HELP FEELS LIKE SHE SWALLOWED A WATERBALLOON

[jkraiderfan]

HOW SERIOUS IS THIS? I have a RIR who is about 3 yrs. old. we had a couple a real hot days this weekend everyone seemed fine until yesterday the bird in question was just standing in the coop panting. now today she is just laying in one spot not very hot today so no panting but she does look like she is breathing heavy. do chickens get heat stoke or is this just old age? I don't think she has been laying eggs for a while. any thoughts welcome

 

[miss_thenorth]

I don't know the answer, but maybe if we get this current, we can get this post noticed. Changing the title isn't really going to help, b/c the post got buried . Hoefully someone who knows more comes along.

 

[Biddieacres]

She is still fairly young. Is she eggbound???? By swallowed a watermelon do you mean her crop or her body?

 

[jkraiderfan]

no its in the crop area it feels like a sack of water and the bird is not breathing well

 

[jkraiderfan]

don't think its eggbound don't ever see her in the box laying anymore like the other ones

 

[Biddieacres]

How long has it been since you saw her lay an egg? She should still be laying I believe.

BYC says they should lay into their teens.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/cgi-bin/faq/mojofaq.cgi?cat=1

 

[Cherokee Rose]

I'm no expert, but maybe massaging her crop would help......or maybe a little yogurt.....?

 

[jkraiderfan]

almost 6 months. when i feel her crop i can feel something kind of hard yet squishy in with the fluid. could she have something stuck?

 

[jkraiderfan]

so i messaged her crop gently two different times both times she burped or tried to puke or something. and it smelled really bad. she is drooling also breathing very heavy.

 

[chickenhick]

I found this...hope it helps.....

For anyone searching for info on crop problems in the future (as I spent hours doing) here is a recap:

Initial Symptoms: very full crop that did not empty at night, not rock-hard but pliable like modeling clay, could feel fibrous material. Thin bird. "Dandruff" of flakes off the feather quills.

First treatment: Isolated bird to dog crate inside, on newspaper so she wouldn't eat any more fibrous stuff and I could monitor poop. Massaged the crop for 5-10 minutes periods ever few hours. Fed water with raw apple cider vinegar (a small splash in the waterer) and plain live-culture yogurt mixed with baby-bird-food from the pet store.
The next day her crop had partially emptied but still had some finrous, clay-like solids. Fed more of above foods, plus bread loaked with A LOT of olive oil, and later with mineral oil. More massage.

New symptoms: Perhaps due to the strange diet, her crop blew up again but different: soft, squishy, gassy and balloon-like.

Threatment: Continued with massage. Stopped the yogurt and ACV in case they were responible for the gassiness of the crop. On vet's recommendation, fed her normal food (layer pellets) soaked/softened in water. Also fed some chopped ppached egg. Continued with massage.
That seemed to do the trick.
In retrospect, I think the massage and oil probably helped move the blockage, which had been making her unable to absorb nutrients, hence the skinnyness and dandruff. She seems on the mend now.

What I would have done, now that I have been through it:
1) Isolate her, monitor poop as described. Feed oil-soaked bread, masage A LOT until crop is mostly empty.
2) Massage massage massage
3) Feed regular feed softened a lot with warm water. Some egg but mostly feed, lots of water.