Chick has air and “jell” in puffy crop

[Mebrou]

Thanks, all, for your input! This morning her crop was almost empty so I think the massaging is helping.

 

[Mebrou]

If the chick isn't behaving sickly, don't worry about watery poop. Some chickens have watery poop as a default state. I had a hen years ago that had watery splorts (it made a loud "splort" sound!) from day one, and lived until age eight without ever being sick a single day.

Hi! I wanted to revisit this and pick your brain now that I’ve been monitoring more closely and have additional information. Here are some key details that I’m hoping will allow you to better assess/advise on. I’m at the point where I may look for an avian vet in my area. I truly appreciate any and all feedback!

• she’s very active
• drinks tons of water (occasionally spits it up from it filling in her crop.
• I can see through her crop and see the water and it’s always soft like a water balloon.
• I don’t think it’s impacted crop or sour crop. Absolutely no smell and she’s active and eating.
• come morning her crop is actually empty. Based on video footage she poops the water all night long (and it’s a lot). Along with the food chunks.
• since I started monitoring, I’ve noticed red chunks, which when moved about, appear to be stringy (intestinal lining??).
• eats all day. She free ranges with her mother so she has access to all sorts of food items including grass. She’s provided starter scratch and water all day and all of the chickens including her get dried mealworms here and there. She was provided grit from the beginning. She appears to be eating all day.
• by the end of the day she’s got a balloon chest.
• I started weighing her in the morning the last two days. She’s gained a bit over an ounce in a day. Currently weighing in at just over 9oz (father is an OE and mother is GLC).
• nesting box was pine shavings (possible ingestion early on?)
• gave her some olive oil but that didn’t seem to unblock anything.
• I can’t imagine she’d have pendulous crop at this age. It doesn’t seem to hang, it’s just large and seems to be the size of her entire chest area when full vs a pouch to the right.

Here’s what I’m starting to suspect- the fact that her crop is emptying overnight but all the water sits in her crop as soon as she drinks, she may have a partial obstruction of some sort somewhere. And there doesn’t seem to be a lot of chunks coming out so I’m worried she’s not getting the nutrients she needs. I’m also worried her thirst isn’t being quenched because she’s drinking tons of water constantly but it’s just sitting in her crop. I couldn’t find definitive answers on healthy weight at that age so I’m hoping the 9+oz is normal. The chicks that were born two weeks after her are about 7+Oz so maybe she is underweight. Those chicks are welsummer x EO.

Is it possible that the crop ruptured internally? Or a partial obstruction?

Will attach pertinent photos

 

[Mebrou]

Hi! I wanted to revisit this and pick your brain now that I’ve been monitoring more closely and have additional information. Here are some key details that I’m hoping will allow you to better assess/advise on. I’m at the point where I may look for an avian vet in my area. I truly appreciate any and all feedback!

• she’s very active
• drinks tons of water (occasionally spits it up from it filling in her crop.
• I can see through her crop and see the water and it’s always soft like a water balloon.
• I don’t think it’s impacted crop or sour crop. Absolutely no smell and she’s active and eating.
• come morning her crop is actually empty. Based on video footage she poops the water all night long (and it’s a lot). Along with the food chunks.
• since I started monitoring, I’ve noticed red chunks, which when moved about, appear to be stringy (intestinal lining??).
• eats all day. She free ranges with her mother so she has access to all sorts of food items including grass. She’s provided starter scratch and water all day and all of the chickens including her get dried mealworms here and there. She was provided grit from the beginning. She appears to be eating all day.
• by the end of the day she’s got a balloon chest.
• I started weighing her in the morning the last two days. She’s gained a bit over an ounce in a day. Currently weighing in at just over 9oz (father is an OE and mother is GLC).
• nesting box was pine shavings (possible ingestion early on?)
• gave her some olive oil but that didn’t seem to unblock anything.
• I can’t imagine she’d have pendulous crop at this age. It doesn’t seem to hang, it’s just large and seems to be the size of her entire chest area when full vs a pouch to the right.

Here’s what I’m starting to suspect- the fact that her crop is emptying overnight but all the water sits in her crop as soon as she drinks, she may have a partial obstruction of some sort somewhere. And there doesn’t seem to be a lot of chunks coming out so I’m worried she’s not getting the nutrients she needs. I’m also worried her thirst isn’t being quenched because she’s drinking tons of water constantly but it’s just sitting in her crop. I couldn’t find definitive answers on healthy weight at that age so I’m hoping the 9+oz is normal. The chicks that were born two weeks after her are about 7+Oz so maybe she is underweight. Those chicks are welsummer x EO.

Is it possible that the crop ruptured internally? Or a partial obstruction?

