Can anyone recommend a feed for a hen with crop / digestive issues?

[TropicalChickies]

Butchie looks great!

I'm interested to read how the sulfur goes.

Ahhhh now!
It's o.k. South America has some nice gamecocks. I agree, I don't like the sport, but I do like the birds. I have American Gamefowl (one is my avatar), never had any with Oriental blood. I do wish you luck on keeping them separated and away from one another. If they are bred anything like what I have then you can't love and peace that instinct out of them. If they have been diluted over the years, then you may not have too many issues.
Mine are not diluted, so they have to be separated and managed very early in life, the instinct is absolutely there.

I posted in the "Guess the Breed/Sex forum about the fellas (now that I know they are both definitely cockerels...)
If you have any tips on how to keep them separated (and still give them forage access) I'd appreciate it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-breed-can-i-keep-both.1573492/#post-26728959

 

[TwoCrows]

How's Butchie doing these days?

 

[TropicalChickies]

How's Butchie doing these days?

Hi. That's so kind of you to check up on Butchie. She seems quite well -- still waking up each morning with an empty crop. I'm still feeding her mostly boiled egg, sweet potato, and quinoa with some tuna or sardines every few days. I add a tsp or so of aloe to her food once per day and a sprinkle of probiotic powder.

I briefly massage her abdomen once a day, she still expels some gas from her beak when I initially massage, but it's much less than before and her abdomen feels softer and smaller overall. I give her yeast buster if she seems more gassy.

I've been giving her a TBSP of quinoa or sweet potato with her protein for both breakfast and lunch for the past week. When she eats only protein, her energy really drops. The little bit of carbs helps her poop to be more solid as well. So I'm watching her carefully, especially the crop and lower belly, and she's handling a bit more carbs ok now.

I do notice that she takes naps periodically -- one in the late morning around 10am and in the afternoon around 4pm (all the chickens relax then, the weather has been very hot). But Butchie doesn't just relax, she goes fast asleep for about half an hour. She's not lethargic in between her naps, she is actually quite active and very chatty, so perhaps her body is just concentrating on healing.

She's been sleeping in the coop again for the past five days as well and seems fine with that. There's actually been all sorts of chicken changes over the past week: The 4 year old hen who brooded Butchie died very suddenly last Thursday. That hen (Cherie) had been laying very thin shelled eggs with a weak band around them since she went back to laying after hatching and brooding two cockerels. I'd been giving her supplemental calcium to try to strengthen the shells, but it seems she got a swift infection. She had no other symptoms. I saw her stagger and fall over, she was dead in seconds. I found a crushed and empty weak eggshell in the nesting box after she died.

Of all my chickens, Cherie was the most feral and never acclimated to being cared for by me. She went broody at least five times per year. And she brutally bullied Butchie and the less dominant cockerel she mothered. So while I respected her feral nature and loved her as one of my animals, she was difficult to like. She had four fabulous years of free roaming life, hatched and raised chicks, and died without long suffering. More importantly, none of the other chickens seem too upset about her passing.

Except one. The dominant cockerel, Paco, was very much Cherie's favorite. She actually fought and hurt the other named Lucio when he challenged Paco. After I buried Cherie, Paco was wandering around by himself and in the late afternoon managed to drown in a small pond where we keep fish. It's a total mystery. The dogs were with me in the kitchen. The pond is within earshot, I would have heard flapping. It's like he just slipped in and drowned. It was a very sad day for me, obviously. He was a very charming and bold cockerel with flashy plumage. But perhaps Lucio will prove to be the steadier of the two. He seems calmer and is coming out of his shell now that Cherie isn't pecking on him all the time. I was debating how to separate the cockerels, even preparing another roosting area, because the fights were getting serious. But in a tragic way, the issue resolved itself.

And... two of the younger hens are both broody and sitting on hopefully fertilized eggs. Tomorrow my neighbor is bringing me two healthy 8 month old pullets to increase my flock -- between the older hens and the broodies, I have no eggs!

