Advice on Sick/Lethargic Chicken (poop pictures included)

[azygous]

It might be helpful if you would post one of these YouTube videos that demonstrate this crop treatment. I, for one, have never heard of such a thing, and it brings to mind the danger of aspiration of crop liquid as the full crop is pressured upward toward the trachea. Seeing the video will help those of us who aren't familiar with this judge if such a treatment is useful or dangerous.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock Lol. That pink is my hand and the crinkly underneath is a plastic bag I used to take the poop out of her crate.

It is reassuring to see you guys are so detail orientated.

I have seen some youtube videos about trying to push her impacted crop back up to try and clear it. What are the thoughts on that process? I am not to keen on it, but if it will save her life, I am willing to try.

It might be helpful if you would post one of these YouTube videos that demonstrate this crop treatment. I, for one, have never heard of such a thing, and it brings to mind the danger of aspiration of crop liquid as the full crop is pressured upward toward the trachea. Seeing the video will help those of us who aren't familiar with this judge if such a treatment is useful or dangerous.

@eidle123 I thought maybe it was something under the plastic, but you never know

Again, I'm with @azygous show us the video you are talking about. Post a link to it please. What I think you are talking about is "vomiting" a chicken. I'm not a fan of doing that at all unless it's last resort - the risk of aspiration is great.
Crop issues can take a while to resolve. I would continue other efforts to get it cleared, but that's my thoughts.

 

[azygous]

I'm guessing, which isn't the same as knowing, that these videos the OP is referring to demonstrate massaging the crop. There is a correct way to massage the crop to avoid aspiration of fluids. If you massage the crop more than halfway up, it's dangerous. But by massaging the lower part of the crop in a circular fashion you can help the contents reach the crop "drain" which is about halfway or less from the crop's bottom.

I again urge the use of a stool softener if there's still a stubborn lump. Introduce it with more coconut oil and let it work for 30 minutes and then massage, with focused tiny circles on the hard lump. You should be able to feel the lump begin to break up.

I think you mentioned the recent poop may have had some pine shavings in it. If so, that may be what the hard lump is. Not drinking enough water can contribute to this happening, by the way.

 

[Kiki]

Hello,

My wife and I are looking for some advice on our sick House Chicken. She is a Rhode Island Red and about 2.5 years old. She was attached by a red-tailed hawk last fall and has been living in the warm house ever since (my wife's idea... not mine). She lives in a dog crate (3' x 4') during the day with pine shavings as bedding, but has the top open to roost every night. Every morning and evening we clean out her poop. During the summer months, she has the run of the back yard during the day but House Chicken doesn't really interact with the rest of the flock (7 other chickens). Since she got attacked by the hawk she lost sight in 1 eye, and is seen as the weakest link (aka she gets picked on).

She stopped laying eggs about 6 months ago, and has been fine/healthy/active ever since.

Within the last 10 days, she has been acting very quiet, and has had some really bad diarrhea (see attached pictures), and seems very thin. As of Friday, she started to act very lethargic and my wife gave her some electrolytes (for poultry) by Durvet. She drank some water, but not much. We have been able to give her liquids via syringe.

As of yesterday she stopped eating completely, and we have tried to give her soft food; bananas, yogurt, berries, apples, cooked cabbage, scrambled eggs.... but she still barely eats. My wife is currently trying to feed her yogurt and blueberries as I type this.

I was thinking sour crop, but I am far from an expert. Her poop is very watery and the feathers below her butt are caked with poop. We have given her a bath to clean out her butt, but it gets messy within a day.

Any tips or feedback is extremely appreciated. We love our house chicken. We saved her once and we don't want her to be suffering.

Thank you,
Eric & Jenn

I'm sorry she isn't feeling well.
I've not read through the thread yet...doing so now.
The first thing that pops out at me is the not laying eggs for six months bit.
Infection is the first thing that comes to mind.


Going read now.

 

[eidle123]

Video for reference:

Another night of a mixture of coconut oil, electrolytes, and yogurt along with the crop massages.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Video for reference:

Another night of a mixture of coconut oil, electrolytes, and yogurt along with the crop massages.

Did you try the stool softener?
I suppose very last, life saving resort you can try vomiting her. I'm not sure how well that would work and you do risk aspirating her.

 

[eidle123]

I have the recommended stool softener that contains Docusate Sodium. I will break that capsule apart and syringe feed it to her. How many should she get? I assume 1 tablet of 100 mg?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have the recommended stool softener that contains Docusate Sodium. I will break that capsule apart and syringe feed it to her. How many should she get? I assume 1 tablet of 100 mg?

Yes, just one.
I usually just pop the pill in their beak. Is she able to swallow on her own?
Wait about 1/2-1 hour then massage. See if you can break up what's in there.

 

[eidle123]

Pill is popped and down. I massaged her crop and definitely feel a few larger chunks. They feel like the size of blueberries (which she recently ate whole) but these chunks feel very hard.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Pill is popped and down. I massaged her crop and definitely feel a few larger chunks. They feel like the size of blueberries (which she recently ate whole) but these chunks feel very hard.

Glad she took the pill.
Now you wait.

Can you think of anything she could have eaten that was not food? Beads, kids toys, something like that?
It very well could be that the gizzard is impacted and the crop contents can't pass through. Sometimes that can happen as well - a blockage somewhere else in the body.

Was the crop mostly empty this morning, except for the few chunks?