Help diagnose my ccl hen please

[andreanar]

Did the vet suggest giving more subcutaneous fluids? I ask because I remember having one of mine hat had some unknown illness and the vet advised giving 200 ml of fluids per day (she was 2700 grams). It took three weeks of fluids and antibiotics, but she finally came around.

She said I could if I felt I needed to. Flower was drinking tho, after her vet visit. Now, I haven't seen her drink or eat or poop in over 24 hours. Ive been vomiting her 2x a day, then give her Monistat 2x a day. Ive been syringing her fluids pretty much every hour all day today and fed her a scrambled egg with Nutridrench on it. Ive also been massaging and feeling around her crop area to see if I can feel anything hard or stuck. I'm going to give her 2 more days to turn a corner, then I will cull her if she is not any better.
Her mouth, and what comes out of her crop smells so bad.

 

[andreanar]

I found a prescription antifungal I had laying around! Its oral Lamisil and I am going to give it to her, I and she have not much to lose.

 

[rebrascora]

Sorry to hear your girl is not doing well. The combination of laying issues and crop problem and lack of poop suggests there is probably a blockage further down her digestive tract. Perhaps a tumour causing a constriction of the gut as well as the shell gland malfunctions but it could possibly be a straightforward crop impaction that has prevented her from obtaining the nutrients to form those eggs properly. With impacted crops, I massage 4x a day for 10-15 mins each time and only give very sloppy feed with Nutri Drops and oil. I've had to resort to crop surgery a couple of times where there was a soggy mass of tangled vegetation plugging the outlet into the proventriculus. Even though I've dealt with quite a few impacted/pendulous crops that took weeks to fix, I've never had one go sour yet for some reason.

You have really tried so hard with this pullet, I hope she turns a corner for you soon, but as a realist it does not sound probable.

If she does pass and you do that necropsy, would you be so kind as to take photos of everything.... all her major organs and anything that looks abnormal. Some of us are sadly more familiar with doing necropsies than we would like, but you can learn something new from each one and we might manage to help you come to a likely diagnosis as well as learning something from her ourselves.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[andreanar]

Sorry to hear your girl is not doing well. The combination of laying issues and crop problem and lack of poop suggests there is probably a blockage further down her digestive tract. Perhaps a tumour causing a constriction of the gut as well as the shell gland malfunctions but it could possibly be a straightforward crop impaction that has prevented her from obtaining the nutrients to form those eggs properly. With impacted crops, I massage 4x a day for 10-15 mins each time and only give very sloppy feed with Nutri Drops and oil. I've had to resort to crop surgery a couple of times where there was a soggy mass of tangled vegetation plugging the outlet into the proventriculus. Even though I've dealt with quite a few impacted/pendulous crops that took weeks to fix, I've never had one go sour yet for some reason.

You have really tried so hard with this pullet, I hope she turns a corner for you soon, but as a realist it does not sound probable.

If she does pass and you do that necropsy, would you be so kind as to take photos of everything.... all her major organs and anything that looks abnormal. Some of us are sadly more familiar with doing necropsies than we would like, but you can learn something new from each one and we might manage to help you come to a likely diagnosis as well as learning something from her ourselves.

Best wishes

Barbara

Thanks for your well wishes. I will definitely take photos and document here if I need to necropsy. The reason I keep updating this thread is for anyone else that is going thru the same thing. Ive learned so much here and want to help educate anyone else if I can, thru my experiences. I have a friend who it a wildlife biologist that specializes in birds to help me if I need to necropsy.

I'm assuming there is a blockage somewhere that I am unable to feel, I'm hoping one of 2 things: either she is blocked from swelling due to the fungal infection, or that I can get her crop to empty enough that I can better feel what going on. I have been massaging, but its like massaging a water balloon!

Dare I say, that it seems her crop is smaller this morning?! There is not such a foul odor coming from her mouth either. I gave her 125mg of prescription Lamisil, 20ml of probiotic/electrolyte water, and massaged her crop altho I did not have to vomit her. Cmon Flower! Turn that corner already.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have just read through this whole thread, and am glad that Flower is still alive, and appreciate that you have received so much help from BYC and your vet.
Others have pointed out that soft shells may be due to other things than calcium deficiency, such as a mild case of infecrious bronchitis in the past. I also had a great layer who was injured by a dog, and after several months of not laying, laid soft or shell-less eggs for 3 years until she recently died. I think her shell gland or oviduct was damaged.
Hopefully, she can get better, but crop function is related to so many other things in the body.

 

[andreanar]

I have just read through this whole thread, and am glad that Flower is still alive, and appreciate that you have received so much help from BYC and your vet.
Others have pointed out that soft shells may be due to other things than calcium deficiency, such as a mild case of infecrious bronchitis in the past. I also had a great layer who was injured by a dog, and after several months of not laying, laid soft or shell-less eggs for 3 years until she recently died. I think her shell gland or oviduct was damaged.
Hopefully, she can get better, but crop function is related to so many other things in the body.

I know! Crop function can be due to a whole list of issues, that is why I get so confused. I need to just focus on one thing at a time. LOL. Getting rid of the sour crop is my first order of business.

 

[Trish1974]

I have no advice to offer just wanted to say I wish Flower a speedy and full recovery. Best of luck to you both.

 

[peckpeckpeck]

Thanks for your well wishes. I will definitely take photos and document here if I need to necropsy. The reason I keep updating this thread is for anyone else that is going thru the same thing. Ive learned so much here and want to help educate anyone else if I can, thru my experiences. I have a friend who it a wildlife biologist that specializes in birds to help me if I need to necropsy.

I'm assuming there is a blockage somewhere that I am unable to feel, I'm hoping one of 2 things: either she is blocked from swelling due to the fungal infection, or that I can get her crop to empty enough that I can better feel what going on. I have been massaging, but its like massaging a water balloon!

Dare I say, that it seems her crop is smaller this morning?! There is not such a foul odor coming from her mouth either. I gave her 125mg of prescription Lamisil, 20ml of probiotic/electrolyte water, and massaged her crop altho I did not have to vomit her. Cmon Flower! Turn that corner already.

Yes! Please keep this thread going.
I'm learning so much here.

Praying Flower will turn that corner! C'mon Flower, you can do it!

 

[andreanar]

Well, I'm sorry to say that Flower died. I came home, went to check her and she was laying down dead. All the fluid, and thick brown sludge had come up out of her crop and she was laying in a pool of this stuff! It stinks so bad! You cant even imagine. I called my friend about doing the necropsy, and she isn't available until Sunday. I don't have anywhere to keep her until then. My boyfriend wont let me keep her in the fridge. Its not cold enough to keep her outside and I have to go to work in 15 minutes. So I don't have any time to find a place for her. Do you think she will keep in a cooler of ice?

 

[Trish1974]

I am so, so sorry for your loss.