chicken making strange movement like "hic-ups" with eating

[kmouradian]

1.5 yo orpington is making strange jerking twisting movements when eating. Once it starts she doesn't eat anymore. She looks uncomfortable. What is wrong and what should I do? Please help...

 

[PollyWaddle]

Hey, I've seen that in a few of my chickens, especially my bantam gold-laced cochin roo. I finally figured out he has worms -- his digestion gets messed up and his crop gets puffy. He gets better when I feed him lots of greens.
Look at his droppings to see if there are any worms. Then you can treat w/wormer -- search the other posts for types and dosages.
If you don't see worms, try giving him greens and see if that helps.
Good luck!

 

[kmouradian]

Hmm, she gets lots of greens daily along with regular chicken feed, scratch, and grit. I have not seen any worms in the droppings, I guess I can try to look under the microscope. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[LynneP]

She may have some fibre in her crop, a little olive oil should assist her.

Some thoughts here-

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen

 

[kmouradian]

She took the olive oil well (easier than I expected). Thanks for the tip and the link. I don't know what I'd do without this site!