Emergency: water filled mass on chest, vomiting, inability to move or balance

[melanienew]

Hello all! My mother and I's first and most beloved hen whom we've had for 4 or 5 years now who has never had any problems has recently lost interest in mealworms, isn't moving very much and when she does she hobbles around and has no balance, she even tried to jump up onto her perch and fell and sounded a lot heavier than usual, and she has developed a large hard mass on the front upper right side of her chest. My mom noticed it first and only two or three days ago so I don't know how much or how little she's been eating or drinking and it looks like she's having yellow/white watery stool. When I took her out of the coop to look at her it appeared almost like her comb was sweating. She just tripped in our yard and started throwing up watery fluid and upon further inspection the mass seems to be a water filled sack. She's no longer standing but laying down helplessly. Any and all help is immensely appreciated

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It looks like an enlarged crop. You could try gently massaging it. Check if there's a bad odor coming from her mouth which would indicate something like sour crop. I had a hen last year who's crop seemed to plug up. I had to slowly work the water out than after massaging it, it seemed to work out. Careful she doesn't aspirate any on the contents if it comes up and out.

 

[melanienew]

It looks like an enlarged crop. You could try gently massaging it. Check if there's a bad odor coming from her mouth which would indicate something like sour crop. I had a hen last year who's crop seemed to plug up. I had to slowly work the water out than after massaging it, it seemed to work out. Careful she doesn't aspirate any on the contents if it comes up and out.

I'm going to try this thank you!!

 

[melanienew]

It looks like an enlarged crop. You could try gently massaging it. Check if there's a bad odor coming from her mouth which would indicate something like sour crop. I had a hen last year who's crop seemed to plug up. I had to slowly work the water out than after massaging it, it seemed to work out. Careful she doesn't aspirate any on the contents if it comes up and out.

How do I tell if/ what do i do if she's aspirating?

 

[rebrascora]

I agree, it appears to be an impacted crop.
The crop is a pouch that holds food that has been eaten through the day to be digested whilst they are sleeping at night. It sometimes gets clogged up with fibrous material like grass and straw which becomes soggy and forms a plug in the bottom preventing food and sometimes water from progressing down into the digestive tract, effectively starving the bird, which usually eats more because it is hungry causing the crop to become stretched and further impacted. Sometimes it develops a yeast infection as well which makes it sour and their breath smell bad.
Firm but gentle massage several times a day from the bottom of the crop upwards and access to just very sloppy food might help to shift it, but sometimes surgery is needed to remove the wad of soggy vegetation. Caging her so that she does not have access to more grass or fibrous material of any kind is important, at least until you get things moving and providing water, sloppy feed (pellets or crumble soaked in warm water and diluted with more water and a bit of olive oil mixed to a slurry or gravy consistency) and grit in a separate bowl.

You will probably find that whilst her front end is very heavy, the rest of her body is very thin and emaciated even.... her breast bone will probably feel quite sharp with very little flesh on her and the weight of the contents of her crop and weakness from lack of food will be tipping her off balance.
As oldhenlikesdogs says, you need to be careful that she doesn't inhale any liquid that refluxes up when you are massaging her. You should find that she quite enjoys the massage or at least realises that it is beneficial. I had one that it took nearly 2 weeks of sloppy feeds and 4 massages a day to fix and another that I had to cut open and physically remove the plug of vegetation. There are really helpful videos on You Tube that show you how to do crop surgery or a trip to the vets if you feel unable to take that step.
Having said that, at 4-5years old she may not recover from surgery, but she will almost certainly die if you do not get that blockage removed, so you don't really have anything to lose.
Unfortunately, impacted crops can also be caused by problems further down the digestive tract and even by a problem in the reproductive system, so no guarantees that even crop surgery will fix it.
If you decide that crop surgery is necessary and decide to do it yourself I can give you some tips, but it should be a last resort when other options like massage and even vomiting have failed. Whilst I understand why people are concerned about suggesting vomiting, inverting the bird and massaging the crop can help to break up silt and debris that has built up in the bottom of the crop. Again, You Tube videos are helpful to learn this process.
Good luck with her

Barbara
Good luck with her.

 

[rebrascora]

You will know if she aspirates because she will make rasping, gurgling noises and struggle just like you would if you inhaled some vomit.