6wk Bantam Neurological Issues

[Wyorp Rock]

Above the keelbone, there are bones loose and freely moving. The right side of his body where his wing attaches (or should attach) feels wrong, compared to the left side. And that is the direction he bobs his head, to the right. I am totally dumbfounded as to how it happened, and also at a loss on what to do from here, besides a kind euthanasia. I was able to gently push some things around (probably not necessarily "back into place"), and the crazy head bobbing stopped. He immediately went to eat and drink for two minutes, and then the head bobbing began again.

Can you get photos of his poop?

If possible, an xray may help.

You pushed some things around. You are finding the crop.

Do you feel anything that feels like an Air Bubble or Balloon under the skin?
Chickens have 9 air sacs, a ruptured air sac may cause him to bobble the head too.

IF you are able to push about and he can eat/drink, do that, but raise the food/water up to about chest height or so, this way he's not "bending" down for food/water - see if that makes a difference.

Very well could have suffered some type of injury if there was some brooder trouble.
Chicks can heal fairly quickly, so I wouldn't give up just yet.

 

[Tookie]

I was totally wrong about the problem. I am in way over my head. I went to feel for crop fullness to see if he was eating today, gearing up for some torpedo feeding and vitamin treatments... and he seems to have a broken wishbone. Without an x-ray, I don't know for sure what's broken where, but something is absolutely wrong on the inside. Above the keelbone, there are bones loose and freely moving. The right side of his body where his wing attaches (or should attach) feels wrong, compared to the left side. And that is the direction he bobs his head, to the right. I am totally dumbfounded as to how it happened, and also at a loss on what to do from here, besides a kind euthanasia. I was able to gently push some things around (probably not necessarily "back into place"), and the crazy head bobbing stopped. He immediately went to eat and drink for two minutes, and then the head bobbing began again. He felt pretty skinny in my hands, even for a bantam chick.

I know I probably need a vet's guidance and some proper x-rays, but if you or anybody has any suggestions, I am all ears.

@Tookie
@nuthatched

I haven't tried hand feeding today because I think he is still eating some on his own. I did compare to other bantams, and the main difference is this weird protruding thing on the right. It is about 1 inch long, hence why I thought bone. But bantam bones must be smaller than this thing, surely. I have never seen a chicken adjust their crop before, but videos online look similar. I SO hope that is what it is (and not a bone). Much easier to treat. Thank you for your patience while I iron out what the real problem is....I feel like I've run the gamut on "head bobbing" causes.

That's quite strange! I wonder what that bump is? It doesn't seem to be the crop, from what I can tell.
I would definitely do the vitamins for awhile and see if it helps.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

Can you get photos of his poop?

If possible, an xray may help.

You pushed some things around. You are finding the crop.

Do you feel anything that feels like an Air Bubble or Balloon under the skin?
Chickens have 9 air sacs, a ruptured air sac may cause him to bobble the head too.

IF you are able to push about and he can eat/drink, do that, but raise the food/water up to about chest height or so, this way he's not "bending" down for food/water - see if that makes a difference.

Very well could have suffered some type of injury if there was some brooder trouble.
Chicks can heal fairly quickly, so I wouldn't give up just yet.

Okay, so I checked again this morning. This time I can feel the object very well. It is curved into a crescent shape, about as large as my pinky (2.5 in long, little over 1/4" wide) with squarish edges. The object is hard. It is on the right side of his body, on the exterior of his body (like where the crop ought to be). I am really starting to think crop problem. When I ignore the large piece, and take note of all the bones on both sides of the body (after looking for a long time at a chicken skeleton diagram), they all otherwise seem accounted for.

He is eating and drinking, though still looking poorly. I raised the feed and water like you suggested.

I did give them some lettuce ribs a few days ago, but I figured they would pick at them, not swallow them whole. This object feels so large, I think it would be too big to be something swallowed whole by this tiny bird.

If this IS a lettuce rib, what do I do about that?

Here is poop photo. It looks like grainy mush.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

Am I gonna have to do crop surgery?? His crop is 100% empty feeling (it's evening here) aside from this big thing in there. He's drinking water but I haven't seen him eat today. If it's a lettuce rib, I feel like massage/induced vomiting won't work the same as if it were hay or grass...

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

Am I gonna have to do crop surgery?? His crop is 100% empty feeling (it's evening here) aside from this big thing in there. He's drinking water but I haven't seen him eat today. If it's a lettuce rib, I feel like massage/induced vomiting won't work the same as if it were hay or grass...

