Chicken with digestive problems? (Video Attached)

[brooky]

Hey Guys..

YouTube video of Barry... she's not very well...

We think this chicken has sour crop. From its head movements you can tell it isn't comfortable. It has been put on a diet of probiotic yoghurt mixed with regular layers pellets and 5ml of apple cider vinegar in every 1 litre of water.

If you skip to about 1:30 and 3:15 you can see its unusual head movements. At around 3:50 it puts its head down as if to eat and it swallows back liquid that has come from its crop.

There is signs of blood around its tail feathers and although the others are laying it isn't.

Am I doing the right things? Has anyone else experienced these head movements before?

 

[purpletree23]

sorry

 

[brooky]

Anybody got any more constructive advice please?!

The chicken seems fine today, eating and drinking happily this morning (the yogurt with food and water with cider vinegar). We couldn't catch her to examine the crop (which suggests she isn't that poorly if she can run fast and fly!).
You can't just go putting chickens to sleep willy nilly without understanding what is wrong with them, honestly what a spiteful thing to say implying that we are not treating them well. We are new to chicken keeping and just wanted a bit of helpful advice. Perhaps I am missing something but I don't see what was so difficult to watch? She's just moving her head around. She doesn't have blood on her tail, just a bit of mud.

(PS, I am not 'brooky' but I don't have my own login on the forum)

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm not sure i know what to make of her head movements. i've seen those types of movements when feeding things to my chickens that are hard to swallow, like bread, which is why i don't feed them bread anymore. i don't know anything about sour crop, so can't comment on that. Maybe search on that term and see what you can find? She looks healthy and not in pain. Is she eating and acting normal otherwise? How are her poops? i think your plan of action is a good one. The yogurt and ACV are beneficial in any case.

One suggestion i have, it looks like most of the run is muddy. Although chickens do enjoy pecking around in moist earth, it is good to provide some dry areas. i would cover at least half the pen in some type of roofing, so they have some dry ground to scratch around in, and to take dirt baths.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with suggestions about sour crop or her head movements. In the meantime, just keep doing what you are doing, providing support for her immune system, and report back with any additional information you may gather with which to make some type of diagnosis.

 

[brooky]

That was my partner.

I think the chicken will be fine. Its certainly eating.

We can always go to the vet if it doesn't clear up.

Good advice about providing some shelter. I'll get onto that and fix some kind of roofing on.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i think, if i remember correctly, one thing that folks do for sour crop is to give them a bit of olive oil and massage the crop.

 

[brooky]

Thanks I had read that. The poultry farm we got them from said they if they had sour crop putting anything extra in didn't seem a good idea.

Anyhow they have a very live "yoghurty" breakfast with layer pellets mashed in which them seem to be enjoying a lot.

 

[shooks]

Hi
Yeah, I wrote the post before. Perhaps I was a little over the top...

Thanks, yeah I was a bit worried about all the mud, too. It's rained a lot here lately. I've read quite a lot of forum discussions about mud and there was a a bit of conflicting advice about using wood chips (some say it hurts their feet) or bark (it gets pores which upset their breathing) or 'easibed' whatever that is so wasn't sure what to do for the best. They have a couple of perches and some paving slabs to get out of the mud a little. A good idea to cover a bit over, though - a job for the weekend I think. Barry seems to be fairly normal again today but it's hard to check up on them when we are at work so we will have to spend a bit of time with her at the weekend.
Thanks all

 

[brooky]

I think you mean spores not pores.

Paving slabs will just get wet an muddy too. A tarpaulin over part of the run is the answer, also it will keep shade in the summer.

What are you going to cook me for my dinner?