Chickens comb is cold and purple

[clogan98]

I had a chicken with sour crop who I brought to the vet yesterday. She had her crop flushed and x-ray taken was given fluids and an injection to increase mobility in her digestive system as there was no impaction or foreign object in her crop. This morning was the first morning she ate since last weekend. I have her out in the coop in a separate fenced in area because the other chickens are attacking her. I went and checked on her now and her comb has turned purple and is cold and she keeps shaking her head and her inner eyelid keeps blinking over her eyes. Any ideas what might be going on? I know there was a chance of her aspirating when they did the crop flush but she was not showing the symptoms until now

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. It is hard to know if she has aspirated or if she is becoming more sick. The dark comb usually means that they are lacking oxygen due to a lung or heart problem, or are severely dehydrated. If they are handled and the full puffy crop is accidentally squeezed, it can cause vomiting and choking. I would bring her in and get her in a warm room. Sour crop can be very serious and hard to treat. I have never been able to save any of my hens who have suffered from it. In my experience, there was usually another primary problem, such as a reproductive infection, ascites, or cancer that caused the crop problem in the first place. I hope that your chicken gets better. These articles are good for helping with crop disorders:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

 

[clogan98]

I brought her back into the bathroom and her comb warmed back up and is red again. Her crop feels squishy again though. She’s not vomiting when I massage it like she was but I feel nothing is working. If she’s not better by tomorrow I’ll have to bring her back to be euthanized as no vets here specialize in chickens and this one is just charging me hundreds in her best guesses. $300 vet bill for a chicken is too much and she wants me to bring her back for repeat treatment if she doesn’t improve at another $300. I just can’t justify that. Not when I keep hearing how sour crop is so hard to beat.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do not massage a sour crop. That will definitiely make her spit up crop contents and choke. Only massage a hard impacted crop. Glad that her comb is red again. Read the articles since theri might be some tips to help you. Azygous uses Monistat cream orally to treat fungal infections from sour crop. Nystatin is a drug the vet might suggest using.

How old is your hen? Has she recently been laying eggs? Does she seem enlarged down in her lower belly between her legs? I just lost a hen yesterday who had ascites or fluid in her abdomen from either heart or liver disease. I usually will do a necropsy on any hens that die just to look for anything obviously wrong. Let us know how she does.

 

[clogan98]

Yes it definitely did make her spit up. Okay I won’t do that then. I just felt bad because everytime she’d try to tip her head down to drink it would spill out of her mouth.. I was using clotrimazole but the vet said just use yogurt (??). She said they didn’t have Nystatin, because I asked for it, and they don’t carry it and it would take awhile to order. I don’t know her age. I reached them on Christmas Eve from a neglectful situation. She was laying up until this occurred. She had no swelling or bulges besides crop. X-ray showed no impaction or foreign object, no egg issues, nothing. So possibly a digestive issue stemming from a number of possible causes.

 

[clogan98]

This was her X-ray

 

[Silkielove102]

Frostbite, for her comb, maybe...

 

[Eggcessive]

Clotrimazole or Monistat can be used 1/2 inch twice a day orally. You can order Nystatin here in powder form:
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/medistatin
https://www.jedds.com/shop/medistatin/

 

[clogan98]

Thank you for that info. My big issue now is she won’t stop eating the shavings. She even tried eating any feather she could find, like she has pica.

 

[Eggcessive]

Maybe you can place her in a dog crate on a clean old towel for bedding. I wonder if she is lacking something in her diet from not getting outside to free range on grass and soil. Vitamins with trace minerals might be good to give her in case there is something she is lacking in her diet.

For what it is worth, I had a low pecking order hen that I hatched here, and she always acted afraid of all the other chickens, even though they were not agressive toward her. There were always multiple feed and water stations around the yard, coop, and run 24/7. I gave some scrambled egg treats often to all of them. Eventually she died, and her crop and gizzard were full of dried grass and algae from trees, and other dead vegetation. I just think some chickens eat weird things for some unknown reason.