Chicken seems to be vomiting piles of wet feed.

[critterkeeper25]

HI all!

Been a while since I've been on here. Working 2 jobs to support car insurance, etc.....

Have been treating a 4.5 year old Rhode Island Red hen, approx weight NOW is 2lbs. She's emaciated to the point where no muscle at all can be felt along the keel bone. Been treating her for past 2.5 months for what was initially sour crop. She was lethargic (of course) and had her head tucked in. Dont know why she developed it in first place. Brought her in to garage in dog crate. Wormed her, treated for cocci, right off the bat. Condition didn't improve. Poop had that strange smell that they get from yeast infection, so I began treating with Monastat 7, and gave Dulcolax to try to clear out crop, intestines, of yeast. Continued this treatment for several days, several times a day with the Monastat. Once a day with Dulcolax. She didn't have much of an appetite when I first brought her inside. Gave crushed up Cheerios at first, would eat that and bits of pretzel. Thats all. Hence the emaciated state. Finally developed a better appetite so I added minced up broccoli florettes (just flowers). She continued to improve.She is now eating her chicken feed. For the past two days, I have gone to check her and found the quart waterer empty. Which I blamed on her just knocking over the waterer, though strangely, the floor and newspaper didn't seem soaked just a little wet. Yesterday, I observed what appeared to be floppy piles of chicken feed. Which I thought strange. Today there are several there. There has also been watery feed in the bottom of the waterer tray. Now I believe that she is drinking copious amounts of water and filling her crop to the extent that when she puts her head down, it all comes up and out.
She had only been pooping small quantities of poo. I saw today that there were still those small poops, with a little nitrates on them. I also saw 2 cecal poops. The first in the 2.5 months since she had been brought inside.

My concern is the vomiting. Can she have a blockage and still poop/pass cecal poops?
Is there no blockage, but are her kidneys failing and she is drinking large quantities due to this, and it is causing her to vomit? Should she be euthanized?
She is alert, and talking up a storm scratching in her cage, wanting to escape, etc.

She is impossible to catch. Im not even sure that she has gained any weight. In the beginning when I caught her to bring her in, she could only run so far, then would fall down and lay on her side. I have been hesitating chasing her down, only to have that happen again, as I was afraid to cause her a stroke or heart failure.

I have been lax in my attention to my hens. I have been working so much, and trying to keep up with normal household activities, that I have been relying on my other family members to do so, and they just aren't as observant as I am. I am afraid that this poor girl is beyond my help now, but would love to hear otherwise.

 

[azygous]

First, you need to find out if her crop is emptying completely each night. That's easy. Feel it before bedtime and again before she has had a chance to eat in the morning. It should be completely empty in the morning.

Continued sour crop is often caused by the crop failing to completely empty each 24 hour period. Often it's because the crop hangs down too low and the contents can't reach the "drain". Crop support with a crop bra can solve this issue.

You hen appears to be improving from the point where she was a couple months ago. I doubt she's vomiting. The residue of feed you see in her water is common with chickens. They seem to drag some food in and on their beaks when they drink, leaving a stinky mess. This is why daily cleaning of waterers is necessary to prevent bacterial growth which can lead to health issues.

She's consuming large quantities of water, which is normal for a chicken with crop issues. She's trying to flush it out. If you can support the crop so it will empty at night, that should help restore her crop to a healthy condition.

Meanwhile, give her boiled egg, tofu, grated carrot, and avoid starches until her crop gets back to normal.

 

[Jemma Rider]

HI all!

Been a while since I've been on here. Working 2 jobs to support car insurance, etc.....

Have been treating a 4.5 year old Rhode Island Red hen, approx weight NOW is 2lbs. She's emaciated to the point where no muscle at all can be felt along the keel bone. Been treating her for past 2.5 months for what was initially sour crop. She was lethargic (of course) and had her head tucked in. Dont know why she developed it in first place. Brought her in to garage in dog crate. Wormed her, treated for cocci, right off the bat. Condition didn't improve. Poop had that strange smell that they get from yeast infection, so I began treating with Monastat 7, and gave Dulcolax to try to clear out crop, intestines, of yeast. Continued this treatment for several days, several times a day with the Monastat. Once a day with Dulcolax. She didn't have much of an appetite when I first brought her inside. Gave crushed up Cheerios at first, would eat that and bits of pretzel. Thats all. Hence the emaciated state. Finally developed a better appetite so I added minced up broccoli florettes (just flowers). She continued to improve.She is now eating her chicken feed. For the past two days, I have gone to check her and found the quart waterer empty. Which I blamed on her just knocking over the waterer, though strangely, the floor and newspaper didn't seem soaked just a little wet. Yesterday, I observed what appeared to be floppy piles of chicken feed. Which I thought strange. Today there are several there. There has also been watery feed in the bottom of the waterer tray. Now I believe that she is drinking copious amounts of water and filling her crop to the extent that when she puts her head down, it all comes up and out.
She had only been pooping small quantities of poo. I saw today that there were still those small poops, with a little nitrates on them. I also saw 2 cecal poops. The first in the 2.5 months since she had been brought inside.

