Empty crop but still eating, swollen belly, vent discharge, drinking a lot, not laying....what is it

[Meara]

I have a bantam hen who has been looking "off" for a while. Then she stopped laying for several days. I picked her up yesterday to examine her and realized her crop was empty even though it was late afternoon. She also has a milky discharge from her vent. I isolated her and she is eating, but the crop is still empty. Does this mean there is a rupture in the crop?

I also bathed her and let her soak in a long warm bath in case she is egg bound. I gently inserted my finger in her cloaca but did not feel an egg. Her belly is swollen and soft, but not hard like an egg. Today still no egg but eating and very thirsty. I fed her some yogurt and scrambled egg and added an electrolyte mix to her water.

I also administered an epsom salt flush and giving her fluids brought on breathing difficulties. She was gasping and struggling.

I'm not sure what to think. Do I have multiple issues here? She is an exceptionally sweet hen. Her name is Penny and I hate to lose her! PLEASE HELP!

 

[CMV]

A crop rupture is unlikely. It happens, but not very often and is usually as a result of a serious injury like a predator attack.

The leaking from the vent is ominous. Could it be vent gleet? Does it smell like yeast or foul like an infection? (Disgusting, I know, but relevant.)

The swollen belly- is it taut or squishy?

Did you get the fluids down the right pipe? Did you overfill her until the crop overflowed into the trachea?

 

[Meara]

Yes, it could be vent gleet. That was my initial diagnosis. Her swollen belly is soft and squishy. I administered the fluids correctly (lots of experience with that unfortunately) so I'm not sure what the breathing distress is about. And the empty crop has me confused and concerned since I've watched her eat. Could she have a ruptured air sac?

 

[CMV]

You can generally hear a ruptured air sac. It sounds like crinkling paper.

 

[Goobie]

Hi Meara,

Did you ever find a cure for what ever this was?

It sounds very similar to two of my hens right now