6 yr old hen struggling- crop issue?

Thanks @azygous for adding in!

This morning:
Started the yeast infection treatment. She lapped up the ointment & coconut oil on her own from the bowl. Guess that's a hit! She did have a bit of a sour smell when I gently massaged the crop to see how it compared to yesterday. No liquid, but it's a hard spongy texture, if that makes sense.

Bad news though: As you hinted at, I unfortunately do think this might be a symptom of a problem farther down the line. I gave her a bath in a warm bucket of water to clean her vent off, which she seemed to enjoy, but while I was swishing the water around to break up the crusted on gunk, I found that she has a hard mass under her abdomen. :( I grabbed another Wyandotte just to compare, and it's pretty clear that while they are all big, robust girls, this is something different.

So now the decision- do I give it some time to see if it resolves (I know that's very, very unlikely) or do I go ahead and euthanize while she's still feeling happy and perky? I hate this part...
 
Let's hold off on that final decision until we've tried a few things first.

She may be eggbound. While continuing the yeast cream, give her a calcium tablet and put her in a crate on a warm damp towel with a heating pad under it to create moist heat. Pop the calcium tablet directly into her beak. This will help create contractions to help her expel the egg if that's what's behind this.

Monitor her poop. Tell us if there's a watery discharge from her vent. Watch to see what kind of poop shows up.

Meanwhile, get to work on a crop bra. If you don't sew, you can use glue to hold the pieces together. It doesn't have to look like Chanel designed it. This will help the crop to empty as you're treating it for yeast and impaction.

Offer her some boiled egg. If she is too weak to eat, you may need to give her an oral syringe full of sugar water and Poultry Nutri-drench. I highly recommend the Nutri-drench over other vitamins because it's formulated for sick chickens and goes immediately into the bloodstream by-passing the digestive system, which is shut down right now.
 
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Thanks again for the suggestions! I can definitely get her set up as you described. Don't have any calcium tabs and I live in a really rural place so will have to think about where I can track some down- the pharmacy is only open for prescriptions because of covid, and we don't have any grocery/big box stores. But I will figure something out.

Good news is that she's happy to eat and drink, so I won't have to tube her at this point. Just not sure much is making its way through the system.

Will monitor poo.

This cracked me up! I am not a master sewer but handy enough I can make this happen.
It doesn't have to look like Chanel designed it. This will help the crop to empty as you're treating it for yeast and impaction.

Thank you!!
 
Do you have Dollar General or similar type store?
Convenience store?
TUMS, Caltrate or generic store brand Calcium will work.

I'm sorry you are feeling a hard lump in the abdomen. If it's low/below the vent between the legs I would suspect a reproductive issue - tumor, cancer, egg matter/material in the abdomen. It's possible there's an egg in the oviduct which is along the back, but I've found if in the abdomen below the vent generally it's one of the above.

I would not put her down unless she's in a hard state of decline. I treat symptoms as they appear in laying hens since mine are more like pets instead of livestock. If I can get a crop issue to clear up and the hen continues to seem happy within herself, eats/drinks, can interact with the others then I leave her be and just watch for signs that she not doing well. I do check crops regularly, look for lice/mites, etc.
 
I'm sorry you are feeling a hard lump in the abdomen. If it's low/below the vent between the legs I would suspect a reproductive issue - tumor, cancer, egg matter/material in the abdomen. It's possible there's an egg in the oviduct which is along the back, but I've found if in the abdomen below the vent generally it's one of the above.

Unfortunately this is my suspicion as well. But I'll try some of these strategies as long as she seems up for it. I never want to cause more pain but if there are some things I can do to try to help, I'm game!

Heading out in a few to find the tums.
 
Found the Tums. I got a roll of peppermint and fruit flavored. I thought I remembered there was an ingredient in mint gum that was toxic to dogs, so wasn’t sure if that is a problem with the flavoring or the gum itself. Is there a reason to use one flavor vs the other for my chicky?
 

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