But Butchie seems to be taking it all in stride. She still has Cleo and the dogs for familiar company and she seems to be doing well even with all of the changes.

So much can happen with chickens. It's also good for me to learn to deal with deaths. None of them will live forever. And just do the best I can to give them good lives in their time here.

Here she is, taking an afternoon rest in a cool spot in the kitchen.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hi. That's so kind of you to check up on Butchie. She seems quite well -- still waking up each morning with an empty crop. I'm still feeding her mostly boiled egg, sweet potato, and quinoa with some tuna or sardines every few days. I add a tsp or so of aloe to her food once per day and a sprinkle of probiotic powder.

I briefly massage her abdomen once a day, she still expels some gas from her beak when I initially massage, but it's much less than before and her abdomen feels softer and smaller overall. I give her yeast buster if she seems more gassy.

I've been giving her a TBSP of quinoa or sweet potato with her protein for both breakfast and lunch for the past week. When she eats only protein, her energy really drops. The little bit of carbs helps her poop to be more solid as well. So I'm watching her carefully, especially the crop and lower belly, and she's handling a bit more carbs ok now.

I do notice that she takes naps periodically -- one in the late morning around 10am and in the afternoon around 4pm (all the chickens relax then, the weather has been very hot). But Butchie doesn't just relax, she goes fast asleep for about half an hour. She's not lethargic in between her naps, she is actually quite active and very chatty, so perhaps her body is just concentrating on healing.

She's been sleeping in the coop again for the past five days as well and seems fine with that. There's actually been all sorts of chicken changes over the past week: The 4 year old hen who brooded Butchie died very suddenly last Thursday. That hen (Cherie) had been laying very thin shelled eggs with a weak band around them since she went back to laying after hatching and brooding two cockerels. I'd been giving her supplemental calcium to try to strengthen the shells, but it seems she got a swift infection. She had no other symptoms. I saw her stagger and fall over, she was dead in seconds. I found a crushed and empty weak eggshell in the nesting box after she died.

Of all my chickens, Cherie was the most feral and never acclimated to being cared for by me. She went broody at least five times per year. And she brutally bullied Butchie and the less dominant cockerel she mothered. So while I respected her feral nature and loved her as one of my animals, she was difficult to like. She had four fabulous years of free roaming life, hatched and raised chicks, and died without long suffering. More importantly, none of the other chickens seem too upset about her passing.

Except one. The dominant cockerel, Paco, was very much Cherie's favorite. She actually fought and hurt the other named Lucio when he challenged Paco. After I buried Cherie, Paco was wandering around by himself and in the late afternoon managed to drown in a small pond where we keep fish. It's a total mystery. The dogs were with me in the kitchen. The pond is within earshot, I would have heard flapping. It's like he just slipped in and drowned. It was a very sad day for me, obviously. He was a very charming and bold cockerel with flashy plumage. But perhaps Lucio will prove to be the steadier of the two. He seems calmer and is coming out of his shell now that Cherie isn't pecking on him all the time. I was debating how to separate the cockerels, even preparing another roosting area, because the fights were getting serious. But in a tragic way, the issue resolved itself.

And... two of the younger hens are both broody and sitting on hopefully fertilized eggs. Tomorrow my neighbor is bringing me two healthy 8 month old pullets to increase my flock -- between the older hens and the broodies, I have no eggs!

But Butchie seems to be taking it all in stride. She still has Cleo and the dogs for familiar company and she seems to be doing well even with all of the changes.

So much can happen with chickens. It's also good for me to learn to deal with deaths. None of them will live forever. And just do the best I can to give them good lives in their time here.

Here she is, taking an afternoon rest in a cool spot in the kitchen.

View attachment 3472663

I am so glad to hear she is doing so well! You seem to have a perfect handle on her diet, I really think it's saving her life. Give her a few months, she may heal completely. These long standing yeast infections are incredibly difficult to eradicate completely unless a strict diet is followed. Great job! She looks quite good and comfy here!! Thanks for the update on her and your flock!

