Crop issues? Egg bound?

[Sheri460]

I have a 1 and half year old RIR who has not been acting like herself since Monday of this week. She seems to have slowly gotten worse each day. She's staying away from the other 4 chickens, kind of hunched over and much quieter than she normally is. She's my most active and noisy one usually. Her comb is bright red and she does look alert though.

Her crop was large yesterday morning before she ate so I was thinking maybe impacted or sour and I spent a lot of time throughout the day massaging it. There's lots of little hard pieces in it. I have crushed granite for them in the run as grit, half the run is also sand (other half is pine shavings/dirt) they also free range for part of the day. I'm a bit concerned that she may have eaten some crushed up (at the bottom of the landscaping) landscaping rocks that are synthetic. She was digging around in that area and I didn't think anything about it because they've all done that before.

When I massage her crop I don't notice a ball or anything, it all squishes around and has a lot of "gravel" in it. Like a lot! Her crop is smaller this morning than it was yesterday morning. But that gravely stuff is still in there and it's quite a bit.

Her poop is very watery, see photo. I isolated her this morning in a dog crate in our house so she has easy access to water but not food. She will stand with her eyes closed as if sleeping, but she wont lay down in the crate, but she was laying down in the run, so I feel bad that she's more uncomfortable.

I felt around the outside of her vent, but I don't think she's egg bound because she can still poop, even though it's watery. But she hasn't not laid an egg since Sunday or Monday of this week, so it's been about 4 days. Which is very odd for her, she's my best layer.

Any ideas?
Thank you for your time.

 

[WingsysRoost]

I would definitely think crop issue of some kind if it doesn't seem to be emptying properly.

Unfortunately, I don't know a ton about how to fix crop issues, so bumping this thread in the hope that someone with more knowledge may have some ideas.

Best of luck with your bird!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I have a 1 and half year old RIR who has not been acting like herself since Monday of this week. She seems to have slowly gotten worse each day. She's staying away from the other 4 chickens, kind of hunched over and much quieter than she normally is. She's my most active and noisy one usually. Her comb is bright red and she does look alert though.

Her crop was large yesterday morning before she ate so I was thinking maybe impacted or sour and I spent a lot of time throughout the day massaging it. There's lots of little hard pieces in it. I have crushed granite for them in the run as grit, half the run is also sand (other half is pine shavings/dirt) they also free range for part of the day. I'm a bit concerned that she may have eaten some crushed up (at the bottom of the landscaping) landscaping rocks that are synthetic. She was digging around in that area and I didn't think anything about it because they've all done that before.

When I massage her crop I don't notice a ball or anything, it all squishes around and has a lot of "gravel" in it. Like a lot! Her crop is smaller this morning than it was yesterday morning. But that gravely stuff is still in there and it's quite a bit.

Her poop is very watery, see photo. I isolated her this morning in a dog crate in our house so she has easy access to water but not food. She will stand with her eyes closed as if sleeping, but she wont lay down in the crate, but she was laying down in the run, so I feel bad that she's more uncomfortable.

I felt around the outside of her vent, but I don't think she's egg bound because she can still poop, even though it's watery. But she hasn't not laid an egg since Sunday or Monday of this week, so it's been about 4 days. Which is very odd for her, she's my best layer.

Any ideas?
Thank you for your time.

@azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[azygous]

The problem with a crop full of gravel is it displaces food so a chicken will slowly starve to death because they mistake the full feeling in their crop for food and so don't become hungry.

Another danger that I'm guessing at is that the synthetic gravel is a much different weight and density than granite grit. Therefore, normal gravity and digestive movement of the intestines would not be enough to move the synthetic gravel through due to it's being less dense. So it just sits in the crop.

My intuitive response to this problem would be to use a maximum flush to try to wash this gravel down through the gizzard and intestines so it's eliminated in her poop. If this succeeds and this substance is flushed out and you verify it being the synthetic gravel, then you would have no choice but to remove this from your garden or fence it off so the chickens can't eat any more of it.

This flush requires tubing a good amount of Epsom salt solution into the chicken twice a day for three days in a row. Are you comfortable with that? If not, you will probaby need to find a vet willing to do it. It's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I can instruct you.