My concern is the vomiting. Can she have a blockage and still poop/pass cecal poops?
Is there no blockage, but are her kidneys failing and she is drinking large quantities due to this, and it is causing her to vomit? Should she be euthanized?
She is alert, and talking up a storm scratching in her cage, wanting to escape, etc.

She is impossible to catch. Im not even sure that she has gained any weight. In the beginning when I caught her to bring her in, she could only run so far, then would fall down and lay on her side. I have been hesitating chasing her down, only to have that happen again, as I was afraid to cause her a stroke or heart failure.

I have been lax in my attention to my hens. I have been working so much, and trying to keep up with normal household activities, that I have been relying on my other family members to do so, and they just aren't as observant as I am. I am afraid that this poor girl is beyond my help now, but would love to hear otherwise.

Poor girl. Let me just start by saying i probably have no idea what I'm talking about and i have been lucky enough so far as to not have any serious problems but I've read a lot on things like this. I've read that chickens can only vomit up food that was in the throat i think this includes the crop also. And they do vomit if they drink to much water at one time. I was stunned at the lack of information on kidney failure in chickens on the internet after i suspected mine suffering from it (i was overreacting). But from what i have read it can occur from having too much calcium in a chickens diet. do you feed layers pellets or crumbles? I've read that Rhode island reds are a duel purpose breed and that if they are on layers there is a higher risk of kidney failure.
As for the water thing (probably don't listen to me I'm 20% city and 80% idiot) but maybe offer her small amounts of water at a time? Just so she gets some food down, it sounds like she needs it. Chickens need three liters of water a day so maybe offer small amounts at a time throughout the day, so offer her a few cups every hour just to keep her from throwing up? My lizards kidneys failed (i know, completely different animal but it may help) and her vet told us to offer her small amounts of water while she was on medication so her poo didn't get watery. Once again, probably don't listen to me. I'd take her off layers for a while if that's what you're feeding and offer growers for a little while until she returns to normal, if she does at all. Have you ever taken a chicken to the vet. I don't and i know most others don't either, but if it's something you can afford and if your chicken means something to you then this sounds like a situation that warrants a visit. Hope she gets better.

 

[critterkeeper25]

I understand the feed in the bottom of the waterer pan, but it's the large floppy piles of wet feed on the floor that concerns me. It's not poop. Has no odor. Quantity is about 1/4 cup volume.
Also the large volume of water consumed.
How do you make/apply a crop bra?
I have heard about some using the top of a tube sock. I'm assuming you cut holes in to put wings through?
Hope I can catch her without her freaking herself out too much. Scary seeing her drop on the ground to lay there on her side panting.

 

[critterkeeper25]

First, you need to find out if her crop is emptying completely each night. That's easy. Feel it before bedtime and again before she has had a chance to eat in the morning. It should be completely empty in the morning.

Continued sour crop is often caused by the crop failing to completely empty each 24 hour period. Often it's because the crop hangs down too low and the contents can't reach the "drain". Crop support with a crop bra can solve this issue.

You hen appears to be improving from the point where she was a couple months ago. I doubt she's vomiting. The residue of feed you see in her water is common with chickens. They seem to drag some food in and on their beaks when they drink, leaving a stinky mess. This is why daily cleaning of waterers is necessary to prevent bacterial growth which can lead to health issues.

She's consuming large quantities of water, which is normal for a chicken with crop issues. She's trying to flush it out. If you can support the crop so it will empty at night, that should help restore her crop to a healthy condition.

Meanwhile, give her boiled egg, tofu, grated carrot, and avoid starches until her crop gets back to normal.

So, no chicken feed at all?

 

[Jemma Rider]

I understand the feed in the bottom of the waterer pan, but it's the large floppy piles of wet feed on the floor that concerns me. It's not poop. Has no odor. Quantity is about 1/4 cup volume.
Also the large volume of water consumed.
How do you make/apply a crop bra?
I have heard about some using the top of a tube sock. I'm assuming you cut holes in to put wings through?
Hope I can catch her without her freaking herself out too much. Scary seeing her drop on the ground to lay there on her side panting.

You can buy a crop bra, my hen had crop problems a few months back and her crop got stretched so i was worried i would need to cull her. But the bra fixed it completely after a few weeks. You can make a bra out of a sock, there are some YouTube tutorials on it I've watched but I've heard some stories about people accidentally suffocating their chickens so i just bought mine.
http://www.hensaver.com/Crop-Bra.html
You could also use sports wrap and wrap her crop but I've heard that can just make things worse as well.

 

[azygous]

So, no chicken feed at all?

Yes, withhold feed for at least 24 hours. This gives the crop a "rest". Boiled egg and grated carrot will keep the hen nourished during this period while not adding carbs that feed the yeast.