Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

@ManueB Thank you for asking! I was going to provide an update soon.

We have been following the vet's instruction pretty much.

Light is doing well with a good appetite, but we have been careful on what to give her. We tube fed her twice yesterday as instructed. That was her main food source. She was inside house all day yesterday. Her crop seems smaller this morning!

She did seem to be passing some mud yesterday, but it is really hard to tell. Most importantly, yesterday afternoon, she pooped out something looked like a red jelly bean. After careful examination, we finally realized it was the STOOL SOFTENER pill that my husband gave her 3 WEEKS AGO!!!

He only gave her the stool softener gel capsule ONCE as a whole. He felt the capsule shell itself is really hard so he stopped doing it. Thank goodness he only did it once and afterwards he all squeezed the liquid out of it.

Previously we fed fish-mox pill to chickens. They were also capsules, but I can tell that the outer-shell was already dissolving in her mouth. With the stool softener gel capsule, it is really thick and apparently not breaking down in chickens, so hence the softener pill needs to be

So everyone, if you have hens that have impacted crop and you need to feed them stool softeners, please pick it open, squeeze the liquid out and throw out capsule. You can have the liquid soaked in break for example.

that is something. Thank you so much for sharing that info.

 

[Ponypoor]

@ManueB Thank you for asking! I was going to provide an update soon.

We have been following the vet's instruction pretty much.

Light is doing well with a good appetite, but we have been careful on what to give her. We tube fed her twice yesterday as instructed. That was her main food source. She was inside house all day yesterday. Her crop seems smaller this morning!

She did seem to be passing some mud yesterday, but it is really hard to tell. Most importantly, yesterday afternoon, she pooped out something looked like a red jelly bean. After careful examination, we finally realized it was the STOOL SOFTENER pill that my husband gave her 3 WEEKS AGO!!!

He only gave her the stool softener gel capsule ONCE as a whole. He felt the capsule shell itself is really hard so he stopped doing it. Thank goodness he only did it once and afterwards he all squeezed the liquid out of it.

Previously we fed fish-mox pill to chickens. They were also capsules, but I can tell that the outer-shell was already dissolving in her mouth. With the stool softener gel capsule, it is really thick and apparently not breaking down in chickens, so hence the softener pill needs to be

So everyone, if you have hens that have impacted crop and you need to feed them stool softeners, please pick it open, squeeze the liquid out and throw out capsule. You can have the liquid soaked in break for example.

Sounds like some progress, sure hope it’s a good sign

 

[BY Bob]

Hahaha I like the Storm theme

Nimbus still makes me think of a broom......

 

[featherhead007]

Sydney went heads while Lady Featherington went with tails. Hattie tried to take "sides" but Aurora wouldn't let her. She said if Phyllis lands on her side she would just flip her again until either heads or tails came up.

Thirstyday

Let’s not flip Phyllis okay?

 

[lightm]

That is a really, really good sign. It means stuff is beginning to move through her system.
Have you tried seeing if she will eat on her own? Something soft.
I do hope she continues to improve.

that is something. Thank you so much for sharing that info.

Sounds like some progress, sure hope it’s a good sign

Yes we do think she is making good progress! Her comb color is still concerning and the vet did not really have anything to say when we brought it up...

Light eats a lot of things and she currently loves cabbage (chopped), zuccini (chopped), sometimes water melons. Yesterday at dinner, we also fed her some very tender pork and she LOVED IT so much. She repeatedly made her excited noise (kinda like tidbit) and scoffed down the pork.

Unfortunately, she would not eat the prescribed soft meal on her own. She finds it disgusting...

I am not a good tube feeder yet. Yesterday morning, the tube came out of the syringe because the content was too thick so we had to do it a second time. For yesterday evening's tube feeding, the mix was coming out of her beak in the very end. I guess I did not send the tube down far enough? She was fine, nothing got into her airway, but I felt like she was traumatized. This morning, I made the same mistake of making too thick of a food paste and the tube came out of the syringe in the middle of it again... Sigh. We did not try again.

 

[lightm]

Let me set one thing straight right now.

I don’t have to share.

I thought about just flipping Phyllis to decide which way to go.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes we do think she is making good progress! Her comb color is still concerning and the vet did not really have anything to say when we brought it up...

Light eats a lot of things and she currently loves cabbage (chopped), zuccini (chopped), sometimes water melons. Yesterday at dinner, we also fed her some very tender pork and she LOVED IT so much. She repeatedly made her excited noise (kinda like tidbit) and scoffed down the pork.

Unfortunately, she would not eat the prescribed soft meal on her own. She finds it disgusting...

I am not a good tube feeder yet. Yesterday morning, the tube came out of the syringe because the content was too thick so we had to do it a second time. For yesterday evening's tube feeding, the mix was coming out of her beak in the very end. I guess I did not send the tube down far enough? She was fine, nothing got into her airway, but I felt like she was traumatized. This morning, I made the same mistake of making too thick of a food paste and the tube came out of the syringe in the middle of it again... Sigh. We did not try again.

Why does the vet think you need to tube feed if she is eating on her own?
I would think lots of coconut oil and massage to keep things moving would be sufficient if she is eating and now pooping.

 

[knoturavggrl]

You feeling ok? I am hoping for a good outcome from you upcoming appointment.

How’s the weather your way? It’s grim here, just so humid - and the mosquitoes are ferocious - I will need to bring the horses back inside soon, they are running around to get away from the mosquitoes.

I am well I have been trying to balance learning more without scaring myself silly. Mostly, I am trying to just hit pause till I know more, sometimes thats easier to do then others. Normal I think.

The weather is hot and humid. I am thankful we are in a valley and have lots of tree cover. I am also glad the coop and run are very airy lots of windows to catch breezes.

Brownie is still broody, I have just decided to wait her out while removing all eggs often and pulling her off the nest once a day at least. Convincing her there is no rooster so no more babies are possible falls on deaf ears since it worked the one time and all.

The tweens are integrating more and more. I have noticed that the Big girls primarily reserve their pecks and chasing to the two boys. I feel for them but maybe it will help them to be gentleman when they grow up into big bad Roos. I am trusting the tribe on this. These 4 are so gentle and laid back, I know I have said it before but it still surprises me just how different they are from my OG’s.

 

[lightm]

Why does the vet think you need to tube feed if she is eating on her own?
I would think lots of coconut oil and massage to keep things moving would be sufficient if she is eating and now pooping.

That is also the question we had (later after we got home). The vet never really explained the whole picture. He said that the food paste (link) that we tube feed her will be good at keep flushing stuff down her track since it has a good consistency, in addition to a nutrient balanced meal.

He also said that she can eat other stuff if she wants to.

It seems that he thinks tube feeding is easy and did not think that our newbies can have a little trouble at first.

 

[RoyalChick]

That is also the question we had (later after we got home). The vet never really explained the whole picture. He said that the food paste (link) that we tube feed her will be good at keep flushing stuff down her track since it has a good consistency, in addition to a nutrient balanced meal.

He also said that she can eat other stuff if she wants to.

It seems that he thinks tube feeding is easy and did not think that our newbies can have a little trouble at first.

Strange.
When I tube fed I learned a couple of things: bigger tubes are easier; make the feed really liquid; calculate a volume that you are sure is safe (or smaller than her crop) and give it in one fast plunge.
I still think in your situation I would do a lot of oil and massage as well!