Crop Problem, hen wont eat!!

[rihanna12]

Hi everyone,
I have an 8 year old hen who doesn’t seem to be doing too well. last year she had to come inside every few weeks for sour crop until she finally got pendulous crop. I put a crop bra on her and it seemed to help. Ever since then though, she has been having problems. The bra was probably put on in January. She had an episode a month after that where she filled her crop up and even though I got it to empty, she still wouldn’t eat. I tried a few things and finally when I gave her a molasses flush she revived and became her normal self!
she managed to live a month without her bra on at all and was perfectly fine And was able to gain weight!
about a week ago, she showed signs of her crop acting up so I brought her in. She got the bra back on her and I was able to get it mostly empty and she went back outside but it didn’t work. She wouldn’t eat even though her crop was mostly empty. I brought her back in and didn’t let her eat yesterday and this morning it was completely empty so i let her out with her friends and left but she seemed slow still and not energetic.
I have given miconazole for a week and also have tried the molass flush two times. I have given her nutri drench yesterday.
during the time when she didn’t need a bra, she got mild ascites it seemed and I gave her my treatment and it went away and it currently isnt affecting her.
I know that ascites could cause a backup or some sort of shut down inside of her but she has had this happen to her crop before and I want to try everything possible to revive her again. She is very special to me!!
Also a few days ago I saw her eating the new sand we put into the coop but I provide grit in their food most days. I also offered her grit when she ate the sand but she wasn’t interested.

any input would be incredible!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry she's not doing well.
It does sound like there is an underlying condition that is causing the crop issue. While she may not have symptoms of Ascites right now - whatever condition that causes the symptom of Ascites may be worsening. Just speculation on my part - Peritonitis, cancer, etc. go hand in hand with what you describe. Organ dysfunction or failure does too.

Consider de-worming to see if a worm load is contributing to her symptoms.
Encourage her to stay hydrated and offer some wet soupy feed with bits of egg.

It really stinks at times, it does seem the special hens end of with issues and it can be heartbreaking. You are doing the best you can I know.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[rihanna12]

thank you for that! So i will start deworming today but sadly when i came home it seems like she hasn’t eaten today. I do offer her cooked egg everyday and she isn’t interested. since her crop is empty i might take her bra off and see if that helps since she isn’t too happy to be wearing it.

She sometimes eats watermelon/lettuce and will graze a little.

I feel helpless though because she should be feeling better now.
I might give her some molasses (not the full amount) but i already gave her some lately. I also gave her sugar water yesterday.

I might bring her in tomorrow and see if she eats the treats i give her like meal worms.

She definitely is an incredibly goofy girl so she isn’t acting too slow but you can tell something is up

 

[rihanna12]

So a little update: i have been giving her a bunch of different remedies to try to help: nutri drench, molasses(not everyday), coconut oil, ascites treatment (cinnamon, oregano, acv, and lily of the desert), a mix of chili, ginger, and cinammon power with baking soda and lemon juice For her crop. I also deworm with safe guard
i give these every other day or switch it up but during the span of two days, she gets those things.
two days ago i gave her some of that and when she went to bed she had the liquid in her crop and that was it and in the morning when i felt her crop, she had a little air bubble that came out and besides that her crop was empty.
this morning she had a little liquid still in her crop.
her poops are pretty loose but they have been getting better. It used to be just liquid but now its liquid with a tiny bit of consistency.
yesterday she ate a bit of cilantro and when i let them out into the grass she wont eat grass but it looks like she pecks at little bugs but with all of this, i cant feel any of it in her crop so she is not eating enough obviously.

she has the crop bra on.
she Has also been hanging out with the flock and i see her dust bathing and being a normal chicken but she just wont eat anything.

I dont think she is getting better.

Also another thing I noticed with her: when i squeeze her abdomen, it seems there are two symmetrical bumps that are hard.

So in the abdomen area where there doesn’t seem to be anything when you squeeze a chicken there, she has these two bumps that are hard but they seem to be on both sides of her... i dont know if this is important due to the fact that she is skinny and her keel bone is pretty prominent so maybe this is weird to me because i havent felt a skinny chicken near her abdomen.
she was very skinny during her last episode and i don’t remember feeling that though.

