bony neck and keel, poopy vent, twisting neck, spitting up green

[Chickie McFuzz]

I'm not sure what is wrong or if it is multiple issues at the same time, if so, what do I treat first, and how?

I noticed my chicken looking lethargic and twisting her head and neck around yesterday. This made me think she had an impacted crop. She was eating, but would eat some very hungrily and then stop and just look at it.
When i picked her up, she spit up some green fluid.
I started trying to massage her crop, as I figured that was the problem after reading some forums. I noticed then, that I could feel her keel protruding. It felt very bony.
Her vent has been very poopy lately as well. and i noticed some type of mites on her neck.

i gave her some yogurt mixed with olive oil yesterday to try and get the crop empty.

i brought her in separate from the others last night.

Today I heard some gurgling sounds after she ate some watered down yogurt this morning. Tried some massaging again. I am concerned though that I can't really feel a full crop. I don't want to hurt her neck by trying to move the wrong thing. What should it feel like? She continues to twist her head and neck around like she is trying to get something down.

She has pooped several times today, here's a poop from this morning, all of it looks pretty similar


this is what her vent looks like

here's a view of her keel, you can sort of see how it is sticking out

any ideas would be helpful, is it worms? sour crop? both? Thanks in advance.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm not sure what is wrong or if it is multiple issues at the same time, if so, what do I treat first, and how?

I noticed my chicken looking lethargic and twisting her head and neck around yesterday. This made me think she had an impacted crop. She was eating, but would eat some very hungrily and then stop and just look at it.
When i picked her up, she spit up some green fluid.
I started trying to massage her crop, as I figured that was the problem after reading some forums. I noticed then, that I could feel her keel protruding. It felt very bony.
Her vent has been very poopy lately as well. and i noticed some type of mites on her neck.

i gave her some yogurt mixed with olive oil yesterday to try and get the crop empty.

i brought her in separate from the others last night.

Today I heard some gurgling sounds after she ate some watered down yogurt this morning. Tried some massaging again. I am concerned though that I can't really feel a full crop. I don't want to hurt her neck by trying to move the wrong thing. What should it feel like? She continues to twist her head and neck around like she is trying to get something down.

She has pooped several times today, here's a poop from this morning, all of it looks pretty similar


this is what her vent looks like

here's a view of her keel, you can sort of see how it is sticking out

any ideas would be helpful, is it worms? sour crop? both? Thanks in advance.

How old is she?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
The gurgling after feeding could be sour crop - does her breath smell?

If wouldn't hurt to treat for worms you can use Valbazen 1/2 ml orally and then repeated in 10 days for each chicken or Fenbendazole (Safeguard, Panacur) at 1/4 ml per pound for 5 days in a row.

The neck twisting? Do you have a video? It could be from worms, crop issues, vitamin/nutritional deficiency, lice/mites or neurological. I suspect she is doing it because of her crop. Does she have grit available?

If you think she has sour crop you may want to treat for that as well. There are several methods for this, nystatin, monistat, epsom salt flush, it depends on what your preference is:

http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues-html/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/06/chicken-anatomy-crop-impacted-crop-sour.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630307/sour-crop-cured-with-monistat
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

 

[Chickie McFuzz]

She's 2.
I feed pellets and occasionally scratch grains. Some scraps like watermelon and strawberry tops. They also free range in my yard so so they eat grass and other plants. I give grit daily.
Couldn't figure out how to upload my video.
Thanks for the links.
After reading more,i'm pretty sure it's sour crop.breath does smell.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's 2.
I feed pellets and occasionally scratch grains. Some scraps like watermelon and strawberry tops. They also free range in my yard so so they eat grass and other plants. I give grit daily.
Couldn't figure out how to upload my video.
Thanks for the links.
After reading more,i'm pretty sure it's sour crop.breath does smell.

Hopefully you will be able to get treatment started.
Let us know how she is doing.

 

[Chickie McFuzz]

I ended up taking her to the vet, they gave her a dewormer, valbazen and an antibiotic. Took an x-ray but didn't see anything stuck in the crop. She did start eating some more, her appetite seems to come and go, or it depends on what i'm trying to give her. Vet said the x-ray showed a lot of fluid in her abdomen, and her backside feels like a water balloon. So that may be the biggest issue. Could be some sort of blockage causing all the fluid or ascites apparently. So if that's the case, doesn't seem like there is too much hope for her. I let her run around the yard with the others, then bring her back inside to keep an eye on her and see what her food intake and poop output is like. Vet said that because her keel bone is sticking out so much, she has had problems for quite awhile.
Today in the yard, she was running around and eating, but then would seem to lose her balance and trip over to one side. She took a few breaks where she just sat down and closed her eyes, I thought she might be dying right then and there. I don't really know, none of my chickens have ever just sat down in the yard for an extended time unless they are dust bathing. I kept looking at everyone's poop today and actually saw a worm in one of the others. So I'm going to deworm them all.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear this.

If they are seeing fluid in her abdomen it could be Ascites or Peritonitis.
Supportive care/comfort is all you can do. Some people do have some limited success in slowly draining some of the fluid.
The fluid puts a strain on them, so you will see her sitting/laying down more.

Valbazen is a good wormer, so if you did see a worm then treating the whole flock would be a good idea.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Chickie McFuzz]

she ended up dying. Vet said that he would do a free necropsy for me. Because he was interested in seeing what was going on, and because he knew I was new to all this and wanted to learn. Said it was peritonitis. I heard somewhere that this may be somewhat common in this breed (silver laced wyandotte), My other two are doing just fine. its sad, but a learning experience