HELP, HELP, HELP PLEASE... WHY IS MY HENS BREATH SMELL SWEET LIKE CORN

[JENNYS HENNYS 1]

PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN... I THOUGHT MY HEN MIGHT BE EGG BOUND SHE IS A LITTLE SLEEPY SO I GAVE HER A WARM BATH FOR 20 MIN SHE IS ONE OF MY LITTLES THAT IS JUST STARTING TO LAY EGGS NOW. I THOUGHT I MAYBE FELT AN EGG IN HER ABDOMINAL AREA AND NOTICED HER BREATH SMELLED SWEET LIKE SWEET CORN THAT SHE DID HAVE TODAY. I SMELLED THE OTHER HENS AND THEIR BREATH DID NOT SMELL LIKE SWEET CORN. I FELT HER CROP AND JUST A LITTLE THEN USUAL AND ALSO SOMEWHAT SOFT. I CAN FEEL HER GRAIN THAT SHE HAS EATEN TODAY SO I AM REALLY NOT SURE WHAT THE SMELL IS FROM. SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS (EASIER FOR ME TO SEE)

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP,

JEN

 

[liz9910]

please post in the Emergencies forum for best results: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

I'm sorry about your sick hen.

It sounds as though she may have sour crop. I would definitely post about her in the Emergencies section of the forums. Hopefully, people there can help.

Good luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Yes, sounds like she has a sour crop. You will need to keep her confined or at least so that she cannot eat anything but her chicken feed. No hard seeds, grains, grass or anything hard.

Tomorrow morning, first thing before she eats or drinks, check her crop. Compare it to the others if you are unsure, but it should be completely empty. If it is soft and squishy, it is either slow or sour. You will need to get that gunk out of her as what is in her crop is becoming toxic.

So take her outside and hold her like a football in one arm, beak out. Support her with your other hand at the crop. Lean her forward, beak down. Gently massage and squeeze the crop. The MOMENT the fluid starts to come up, count to 2 or 3 and than stand back up. No longer as you can aspirate her. Give her some time to catch her breath and do it again. You will never get it all out, but do these sessions repeatedly until you can't get any more out. Then keep her confined so she can't eat anything she should be eating.

Dampen her feed. Chickens love damp feed and this will also make it easier to digest. Put some probiotics in her water. Human grade stuff works just fine. Just empty a capsule into a plastic quart waterer and discard the capsule. Fill with water and make a new batch daily.

No oil. Some people will tell you to give them oil. Oil does nothing but slow the crop down even more.

You can also mix some plain yogurt into some chopped hard boiled eggs. These she can have and is a great way to get good bacteria into her crop and tract.

Keep this up for a few days. Vomit in the mornings, no hard foods, damp layer feed, probiotics and yogurt on some hard boiled eggs.

If the smell of her breath gets really bad, you can add some fungal meds to the mix and that should clear this up.

Good luck and I hope you can get her healed up soon!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

I'm sorry to hear about your hen! Two Crows has given some excellent advice. Definitely also post in the Emergencies section.

I hope she turns out all right!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

x2 on Two Crows.

Do not use oil. Feel her crop in the morning and evening. In the evening it should feel full and hard. In morning you shouldn't feel anything. Depending on the crop problem you shouldn't give her food for 24 hours. Again no oil. It only makes things worse.

Try and massage her crop and make her vomit. Like Two Crows said you can giver her eggs and oatmeal or dampen her food. All chickens like damp feed!

Best of luck!

 

[JENNYS HENNYS 1]

Thank you that was extremely good and very informing well write information thank you so much will do and let you know how it goes

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - good luck with your hen.

 

[drumstick diva]

Hope your hen will be fine please do update so we know how this turned out.

 

[Toddrick]

Good info. A lot of other threads said to use oil, so I'm glad I saw this. Are there any situations where olive oil would be of use, or is it just wrong in all situations? What fungal meds would you use?