Advice on Sick/Lethargic Chicken (poop pictures included)

[eidle123]

No major change in her poop this morning and no, there is nothing like beads or something small she could have gotten into... maybe dog food, but that should be water soluble.

I can definitely feel those blueberries in her crop, but they seem harder than I would have thought and there are about 4 or 5 "berries". Should I try to force her to eat some grit to try and break those up? She is barely limping along and doesn't seem to be able to pass those chunks yet.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is usually best to let them eat grit by free choice, and if she is still having problems forcing grit may make things worse. I have had hens with reproductive disorders who had pieces of scratch grains inside their crops (seen on necropsy) when they had not been given scratch for almost a month. Mineral oil is also good for impacted crops. It can be whipped into a bit of egg for her to eat, and a tsp (5ml) is a good dose.

 

[eidle123]

Update: House Chicken has passed on.

The reason why she wasn't passing food through her crop is because she was clogged up on the other end.....

I traced her digestive track to see if I could locate a something in her gizzard and I felt a huge mass between her legs (my heart sank). I knew what that mass was and I tried to do the olive oil and little pressure, but it was already too late. She was already on her last leg and too weak to pass that huge mass. And that smell... omfg. It took everything I had not to puke.

Lesson learned... don't try to regulate the Grit and Calcium in the chickens food yourself. Add a separate container of each and the chickens will regulate themselves.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so very sorry.

You mention that you were able to trace the digestive tract. Did you perform your own necropsy or were you able to just feel it from the outside underneath the skin? If you only palpated from the outside, if you have it in you to do it, open the abdomen and see if there was anything in there causing a blockage as well.

A mass between the legs is often internal laying, salpingitis, cancer, tumor or similar reproductive problem.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

I am so sorry you lost her!! I was following your thread and really hoping she was going to pull through, but sometimes, no matter what we do, we lose them anyway.
You are correct about giving seperate free choice grit and oyster shell and it's great you will carry that forward with you, but also don't beat yourself up about this, what @Wyorp Rock said is spot on. There are so many possibles here, it wasn't necessarily anything you did/didn't do. You certainly both tried your bests to save her.