 

[TropicalChickies]

I am so glad to hear she is doing so well! You seem to have a perfect handle on her diet, I really think it's saving her life. Give her a few months, she may heal completely. These long standing yeast infections are incredibly difficult to eradicate completely unless a strict diet is followed. Great job! She looks quite good and comfy here!! Thanks for the update on her and your flock!

I am so glad to hear she is doing so well! You seem to have a perfect handle on her diet, I really think it's saving her life. Give her a few months, she may heal completely. These long standing yeast infections are incredibly difficult to eradicate completely unless a strict diet is followed. Great job! She looks quite good and comfy here!! Thanks for the update on her and your flock!

Thank you. It's been a wild week chicken-wise, so I'm just focused on keeping Butchie and the others on a predictable routine and keeping her diet consistently high-protein, low carb, no sugar.

I have a big wicker harvesting basket that I put on top of Butchie during feeding time, then I slip her food under the rim of the basket and dish up the chick feed for the others so she can feel she's "eating with the flock" but still gets her "special food."

 

[TropicalChickies]

Good morning everyone! Check out my fluffy new feathers!

 

[TwoCrows]

Good morning everyone! Check out my fluffy new feathers!

View attachment 3473390

She looks SO much better than she did when you first started this thread! Her eyes look brighter, her comb is a perfect red color, her feathers shine.... she just looks fabulous!

 

[TillyPeeps]

I had two chickens with vent gleet. Both happened when I stop giving them fermented feed. I used clotrimazole vaginal cream for women to treat their vent while giving plain yogurt as treats. Worked very well for me. I really think fermented feed is the best for their digestion system. Now I even gave them a small amount of fermented feed at -10°F.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Butchie looks great!

 

[Quimby House]

Hi everyone. My sweet 2.5 year old hen Butchie has been having vent gleet and crop issues on and off for the past seven months. She started off by getting very sick (pooping greenish water, not eating or moving) but has responded to care and improved little by little since then. I've been diligent about keeping her free of worms and parasites. I'm pretty certain she has a chronic yeast infection by her smell (cheesy) and the white plaque on the roof of her mouth. She also has flaky skin on her face, but cleaning it with iodine solution and dabbing with ketocozonal cream has helped that tremendously. I've tried micozonale and Clotrimazol, but she responded best to a careful dosing of acidified copper sulfate. After almost two months of near normal healthy chicken life, she had a bad sour crop episode five days ago. I did all the things that worked before-- fasted her for a day, flushed her with Epsom salts, and started her on ACS in her water, following with probiotics. She seems to be bouncing back and her crop has been clear the past two mornings.

My question is should I try to find another feed for her? She can eat boiled eggs no problem. A little well cooked rice doesn't set her off either. But when she eats chicken feed (I only give her 2TBSP and damp it), her crop gets big and mushy and feels full of liquid and/or gas. When I massage it, she occasionally burps and I get a whiff of yeasty smell.

I've referred to this great article often https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

And in it, @TwoCrows writes that switching feed can sometimes help chronic sour crop. The feed the hens eat is a pretty typical mash. The ingredients say wheat, barley, corn, oats, soy meal, sunflower meal, sunflower oil, vitamins and minerals.

Maybe she is gluten intolerant?
Seriously, though, every time I think it's over for this hen, she bounces back. When she's feeling good, she is happy and active, bossing the pullets around, sun bathing, and seems glad to be alive. So I'd like to help her feel better any way I can. As many of the BYC friends have pointed out, maybe she has an underlying issue. But maybe it's the feed...
Any recommendations for a sweet hen with a sensitive tummy (who also thinks she's a dog)?

Thank you! View attachment 3441369

Can you feed her chick starter crumbles?


And ACV in water with some gavage water until it clears up?