chick having convulsions?impacted crop?help! please.

[mother o' chicks72]

so i went outside to check on the chicks and while holding one of them i noticed her chest seemed bloated and shortly after i set her down she did this odd thing where she almost looked like she was going to puke. she repeated this several times before i decided to check in with the experts(aka, you guys), anyway the chick in question is about 6 weeks old. help!

 

[DTRM30]

Maybe she just over stuffed herself - - watch her for a while ....
a large chest indicates to me a very full crop. If she ate too much she may throw some up, but otherwise it'll just take a while to move from her crop down through the rest of her digestive system.

Is there anything else going on such as runny nose, pale comb etc ?

 

[mother o' chicks72]

alright, thanks. i did try massaging her chest but it didn't seem to do anything. i hope she's alright!

 

[DTRM30]

I hope she's OK ...

Maybe someone else will have more info for you. If there are no other symptoms I wouldn't worry too much yet. But if she's acting lethargic, sleepy, puffing up, etc, then I'd look more closely. You may need to be "out of sight" so to speak to watch her - as chickens will hide feeling ill very well. Sour crop or impacted crop could be a problem if that is what it is. The crop will remain large and hard if impacted or large and soupy if sour. If there is a foul smell then it's sour - they won't eat much and it can be serious and needs to be treated promptly. That is what I'd watch for. Check her crop first thing in the am before she gets a chance to eat - it should have emptied overnight.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

she is no better. her crop is still large and swollen. and to better describe the convulsions she jerks her head from side to side. she is sleeping alot. i have her separated. we gave her yogurt and vegetable broth to eat. anything else i can do?

 

[Shanda]

Try to give her some grit.

 

[CCourson05]

Has she eaten anything other than chick starter without the access to grit?

If she has grit, does it kind of look like a silent crow?

 

[mother o' chicks72]

she has eaten stuff without grit. she had been outside so i guess i thought she might eat small normal rocks. if she is not doing any better in the morning we will probably take her to the vet.

 

[Celtic Chick]

She needs grit then, if you haven't given her any yet. Chickens do not have teeth, so they need grit in their crop to help "chew" up their food.

 

[Momagain1]

she sounds like she needs grit;

do you have coarse sand available?

I **THINK** that you can take egg shells and finely grind them up for grit..PLEASE search that before you do it!

but she needs it sooner rather than later IMO