air filled crop?

[Minxtures]

I hope someone can help, i'm feeling a bit desperate.
2 days ago I noticed my 1 year old black Silkie hen wasn't herself, not eating or moving much. On closer inspection I saw her chest was oddly inflating and deflating.
I picked her up and felt her crop area and all the air came out making a burping noise through her mouth,( it just feels like a deflated rubber balloon). It feels like her crop's completely empty, but when she sits it fills with air.
I've tried tipping her upside down and massaging in case of sour crop, maybe gases building up. I can't smell anything and nothing's come out.
She wont eat or drink and she opens and closes her beak a lot as if she's drinking water.

I'm trying to feed her water and yoghurt with a syringe as much as I can, and managed to get her to take a couple of small chunks of scrambled egg. She' gotten so thin so quick

any help or suggestions I can get would be greatly appreciated

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm not sure what to do about air in the crop, but I would check to see if it is a leaking air sac. Here is a link to read about a leaking air sac just in case that could be the problem:
http://ijasvm.com/ijasvmadmin/upload/IJASVM_5113cbc51d31b.pdf
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/171121/deflating-subcutaneous-emphysema

 

[Minxtures]

Thanks Eggcessive, I've been investigating the air sac thing, I don't think it is that but can't see what else it could be.
It definitely feels like it's air in the crop and the air comes out with a gentle squeeze (but just fills again when she sits). Unless there's also a hole in the crop and air from a leaking sac is filling it ..??

I imagine she's not eating because her crop feels full..She's still quite bright and feisty which i think is a good thing just not moving about or eating/drinking.

 

[Minxtures]

Well,Ninja seems to be back to her normal self. This morning her chest was no longer filled with air and she is eating well! I wish I knew what it was and what helped if anything, so relieved shes ok.

Unfortunately my daughters favourite Silkie is in a bad way. I found her laying on the ground unable to stand yesterday. I could feel she had an egg on the way and assumed it had got stuck. It came out while she was sat on my lap, but she still can't stand, even after a nights rest. I can't seem to get her eating or drinking. She's still bright and alert though..

 

[Eggcessive]

Well,Ninja seems to be back to her normal self. This morning her chest was no longer filled with air and she is eating well! I wish I knew what it was and what helped if anything, so relieved shes ok.

Unfortunately my daughters favourite Silkie is in a bad way. I found her laying on the ground unable to stand yesterday. I could feel she had an egg on the way and assumed it had got stuck. It came out while she was sat on my lap, but she still can't stand, even after a nights rest. I can't seem to get her eating or drinking. She's still bright and alert though..

I would keep an eye on her. Sometimes chickens can have temporary lameness after being egg bound. If it persists, I would start poultry vitamins right away, in case of a deficiency. Look for any paralysis of legs, wings, or neck, which could be symptoms of Mareks disease.

 

[Minxtures]

Thanks Eggcessive. She has vitamins in her water and I added B12 but only able to drip it on to her beak. She's in a box with hay propping her up and has a heat lamp on. Might be wishful thinking but i'm sure i've seen her toes moving once or twice. I'm a bit worried she'll twist her legs when she flaps about sometimes and manages to turn her body around, but i'm not quite as worried about her lack of eating as Ninja went so long.

 

[theuglychick]

Thanks Eggcessive. She has  vitamins in her water and I added B12 but only able to drip it on to her beak. She's in a box with hay propping her up  and has a heat lamp on. Might be wishful thinking but i'm sure i've seen her toes moving once or twice.  I'm a bit worried she'll twist her legs when she flaps about sometimes and manages to turn her body around, but i'm not quite as worried about her lack of eating as Ninja went so long. 

How has your chicken faired since this happened? I'm dealing with the same thing with one of my pullets. She isn't of laying age yet. I noticed this evening she was laying around a lot, felt her crop was squishy before bed, air came out of her mouth when I was massaging it. She still seems bothered by it. Her throat is being held distended. She's kind of making soft moaning noises when she's breathing. Just curious how yours are doing after this.

 

[Minxtures]

Ninja's been absolutely fine ever since! When she sat she looked like she had swallowed a large grapefruit it was that noticeable. is yours eating and drinking? If she's having trouble I definitely recommend natural yoghurt. I think she didn't eat because she felt full so I deflated her and fed her yoghurt and vitamins as much as possible (patiently, blob by blob on the end of her beak), I mean at least every half hour. Didn't get anything else done that week!.
I hope yours pulls through ok. I think the important thing is to make sure she's eating and drinking , they go down hill super-fast if they don't.


The paralyzed girl didn't make it after 5 weeks she didn't wake up one morning, I can't believe she lasted so long!
I think she must have had some sort of severe nerve damage, when i put my hand on her back you could feel a vibration. (I have MS and when i put my head down my back does the same thing)

I now have a 4 week old Poland that appears to have wry neck. Her neck was twisted and her head hung down, she had to walk backwards to not stand on it. I gave her vitamin E, a multi-vitamin, B vitamins, natural yoghurt and baby aspirin in water. This went on for about 4 days then she seemed to miraculously recover. a week later she has it again, only twisted the other way...