Chicken recovered from anemia and mites but still not well. Sour Crop? Worms?

[craftymelissa]

AdaIda
4 year old Red Sex Link
3lbs 14 oz. has always been the smallest of the flock
Treated for mites with Sevin Dust about 4 weeks ago
Feed soaked raisins to help with anemia. Also wanted to eat tons of earthworms.
Now kept separate from flock mates except one 6 year old hen Marge who does not bully her. The other 4 wanted to kill her.

Seems to now have some sorta crop problem

Has not been given regular chicken food in about a week. Haven't been very scientific in what we have been doing to help her. Stated with just apple cider vinegar. Then got Ropa Poultry Oregano Supplement.

We have also given her scrambled egg mixed with probiotic capsules and source naturals oregano oil ( she doesn't like it anymore). Coconut oil, dried meal worms, plain yogurt and shredded cheese, and red wine in an eye dropper. But no chicken food for a week.

I vomited her 4 days ago. It didn't look like the sour crop that another chicken had. No horrible smell. Now I have only been massaging her crop.

She is not as lethargic as when she had the mites. She happily wanders around the yard looking for bugs.

Her poop was dark black and runny but now is pale yellow and watery. She is definitely not her usual self. Not lethargic but not super fast. And a poor appetite. Her crop does seem to mostly empty at night. I thought at first it might be doughy crop. But now it just seems slow. She has an occasional head shake that might be improving.


I read the Crop Issues article and have done tons of other reading on this forum and elsewhere. So what next? She is not necessarily getting worse. Other than being more picky about food. But that might be the oregano oil. If she is getting better, it is really slowly. Has lost 3 ounces since weighing her on Saturday.

We ordered some Acidified Copper Sulfate from Murray McMurray and plan to start that in her water as soon as it comes. Hopefully today.

Could it be worms? Will the acidified copper sulfate help? I have read only a few posts mentioning being iselful for worms. More so for fungus. She does not seem to show signs of gape worms.

Thanks for your help. If only the chickens were livestock and not pets. . .

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You won't know if she has worms or what kind unless you have a fecal sample read. Then you'll know how to treat.
I think you're overcomplicating this. She needs real chicken feed, not a hodgepodge of things that are complicating the nutritional balance she needs. If she doesn't want to eat it, try moistening it.
Did you clean and treat the entire building for mites and retreat after a week?

 

[craftymelissa]

Thanks for your thought.

We did treat the coop and the others. I did not retreat but have not seen any additional mites on her.

I had kept her off the regular food at first because I was worried about the sour crop.

She happily ate some watered down food this evening. And I will see how her crop is in the morning. And what sorta poop comes out of her overnight.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The retreating is necessary because the eggs left behind will spawn a new generation of parasites.
Regular feed is based on 100+ years of research and will be a chicken's best chance at optimal health.