Could it be the start of an impacted crop?

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

It sounds as if her crop is doing much better, emptying on its own without you having to massage it. YAY! I've never had to reintegrate a chicken after an isolation. I've read on here about folks reintegrating both of the ways you mention. I might try letting them free-range together for a while and seeing how that goes. Hopefully others will comment on what has worked for them.

 

[nakstk]

So after her crop started emptying on its own. I started giving her oatmeal but put a little mineral oil in it. I dont think that was the right choice. Her crop stopped emptying on its own. She has been on a plain yogurt diet now for 2 days. This morning I pulled her out to check and her crop felt like a balloon. There is no solid foods in it just the yogurt and she poop a few times over night. I gave her some vitamin and electrolytes in her water last night. She is still acting fine, she even tried to fly around my house in morning. I picked her up to put her back in the dog crate and she puked out a bunch of yogurt. Do I now go back to step one with more ACV water only? BTW After reading my plain yogurt I see that it has sugar in it, could that be part of the ballooning problem too?

 

[top of the hill]

That happened to my girl, started going down then I gave her some mash/olive oil mixture thinking it would be a good thing and it ballooned up again. I read on BYC that oil slows the digestion and should only be used with impacted crop to help losen the material that is stuck, not with sour crop.

For my girl I went back to square one and withheld food for 24 hours. She was better a few days later.

Good luck!

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Quote:
How are things going for you? I can't answer your question about the sugar in the yogurt - sorry. This is what worked for my hen whose crop was not emptying. I kept her in with the flock since no one was bothering her. I checked her crop every morning and evening at roost time. If her crop was not empty in the morning, I massaged it until it was empty - this took only a few minutes. When I got home from work, I checked her crop as well, and if it seemed empty (she had stopped eating regular feed) I mixed cooked oatmeal, layer mush, and a bit of yogurt and fed this to my flock. The one with the crop problem ate like she was starving, so at least I knew she went to roost with some food in her crop. I kept this up for about a week and a half. The first several mornings her crop did not empty over night and felt hard in the morning, but after the first day I was able to break up the contents without giving her olive oil and get her crop to empty. Eventually her crop seemed to be working fine, and she is back to eating her pellets. I still keep a close eye on her to make sure she continues to recover. I know every situation is different, but what seemed to work for me was to continue to check and empty her crop until finally it worked fine on its own. Sorry this is so long - hope it helps.

 

[nakstk]

RhodeIslandRedFan I just dont know what else to do for her. I ran out of ACV the other day. Now that I think of it it was two days before her crop re inflated. I will go get more of that. I got some good sugar free plain yogurt Greek style last night so that has been her diet well that and something called durvet its Vitamins & Electrolytes. Her poop is runny and watery and has green stuff in it the color of avocado. I was wondering if the color change could be due to the yellow in the vitamins?. And she STILL is acting normal. Not drooping her head or closing her eyes like she is tired. Her eyes are clear and she is so alert she talks to me every time I walk into the room. I have noticed that sometimes her comb and waddle is not as red as it is at other times. It definitely is not as red as her sisters but they are laying and she is not.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

I wish I had answers, as my hen's situation has been puzzling as well. Has yours been molting? Mine started to molt, began to have crop problems, lost interest in eating, lost a good deal of weight, and her droppings got runny and green, all around the same time. I honestly don't know which came first. I think the green droppings might have been from not eating enough. She has slowly gotten her appetite back, and her droppings are better but not yet back to normal. Her crop is now working fine. She is going through a second wave of molting, losing feathers in different areas than at first, and she is covered with pin feathers. Because of her watery droppings, I wormed my flock with Eprinex (never did see any worms) and treated them for cocciciosis with Corid (her symptoms sounded similar except no blood in her droppings). I'm convinced now that she had neither, but I was afraid not to treat her. I think somehow all of her problems were caused by her molt but I don't know for sure. How often do you give your hen vitamins? I think I read that too many vitamins can cause diarrhea, but I'm not sure. I'm down to giving mine ACV only twice a week and vitamins once a week. Your hen's comb color sounds normal for a hen who is not laying.

 

[nakstk]

She wasnt drinking her water with the vitamins in it the first day. The second day I mix a very small amount in her yogurt and she ate that. Today I mixed that solution so it was very diluted so the water was yellowish. She has been drink both her water and the water with the vitamins and electrolytes like crazy. Her crop just feels bloated like a balloon now. Not at all like before, before I am pretty sure it was impacted now I am sure it sour. Which I read could happen. I am going to buy the ACV with mothers in it tonight when I go grocery shopping. Gunna try that for awhile. I feel so bad she is SO hungry and tries eating everything. I am afraid to over feed her even her soft foods. When she bends over stuff comes out her mouth because it so bloated.

 

[nakstk]

I went to town and came home to find that Mable had eaten Half of the paper bag that line the bottom of her crate. This cant be good.

 

[BamaSilkies]

Read the label on the vitamin electrolyte package and check out the sugar content. And eating the paper bag is not good. The vet can give you Batril (antibiotic) for sour crop or ask at the co op what antibiotic is good for sour crop.( I think Sulmet is an antibacterial but not sure if it would be good for that.

 

[nakstk]

I am not seeing and sugars in the vitamins & electrolytes. Tonight she seems to be getting better after I got the good ACV again. She is pooping more frequently and it is turning back to a more normal color and consistency of..........finger paints. Well finger paint mixed with paper bag. She also seemed more ornery again. Gunna give her her yogurt dinner then off to bed. Hoping for an empty crop in the morning.

Thanks everyone for the help!