Bloated chest in pullet- Sour crop??

[KnightsMist]

Checking in again. Hen (Cadbury) still has a pouch in her chest, even in mornings it's not gone. Poop looked normal for a couple days but this morning there are big wet spots again with poop. I've been giving her monostat 2x/day since Fri, will continue for the 7 days. Still giving oil, yogurt, massaging her crop a couple times a day; she's eating, drinking, running around with her flock.

I'm just sort of ready to throw my arms up at this point. I don't know what else to do. She's certainly not getting any worse, she did appear to be improving for a day or 2 but is quite full again last night and this morning. Do I do anything else? Or just let it be? Does it just take more time to resolve?

 

[Eggcessive]

What is she eating? Sorry that her crop is still full. Is it full and puffy in the morning, or full and hard or dough-like? Is there a sour or bad odor? If not, it is not a sour crop.

Have you checked into using a crop bra? I am not very good at treating crops disorders. I never saw any crop problems until my hens were 5 years old. Most of their problems were related to reproductive disorders which caused fluid or pressure in the abdomen slowing down the crop. One or two had an impacted gizzard which did not allow the crop to empty. I lost each one eventually.

Others with success are much better at giving you advice. If an avian or regular vet familiar with chickens is available that might be best. Tube feeding fluids and electrolytes is what some do. You may be able to remove some of the crop contents with a tube also, to prevent having to vomit them and risking aspiration.

 

[azygous]

Would you say her behavior is normal at this point? Or is she lacking appetite and hanging off at the outer skirts of flock activity and not acting like she feels well? Would you say her behavior is the same as it was when you began the Monistat or worse?

 

[KnightsMist]

Her behavior was off initially, lethargic and a little weak, but over the last several days has been fairly consistent with the others. She eats her crumble and any treats (fresh watermellon on these hot days, yesterday I topped it with some plain yogurt). She also scratches around with the others for bugs, grass, etc. At times she keeps up with them when they run/flap from one place to another (free ranging) and other times she tries to but has to slow down and just walk to catch up.

Her crop has for the most part felt soft and squishy, sometimes feels full and other times like a partially deflated balloon. I haven't smelled anything foul from her beak, I just started giving monostat as a precaution when nothing else was working.

 

[KnightsMist]

She's definitely having a difficult time keeping up with the flock, watching them all now. The others just ran/flew back to the run. Cadbury started to but quickly had to slow to a walk and stop a couple times to rest. Not a great distance from where they started to the run, about 50 feet maybe, but Cad had to stop after about 10 feet.

 

[azygous]

She's had exactly how much Monistat each day for exactly how many days now?

 

[KnightsMist]

She's had exactly how much Monistat each day for exactly how many days now?

1/2" of cream 2x per day since Friday morning through this morning thus far, planning to continue through Thurs (7 full days)

 

[azygous]

Are you prepared to step up her treatment to try to flush out her system and try to get control over her crop problem?

Recently I had a hen that simply was not showing any improvement with the conventional miconazole treatment following oil treatment for possible blockage. My hen was slowly starving, and it appeared from her poop that she had a blockage somewhere, though apparently not in her crop.

I just finished giving her Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) flushes twice a day for three full days. Next, she will be getting copper sulfate in her drinking water to complete the flushing of any yeast in her system. She began showing improvement after the first day of the Epsom flushes, and now she's eating again and showing signs of returning to normal behavior.

The treatment requires you to tube feed the Epsom solution directly into your hen's crop. You will need to either ask your vet for a tube feeding kit, around $3, or buy some tubing where they sell aquarium supplies and scrounge an oral syringe from a pharmacy that will fit into the tubing.

Are you up for this?

 

[KnightsMist]

Are you prepared to step up her treatment to try to flush out her system and try to get control over her crop problem?

Recently I had a hen that simply was not showing any improvement with the conventional miconazole treatment following oil treatment for possible blockage. My hen was slowly starving, and it appeared from her poop that she had a blockage somewhere, though apparently not in her crop.

I just finished giving her Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) flushes twice a day for three full days. Next, she will be getting copper sulfate in her drinking water to complete the flushing of any yeast in her system. She began showing improvement after the first day of the Epsom flushes, and now she's eating again and showing signs of returning to normal behavior.

The treatment requires you to tube feed the Epsom solution directly into your hen's crop. You will need to either ask your vet for a tube feeding kit, around $3, or buy some tubing where they sell aquarium supplies and scrounge an oral syringe from a pharmacy that will fit into the tubing.

Are you up for this?

I'd be up for trying it, pending a couple questions: what is the risk involved with the treatment? It seems high. What are the consequences of not doing it? Will she get better on her own over a longer period of time or will she just go downhill from here?

I definitely want to help her get better, and I work from home so treating her twice a day isn't an issue. I just don't want to make things worse if I screw it up. Are there any video tutorials on this? I've never had to tube feed an animal before

 

[azygous]

Epsom salts as a flush is very safe. There is a small risk of dehydration, but as long as the patient has easy access to regular drinking water, it's not likely to be an issue.

Tubing is actually the safest, and once you master it, the easiest way to get any substance into a chicken, cooperative or uncooperative. I can walk you through it step by step.

The copper sulfate stage of the treatment is also safe as long as you carefully follow proper mixing instructions. Right now, my patient is in a safe pen with her long time friend, and even though the friend doesn't need the copper sulfate, it's safe for her to drink it also. I can give you specific instructions on how to mix it, but you will need to find a place to buy it. It's not always easy to find.