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

So sorry to hear your girl is having crop troubles, it can be tough!

One of our old girls (who sadly eventually passed of heart failure) had similar issues with chronic sour crop. I was finally able to successfully treat it using avian Medistatin mixed in water and dripped into her beak via a syringe. I bought the medistatin here: All Bird Products - Medistatin. It might be worth a try with your little lady! You can mix it into some oatmeal or other mushy treat for her to eat as well if she doesn't take well to the syringe, the instructions on the bottle will tell you how much to give.

As for feed, I swear by NatureWise Hearty Hen pellets. It's a feed geared towards healthy digestion and is packed with probiotics and herbs (which you can actually smell in the feed, it smells very aromatic and lovely)

Hopefully this helps!
 
Last edited:
Give her some lovin' for me. 💖

she's beautiful!!
new country organics has a wheat and soy free brand of layer.
I'm going back to that after years of strictly organics, 3 bags of traditional and my girl had same issue
I'm hoping mine bounces back also.. she is in the midst of it right now
Thank you! We live in a pretty remote area of Ecuador in South America. There's not much choice for chicken feeds, but I'm going to try to find something without soy or wheat. I know they can be irritants. I have celiacs and can't eat them either!
 
Thank you! We live in a pretty remote area of Ecuador in South America. There's not much choice for chicken feeds, but I'm going to try to find something without soy or wheat. I know they can be irritants. I have celiacs and can't eat them either!
Chickens can live on strictly eggs for quite sometime. It's an emergency type food. You might feed her plain scrambled eggs (no milk) for a week or two and see it it doesn't calm her system down. I had a Quail hen that contracted Equine Encephalitis from a mosquito, for 8 months all she would eat was peaches and eggs. It kept her alive and she did survive!
 
Give her some lovin' for me. 💖

Keep us posted on her, my heart goes out to you. :hugs
Yesterday after her egg breakfast, her crop ballooned up. I massaged her throughout the day and tried to make a bra. I'm a terrible seamstress and I need to get some elasticized fabric... But I did my best. Her crop wasn't completely empty this morning. But I tried vomiting her and nothing came out. She's pooping greenish with undigested food in it. Her abdomen is a little bloated but firm, not squishy like ascites. She's hungry now but I'm waiting to see if her crop empties before feeding her. She's not comfy though --- oh! And t
IMG_20230325_074042.jpg
IMG_20230325_074120.jpg
o make things harder for her, poor Butchie, she is molting! I noticed yesterday when trying to get the bra on her a whole bunch of new feathers coming in. So the molt is not helping. We're just taking it one day at a time...
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2023-03-19-11-13-16-829_com.android.chrome.jpg
    Screenshot_2023-03-19-11-13-16-829_com.android.chrome.jpg
    214.9 KB · Views: 3
Chickens can live on strictly eggs for quite sometime. It's an emergency type food. You might feed her plain scrambled eggs (no milk) for a week or two and see it it doesn't calm her system down. I had a Quail hen that contracted Equine Encephalitis from a mosquito, for 8 months all she would eat was peaches and eggs. It kept her alive and she did survive!
Ok that's good to know!
 
Yesterday after her egg breakfast, her crop ballooned up. I massaged her throughout the day and tried to make a bra. I'm a terrible seamstress and I need to get some elasticized fabric... But I did my best. Her crop wasn't completely empty this morning. But I tried vomiting her and nothing came out. She's pooping greenish with undigested food in it. Her abdomen is a little bloated but firm, not squishy like ascites. She's hungry now but I'm waiting to see if her crop empties before feeding her. She's not comfy though --- oh! And tView attachment 3443178View attachment 3443181o make things harder for her, poor Butchie, she is molting! I noticed yesterday when trying to get the bra on her a whole bunch of new feathers coming in. So the molt is not helping. We're just taking it one day at a time...
Poor girl. It's hard to watch them suffer. Nice bra! See if you can get it over the crop a bit more by sliding it up a few inches. You want pressure on it to help push the contents out. This was my Miss Molly in her bra...(ignore the purple feet, :D it's blukote.)
DSCN2261.JPG
 
Poor girl. It's hard to watch them suffer. Nice bra! See if you can get it over the crop a bit more by sliding it up a few inches. You want pressure on it to help push the contents out. This was my Miss Molly in her bra...(ignore the purple feet, :D it's blukote.)
View attachment 3443188
Yes, I need to add some elastic I think, it keeps slipping down. I'll try to make a better one today.

Do you make the straps cross like this?
Screenshot_2023-03-23-14-42-36-075_com.android.chrome.jpg
 
Yes, I need to add some elastic I think, it keeps slipping down. I'll try to make a better one today.

Do you make the straps cross like this?View attachment 3443192
Yes, criss cross over the back. There are 4 individual straps, one at each corner. The top right strap comes over the back attached to the left bottom strap which comes under the left wing, tied over the back. The left top strap over the back, attached to the right lower strap which comes under the right wing. It helps to use elastic material for straps but the bra itself should be a stiffer material so it is more supportive.
 
Chickens can live on strictly eggs for quite sometime. It's an emergency type food. You might feed her plain scrambled eggs (no milk) for a week or two and see it it doesn't calm her system down. I had a Quail hen that contracted Equine Encephalitis from a mosquito, for 8 months all she would eat was peaches and eggs. It kept her alive and she did survive!
wow that's extremely helpful to know..I realize those on the wild adapt and mine free range so never starve but it calms down my rush to fill the feed at 7 each morning. and to know they can recover. I'm carefully watching my fav hen moving slowly for 6 days now. tried all remedies that I've read it's just wait and see now I guess
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom