Help!! my barred rock is super sick!!!

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So sorry that you are having to deal with this. I have one like her now, and she seems to be in that condition from a hard molt. She is like a skeleton, but now has a poofy crop after eating, then goes flat by morning. So you will be able to feel her crop if it gets full. Is she awake at all? Can she stand? She could have something going on internally that you can't help, but it is good that you are trying to revive her. Aquarium tubing from WalMart and a regular 35-60 cc syringe can be fashioned into a tube feeding set-up if you want to go that route. Just take a lighter or match and round off the sharp edges of the tubing to insert into the crop. Here is a link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding
 
Gah! She is still the same... Been giving her a siringe of fluids every hour.. about 2.5ml. So, husband is home now and we did a thorough check of her. Her vent seems to be off. Like we had a REALLY hard time finding it. She is so shriveled, but it seems to be that the bottom part of it is swollen?

I'm going to try a bath with her I think.. I'll take a picture of two of her as well. Be back soon...
 






This is my sweet girl Bells tonight, and 2.5 years ago with her first egg. The last picture is her as a chick at 4 days old (the black one with the cute pose) It was our first egg of the flock, and I remember how happy I was. Anyways, I don't think she is going to make it. She just got too skinny, and her breathing is getting slower and slower. We cleaned up her vent area, but it just looks off. Maybe because she is so skinny? I tried to get in there, but couldn't. We did a few warm water baths with her, and now she is wrapped up in a towel. While bathing her, and kind of having her at a 45 degree angle, she did spit up a bunch of sandy looking liquid. Her abdomen is just bones, and there still have been no poops since 11am when we brought her inside.

Trying to just get some of the antibiotic/electrolyte/probiotic mixture into her. If she is still like this in the morning, I'm calling the vet. I'm not going to expect her to make it through the night though..

Any other thoughts? Options? A saving grace??? We are just sitting here crying.. and I'm so sad to start the year like this....
 
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It is common for some hens at this age to have egg yolk peritonitis or other internal problems such as reproductive cancers. With all of their feathers they can lose a ton of weight before we realize anything is wrong. Just keep trying to get some fluids and protein into her. Scrambled eggs are really good, and sometimes they will eat a raw egg. Gatorade and pedialyte are good for her right now. Here is a recipe for homemade electrolytes: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/chicken-heat-stress-dehydration-and.html
 
She may have something blocking her digestive tract. Maybe an impacted gizzard. They can eat anything in the yard--plastic, nail heads, string, etc. Chickens are very hard to diagnose. I'm hoping she makes it through the night so you can take her to the vet.
 
What do you do for an impacted gizzard? I found impacted crop online? Would oil help with that? Oy... Its so hard to figure anything out with these chickens! We had a broody hen last year we thought we were going to loose. We didn't realize she was just mega, mega broody (loosing so much weight too). Took her to the vet and $250 later, learned only that she had a small screw in her crop. But, she got better quickly after some cold dunks, and a few nights of isolation. I'm so attached to these girls.. We have 2 cats, 1 dog and 8 hens, and I love them all to death :)
 
First make sure your hen is warm,her body is shutting down,keep giving her the electrolytes for shock,try and stabilize her. You mentioned she spit up some liquid,is there a foul smell coming from her mouth,if yes it is possible she may have sour crop,she may other things going on but start there. Skinny is from not eating,her vent area may be shriveled from her being dehydrated.
 
sunshineyarns said:
What do you do for an impacted gizzard? I found impacted crop online? Would oil help with that? Oy... Its so hard to figure anything out with these chickens! We had a broody hen last year we thought we were going to loose. We didn't realize she was just mega, mega broody (loosing so much weight too). Took her to the vet and $250 later, learned only that she had a small screw in her crop. But, she got better quickly after some cold dunks, and a few nights of isolation. I'm so attached to these girls.. We have 2 cats, 1 dog and 8 hens, and I love them all to death :)
Click to expand...
I have never treated a chicken with a gizzard impaction, but found this good link about it: http://birdhealth.com.au/flockbirds/poultry/diseases/crop_gizzard.html
 

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