Does this chicken poop look normal?

[bobmcafferty]

I have a chicken that's recovering from a crop issue that lasted 2-3 days and now they're acting/eating/drinking properly so far. In the past the chicken had liquidy/green poop which I understood as the chicken not digesting food properly, however now I'm wondering if this one is normal or not.

 

[coach723]

It doesn't look normal to me. Could be from treatment for the crop issue, or drinking a lot of water. Or there may be more going on that may have caused the crop issue to start with. How old is the bird?

 

[bobmcafferty]

It doesn't look normal to me. Could be from treatment for the crop issue, or drinking a lot of water. Or there may be more going on that may have caused the crop issue to start with. How old is the bird?

The bird is 3 years 4 months old

 

[coach723]

Continue to monitor the crop to see if it is working properly now, or if you have a repeat of crop issues. Do you know when the bird last laid (assuming it's a hen?)? What were your crop symptoms and how did you treat? How does the abdomen feel, below the vent, between the legs? Any bloat, firmness, or water balloon like feeling? How is the weight/body condition, is the keel well muscled, or is the keel bone very prominent? Have you ever wormed or had a fecal done to check for internal parasites?

 

[bobmcafferty]

Continue to monitor the crop to see if it is working properly now, or if you have a repeat of crop issues. Do you know when the bird last laid (assuming it's a hen?)? What were your crop symptoms and how did you treat? How does the abdomen feel, below the vent, between the legs? Any bloat, firmness, or water balloon like feeling? How is the weight/body condition, is the keel well muscled, or is the keel bone very prominent? Have you ever wormed or had a fecal done to check for internal parasites?

I don't remember exactly when the bird last laid, but I'd say she stopped laying around 6-12 months ago. This wasn't the first time that the chicken was sick. To try and keep it short for the timeline here.

Lethargic in May -> Amprolium for Coccidiosis didn't work -> Saw chicken gaping -> treated for gapeworm with fenbendazole -> had bloody poop once before fenbendazole administration -> recovered after 5 days of treatment.

Lethargic in August -> Treated with fenbendazole again / also anti-biotic shots -> lethargy gone but had trouble walking -> treated with vitamin B, healed in one week.

Current situation a week ago, lethargic -> fenbendazole for 2~ days, vitamins with a syringe next day -> heard light rattling sound in breathing after, assumed I aspirated her -> find out next morning she is jolting her neck to the right like something is stuck, fluid starts leaking out of her beak -> vomit her twice in 2 days (only considered thinking it was an emergency), both times had a big full water balloon filled crop -> assumed it was sour crop so fed her miconazole and greek yogurt for the next few days. After the second vomit, behavior next day went back to normal.

The last time I felt under the chicken, the keel bone felt prominent, I think overtime she for sure lost weight. She always had vent gleet I believe, we washed her vent down and now it's been clean. The last time I checked her crop in the morning, it felt like a little soft marble, I assumed it was some sort of development of pendulous crop?

I will say for the longest time this hens poop was always very watery. I wonder if I should finish feeding the chicken miconazole assuming it's a yeast infection? I appreciate the help and I will continue monitoring the crop.

 

[coach723]

Since you have had recurring issues with the same bird, and she's not laid in a while, I'm suspicious that this may be some kind of reproductive problem. Could be cancer or infection. It's hard to know for sure since we can't see what's going on inside, and they hide the symptoms really well usually. The weight loss, stoppage of laying, digestive slow down or stoppage, intermittent lethargy, all can be symptoms of the various reproductive issues that are not uncommon in hens over the age of two. If vet care is an option, then imaging may show some clues. If vet care is not an option, then really, you are doing all you can. Most reproductive problems don't really have good treatment options and the prognosis is poor long term. I usually leave mine with the flock until they are obviously unwell, isolate themselves, go off food and water, or get attacked by the flock. Then I euthanize rather than let them suffer. Often you don't know the cause until necropsy.

 

[bobmcafferty]

Yeah it's probably some form of reproductive issue, since vet care isn't an option, I'll just try my best to keep her well as long as possible, thanks for the help.