barred Rock Mom]

yes the swollen area is at the crop. I just now learned that her food might be stuck within the crop and to try using a method of plain yogurt "all natural" with some cool water mix in making it syringe able. Squirt it down the throat several times a day, each time massage the crop vigorously to mix the contents of yogurt. Keep doing this until it passes. could take 24 hours to clean out. I have taken her feed away from her leaving plenty of fresh water, along with some vitamin water. Am I on the right track for possibly the feed has become logged within the crop area?

 

[Sebrightsrock]

So if it is around the crop area she problably has impacted crop I think what you are doing now is right. But if that doesen't work you will have to cut her crop area open,empty ot her crop,and sew it back up. I think there are a few videos on youtube on how to do it. Hope this helps.

 

[leadwolf1]

I think instead of water, the normal thing to use is olive oil. If you squirt it down her throat, be prepared to drown her. Unless you take care to make sure that you do not shoot it into her lungs. Normally, you drip the oil into the front of their beaks or, give it to them on a little bread soaked in the oil. You can also mix with yogurt and hand feed that to her. You need something to help the mess slide on down. No unlike what you need to do for cats with hairballs.

Good luck. There are many good posts on here of how to deal with and impacted crop. You might want to do a search and see how others have dealt successfully with it.

 

[Barred Rock Mom]

All set the yogurt mixed thinner with water must have done the trick. She is having normal poop droppings and walking around in the brooder cage just fine. Drinking water really well. Still a little bit of swelling around the crop area, but not as bad as it was. I believe she is well on her way to getting better. Actually put some yogurt in a small dish and she really enjoyed eating that. We will leave her in the brooder cage for one more night to see how she does. Then dry a little bit of food with some olive oil dripped on it, so this should hopefully push any thing else down that the yogurt did not get to. Thanks for the input!

 

[Sebrightsrock]

Update us on how she is doing tommorow her crop might be ok now but it could get impacted again when you switch back to harder foods.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

When you switch her to regular feed, I would suggest moistening it well so that there may be less chance of it getting impacted.

 

[leadwolf1]

It could be that she is passing what came out of her crop to begin with. If you would like, I know that molasses is a laxative that is used in chickens. I don't remember how much, I think it was a tbsp in a quart of water for 24 hours. Applesauce is also a mild laxative. Good luck.