Here is my thinking and I could certainly be wrong. Even with gloves, you could possibly push fecal matter up inside her from her own vent. She's already very vulnerable. Myself, I would not chance it. I would trust the calcium.
Chicken laid soft egg and fragments. Won't leave the nest.
- Thread starter
- #12
Okay, update.. The tums came shortly after my last post and she went crazy for them... I wasn't sure how to feed them to her, so I ended up dissolving a few tablets in some water and she drank for about 10 minutes straight...
Shortly after this she pushed out a whole yolk and some bits of soft shell.
She picked up surprisingly quickly after this and looked alert again after being barely responsive 15 mins earlier.
Although she still hasn't eaten before she when to bed she was walking around and picking out some oyster shells I gave her.
Only issue now is that she's got awful diarrhoea (green/yellow mucus) and after drinking she started throwing up clear mucus which I read only could be sour crop?
I'm really confused what the primary cause of all her symptoms are to be honest... When she suddenly fell ill yesterday I initially suspected she may have been eating mouldy food from our food waste because the door was slightly ajar, but clearly she's also been struggling to pass eggs – so could one cause the other, and could that happen this rapidly?
I'm also now conflicted how to continue treating her... I want to continue her antibiotics as a precautionary measure given she's been laying fragments of eggs, but I'm also reading antibiotics could cause sour crop, which I now worry she has? I did notice earlier today that her crop felt a bit squishy, but I read online that could just be because she hadn't eaten..
Anyway, she seems to be stable again and she's in her nest getting some rest now it's dark. I'm hoping she's going to make it through the night, but if anyone has any thoughts on what might be happening to her and how I should continue treating her, I'd be extremely grateful. Also, thank you for everyone suggesting calcium earlier. I'm honestly shocked at how quickly that seemed to perk her up...
Shortly after this she pushed out a whole yolk and some bits of soft shell.
She picked up surprisingly quickly after this and looked alert again after being barely responsive 15 mins earlier.
Although she still hasn't eaten before she when to bed she was walking around and picking out some oyster shells I gave her.
Only issue now is that she's got awful diarrhoea (green/yellow mucus) and after drinking she started throwing up clear mucus which I read only could be sour crop?
I'm really confused what the primary cause of all her symptoms are to be honest... When she suddenly fell ill yesterday I initially suspected she may have been eating mouldy food from our food waste because the door was slightly ajar, but clearly she's also been struggling to pass eggs – so could one cause the other, and could that happen this rapidly?
I'm also now conflicted how to continue treating her... I want to continue her antibiotics as a precautionary measure given she's been laying fragments of eggs, but I'm also reading antibiotics could cause sour crop, which I now worry she has? I did notice earlier today that her crop felt a bit squishy, but I read online that could just be because she hadn't eaten..
Anyway, she seems to be stable again and she's in her nest getting some rest now it's dark. I'm hoping she's going to make it through the night, but if anyone has any thoughts on what might be happening to her and how I should continue treating her, I'd be extremely grateful. Also, thank you for everyone suggesting calcium earlier. I'm honestly shocked at how quickly that seemed to perk her up...
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Continue with the calcium for a few more days.
I don’t have experience with sour crop, but she could have both things going on at the same time (one would not cause the other).
@Eggcessive
Chickens can actually be sick for some time before symptoms appear, so sickness appears to blow up out of nowhere. Hiding signs of illness is a critical survival strategy, as a sick, lethargic bird is an obvious target for both predators and other members of the flock. The flock may kill a sick bird so it does not attract predators. So we may not notice that a bird is sick until the illness is quite advanced.
Glad the calcium worked so quickly! The squishy crop and diarrhea could just be from not eating and having her system blocked by egg. Sour crop is supposed to be accompanied by a sour odor as well. If she isn't eating by tomorrow and you still think she has sour crop, here are two good articles to read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
- Thread starter
- #16
That may be it then. I checked her crop today and it seems normal... She did sound a bit wheezy when she first woke up this morning, but I think that might have been because some of the mucus got into her airways last night. That seems to have cleared up now and she sounds normal...
She's had a little bit to eat today which was also nice to see. She seems to just want fruit at the moment though so I gave her some apple and strawberries. I think maybe she wants the sugar?
Her poops are still runny, but they're more "normal" watery looking poops now instead of the green/yellowy poops she was doing yesterday.
She's also much more alert today and has even been walking around a bit and flapping her wings. But she's clearly still not back to normal yet and resting quite a lot.
Going to keep encouraging her to eat/drink and keep her on the antibiotics for now and hopefully she'll start to feel more herself by the weekend.
You can try feeding her her normal chicken food wet down (like thick oatmeal), mine go bonkers for that!
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