@azygous I don't mean to demand your time, but I have seen you counsel others well on crop problems... do you have any input or suggestions? I am struggling on deciding how to help this poor bird, or if the crop is even the issue here.

 

[azygous]

I'm as perplexed as you are. There is nothing that leaps out at me as a cause of this chick's problems.

One thing comes to mind, though - grit. Are these chicks getting regular access to chick grit? This is something new chicken keepers often overlook. Grit isn't necessary until you start feeding things like lettuce, fruits, etc. If you haven't given the chicks grit, get some chick grit from the feed store and give it to all the chicks. If you have sand on hand, that will serve as grit.

When chicks need grit, they will crave it, so they will eat it willingly. No need to try to force them.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

I'm as perplexed as you are. There is nothing that leaps out at me as a cause of this chick's problems.

One thing comes to mind, though - grit. Are these chicks getting regular access to chick grit? This is something new chicken keepers often overlook. Grit isn't necessary until you start feeding things like lettuce, fruits, etc. If you haven't given the chicks grit, get some chick grit from the feed store and give it to all the chicks. If you have sand on hand, that will serve as grit.

When chicks need grit, they will crave it, so they will eat it willingly. No need to try to force them.

Yes, they all have access to grit. Right now, I feel like this must be something long stuck in the crop (possibly even into the esophagus? Is that possible? The object comes up pretty high on the bird's chest area). This chick has been like this for several days, and I don't know how much time I have to wait and see how things progress.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm a bit perplexed as well.

Not sure how you should proceed.

 

[azygous]

If this bird were an adult, I would suggest trying crop surgery, but on such a young chick, it would worry me. However, if this chick continues to lose weight and becomes more lethargic and in distress, it might be worth the risk as the alternative would be death.

By the way, the esophagus is the "chute" that leads directly into the crop from the throat. The chick may have a piece of lettuce in the crop that won't move out of the crop. Below, I'm sticking a diagram of the chicken's inner workings so you can understand better what is supposed to happen.

Grit in the crop usually begins the digestion, then the food moves to the proventriculus where acids start to break down the food. Then it moves into the gizzard where the really intense grinding takes place. The gizzard is also where most of the grit is needed. It's possible that the lettuce is stuck in the crop because it's cellulose and doesn't respond to digestive acids breaking it down. This is one reason we give baby chicks only very small bits of such foods.

One thing you can try is coconut oil and a stool softener to try to get the obstruction to move out of the crop. Use solid coconut oil broken into pea size pieces and frozen. Then you can safely slip the bits into the chick without risking aspiration. Give one teaspoon in all.

You can follow that up with a stool softener capsule.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

If this bird were an adult, I would suggest trying crop surgery, but on such a young chick, it would worry me. However, if this chick continues to lose weight and becomes more lethargic and in distress, it might be worth the risk as the alternative would be death.

By the way, the esophagus is the "chute" that leads directly into the crop from the throat. The chick may have a piece of lettuce in the crop that won't move out of the crop. Below, I'm sticking a diagram of the chicken's inner workings so you can understand better what is supposed to happen.

Grit in the crop usually begins the digestion, then the food moves to the proventriculus where acids start to break down the food. Then it moves into the gizzard where the really intense grinding takes place. The gizzard is also where most of the grit is needed. It's possible that the lettuce is stuck in the crop because it's cellulose and doesn't respond to digestive acids breaking it down. This is one reason we give baby chicks only very small bits of such foods.

One thing you can try is coconut oil and a stool softener to try to get the obstruction to move out of the crop. Use solid coconut oil broken into pea size pieces and frozen. Then you can safely slip the bits into the chick without risking aspiration. Give one teaspoon in all.

You can follow that up with a stool softener capsule.

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Thank you for the info. I saw this chick eating this morning, which is encouraging to me - if it's eating and drinking independently, do I need to be concerned about nutrition while we get treatment sorted out? No change in symptoms otherwise.

Also, I am going to post pics of the same chick the gender/breed ID section. I cannot keep roosters where I live. So, if it's a pullet, I will try my best to save it. But if it is a cockerel, then I will consider culling. I hate to doom the chick based upon sex, but I don't reckon anybody around here will want a bantam roo with a history of crop issues. I already have at least 3 confirmed cockerels who will need a new home.