Crop Issue? Contaminated food?

Kale Chips

Songster
Apr 2, 2018
219
698
191
Wisconsin
Hello there, I was hoping for some advice. I had one of my beloved hens pass away the day before yesterday, and now I have another sick hen. The first sick hen was acting unwell (puffed up, self isolation, quiet, slow moving, interested in food and water) for a few days. I gave her a chicken exam, but nothing seemed to be glaringly wrong with her. Her crop was dense but not rock hard, her comb was pale but not white, there was no extra fluid between her legs. The only thing externally was some loose poops stuck to her feathers. I didn't know how to treat her, so I kept an eye on her and she eventually passed.

Yesterday another hen started acting the exact same way. This hen however is about half the weight of the others, which I somehow missed, and again, won't eat. I tried giving her some boiled egg and crumble but she was internally conflicted, took a few bites, and then walked away slowly. Yesterday her crop was water-balloon-ish with small, hard bits, but right away this morning it was dense and fairly flat to her chest.

I thought this chicken had sour crop (due to the liquid-filled crop) but the fact that it cleared (I think?) this morning makes me second guess. I have anti-fungus medication I have used for sour crop in the past, I just don't know if it's the right call. Do you think I potentially had a bad bag of feed that is causing these issues? Are they even related?

Both are Golden Comets entering into their third year of production.
Thank you for any help
 
It may very well be their age catching up to them. Is the rest of your flock fine? Have you wormed or checked for worms?
 
It may very well be their age catching up to them. Is the rest of your flock fine? Have you wormed or checked for worms?
The rest of the flock seems to be doing ok. I have never dealt with worms before so I'm not sure what I'm looking for, though it could certainly be something to watch out for.

I just happened to find some food grade DE and so I gave their run a hearty sprinkle and I put some ACV in their water. I get off work at 4:30 so after that I might free range them and try to see if the sick hen has visually worm-infested poops.
 
Not that it's urgent, but I thought I would toss up an update. She seems to go in waves on feeling cruddy, and for a couple hours a day she looks like she's not going to make it. Then, she randomly bounces back and acts curious, bright eyed, tail high, and nibbles tiny bits of food. She weighs practically nothing at this point and when you pick her up all you feel is her breastbone, but she refuses nearly all food. I got her to eat a fried egg yesterday (the whole thing!), so that's my new go-to. She ate maybe half a fried egg this morning (though looked really ill). I don't think she is laying, and I haven't seen any lash eggs or weird stuff. It got cold these past few days it was in the 70s now it is in the 30s) and she just looks cold and miserable. Also, I had yet another chicken puffed up and sick for a couple days but she is completely back to normal now. I did look at her poops, and there were no visible worms/eggs (though microscopic parasites are still a potential I suppose).

So yeah. Still not exactly sure what's up but she's hanging in there.
 
Not that it's urgent, but I thought I would toss up an update. She seems to go in waves on feeling cruddy, and for a couple hours a day she looks like she's not going to make it. Then, she randomly bounces back and acts curious, bright eyed, tail high, and nibbles tiny bits of food. She weighs practically nothing at this point and when you pick her up all you feel is her breastbone, but she refuses nearly all food. I got her to eat a fried egg yesterday (the whole thing!), so that's my new go-to. She ate maybe half a fried egg this morning (though looked really ill). I don't think she is laying, and I haven't seen any lash eggs or weird stuff. It got cold these past few days it was in the 70s now it is in the 30s) and she just looks cold and miserable. Also, I had yet another chicken puffed up and sick for a couple days but she is completely back to normal now. I did look at her poops, and there were no visible worms/eggs (though microscopic parasites are still a potential I suppose).

So yeah. Still not exactly sure what's up but she's hanging in there.
Poor girl. You could try deworming her- Safeguard for goats is great. Unfortunately, DE and ACV won't prevent worms.
 
Another hen passed away. *Sigh*

I had found a thread on BYC that pointed me to a research center that tests chicken poop for worms and worm eggs. A few days ago (before she passed) I gathered some poop and sent it in. The results came back saying there was no trace of worms, so I don't plan to worm the flock.

I'm still unsure what happened (with 2 chickens gone within a few weeks), and am hoping it was a crazy coincidence and that no more get sick. I did some checking around and the only option for necropsy was a several hour drive and over $100. I decided to simply bury her and do my best to be vigilant about spotting symptoms in others.

By the end she had withered away to nothing and was purely just feathers and bones. Her crop was fine, comb was whitish/pale, puffed up, self isolating, stopped laying eggs, and only picked at her food occasionally (if I offered something like strawberries or tomato).

So yep. That's the update.
 

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