Will attach pertinent photos

Here are photos of her chest towards the end of the day when she’s stuffed full, photo of her typical stool on ground with lots of water, then red chunks I find in her overnight stools.

 

[azygous]

Does that orange intestinal lining show up in every poop? Every day? Once a week? How often?

I'm suspecting she may have a low grade bacterial infection in her intestines, not serious enough to make her sick yet, but enough that it's starting to affect her digestion.

If the intestinal lining is showing up more than once every couple of weeks, I would start her on amoxicillin.

Confirm the frequency of the lining in her poop and I'll give you the dosing info and where to get the amoxy.

 

[Mebrou]

Does that orange intestinal lining show up in every poop? Every day? Once a week? How often?

I'm suspecting she may have a low grade bacterial infection in her intestines, not serious enough to make her sick yet, but enough that it's starting to affect her digestion.

If the intestinal lining is showing up more than once every couple of weeks, I would start her on amoxicillin.

Confirm the frequency of the lining in her poop and I'll give you the dosing info and where to get the amoxy.

That would make sense as I didn’t notice her crop until recently. No idea when it started. So it could be coming on gradually.

I first noticed the lining yesterday. I wasn’t paying much attention to her night stools prior to that so I have no idea what the frequency is. I will monitor tonight’s.

Appreciate the info!

 

[Mebrou]

That would make sense as I didn’t notice her crop until recently. No idea when it started. So it could be coming on gradually.

I first noticed the lining yesterday. I wasn’t paying much attention to her night stools prior to that so I have no idea what the frequency is. I will monitor tonight’s.

Appreciate the info!

Oh! Also important to note, she’s unvaccinated. Again, first hen-hatched chick so we just let nature do its thing lol.

 

[azygous]

An occasional appearance of a very small amount of intestinal lining showing up in poop is normal. But when the amount becomes more than a very small amount and begins to appear frequently, then you should suspect a health issue. Worms can precipitate irritation of the intestinal lining which can become inflammation which can then become infected with bacteria that multiplies until the chicken then becomes visibly sick. An antibiotic at the point where the lining is shed frequently rather than once in a great while should be given before the bacteria destroys the lining causing permanent damage.

 

[Mebrou]

An occasional appearance of a very small amount of intestinal lining showing up in poop is normal. But when the amount becomes more than a very small amount and begins to appear frequently, then you should suspect a health issue. Worms can precipitate irritation of the intestinal lining which can become inflammation which can then become infected with bacteria that multiplies until the chicken then becomes visibly sick. An antibiotic at the point where the lining is shed frequently rather than once in a great while should be given before the bacteria destroys the lining causing permanent damage.

Yikes. If I administer amoxicillin and it’s not the correct solution, would that cause any harm? I’m willing to try that. Vets are booked weeks out so I’m unable to get her in anytime soon

 

[azygous]

Do not panic. If you need to, reread my previous posts. All of them. Focus on this. As long as the chick is not acting sick, there is no urgency. But you need to keep an eye on its behavior and its poop.

If the orange intestinal shed appears again anytime soon in increasing amounts, then we will take steps to treat it. Meanwhile, no need to rush to the vet, who will take your money and tell you nothing seems wrong, which there isn't at this point.

But you have been alerted to the possibility of something developing and you have the time to just watch it.

If you would like to be a step ahead, I suggest going ahead and getting the antibiotic. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=E68FC9E3-30C2-402A-88C4-567BDED2C139 It's good to keep on hand as it's an all-purpose antibiotic and it's the correct dosage for an adult chicken. For a small chick, we will need to break the 250mg dose up and give it probably by oral syringe two or three times a day. We'll cover that base when we come to it.

The intestinal shed is the only thing out of all you've reported that sends up any kind of red flag. Except for that, this chick is well within the parameters of normal.

 

[azygous]

File this away for future use. This is the amoxicillin dose for a two-month old half grown chicken. I would halve the adult dose of 250mg which would be 125mg per day. The pills are gel caps so twist one 250mg capsule open and dump out the powder. Divide in half. That gives you two days worth. You will treat for ten days.

Take one half, 125mg and mix it into a tiny amount of applesauce, yogurt, or coconut oil. use only a small amount because you want to be sure the chick takes it all. You can give it all at once or divide the 125mg into two doses and give one in the morning and the second in the evening. This is more efficacious than once a day, but busy people can safely give just the one dose of 125mg. It's what I do, and the sick chick still recovers okay.

By the time this chick is four months old, if you need to treat it with this antibiotic, it will be nearly full size then and will require the adult dose of 250mg per day for ten days.

Is that clear? The only immediate danger of not getting the dosage correct is that you may not give an adequate amount and it won't work. It's better to err on the side of too much than not enough.

To repeat, the chick doesn't need treating at this time. We still need to confirm there is a problem.