I am at a loss, any opinions/advice on what i have been doing or need to do?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think I would treat for sour crop and impaction according to this article, see if that helps.
The lumps sounds like she has a reproductive issue. Since she has ascites, then she very well may have a mass or two in the abdomen that is causing inflammation and slowing down her system. You wouldn't really know what that is unless you lose her and have a necropsy with your state lab or perform your own.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[rihanna12]

So I have been continuously treating her and she is finally having decently normal poops. The problem is that her poops still have seeds and feed in it, she isn’t able to digest those properly.

she also is acting Very slow. She acted fine for a day but then her crop got fermented again even though i have been giving her miconazole. Yesterday i found her in an egg laying box just laying to get away from the other hens but her crop wasnt that full.
what i am noticing though is that she has these air bubbles in her crop. When i massage her crop there is a decently big air bubble that gets expelled that sounds like a burp. This isn’t a one time thing either, it has happened more than three times. my best guess would be that it is from me giving her treatments by syringe and her accidentally swallowing air but she has had those air bubbles in the morning when I haven’t syringed anything into her.

today i brought her inside because her crop didn’t digest and actually felt to be bigger even though She hadn’t eaten since i last touched it.

Any input on this?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The problem is that her poops still have seeds and feed in it, she isn’t able to digest those properly.

Yesterday i found her in an egg laying box just laying to get away from the other hens

Have you been feeding her seeds? What are you feeding her?
Does she have grit available?

She's hiding in the nesting box to get away from the others? Are they picking on her?

You may need to cage her and feed just a wet mushy poultry feed, no seeds, no scratch, just wet feed, plain water and a small daily treat of scrambled egg.

With a hen this old, she may not be able to process very well no matter what you do and she may have more issues going on.
Since she's not getting around a lot, I would make sure that supportive care includes checking for lice/mites since often an unwell hen doesn't dust bath or preen.

 

[rihanna12]

Have you been feeding her seeds? What are you feeding her?
Does she have grit available?

I switch between New Country Organics and H&H feed. They do get sunflower seeds most days. I usually will put grit mixed with their food. her poop has grass and seeds in it mainly which isn’t good.

She's hiding in the nesting box to get away from the others? Are they picking on her?

No, she is one of the top hens. She Was in the nest box just because she didn’t feel good I believe.

You may need to cage her and feed just a wet mushy poultry feed, no seeds, no scratch, just wet feed, plain water and a small daily treat of scrambled egg.

Yes i have been bringing her inside into a dog cage. This morning i gave her lettuce and scrambled egg but later i will offer her some baby bird food from purina (dont remember the name but i used it for tube feeding for a previous hen). Is this alright?

this morning it seemed like her crop didnt move at all. it is very liquidy and when i massage it it bubbles and makes noise. I have been giving miconazole but it doesn’t seem to be helping.

With a hen this old, she may not be able to process very well no matter what you do and she may have more issues going on.
Since she's not getting around a lot, I would make sure that supportive care includes checking for lice/mites since often an unwell hen doesn't dust bath or preen.

 

[theoldchick]

I found that my senior hens seem to do better if they don't have to compete with the younger gals. I had an old hen start acting odd-staying by herself and not eating. Her tail was tipped to the side and she acted like she tasted something bad. So isolated her and offered her a bit of mixed veggies. She ate them so I fed her small amount of mixed veggies through out the day. And she perked up. I then added a bit of powdered baby bird hand feeding formula to her veggies to give her extra calories and protein. She really perked up and started chatting like a chicken should. So I converted a pen to a Senior Center and she's doing well. I put her sister with her and both are doing great. One is actually laying two eggs a week unheard of in a 11 year old hen.
Have you considered taking her to a vet? I like to radiograph these hens and see what's going on. In the veterinary scene I've seen a few chickens who had eaten bolts. That was a fun radiograph to look at! One the other hand, a radiograph can tell you if you are dealing with neoplasia or some other disease process, and give you a more targeted approach to treating your hen.
The one thing I have learned with chickens who have pendulous crops is to feed them small amounts of food several times a day. Canned Veggies sprinkled with baby bird hand feeding formula really seems to to help those pendulous, slow working crops. Never allow a chicken with a slow crop to gorge themselves. I like to have my senior pets have as normal a life as possible. Good luck!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You may need to cage her and feed just a wet mushy poultry feed, no seeds, no scratch, just wet feed, plain water and a small daily treat of scrambled egg.

Sounds like it may be impacted if there's grass too.
You may want to give her 1 stool softener as described in the article to see if that helps get things moving.

I would not give lettuce at this point. Just wet mushy feed. If you need to, withhold food for 24 hours, but do make water available.

She still may have an underlying condition that is compounding the problem.