Help Post Vet

FreedomGalTx

Chirping
Oct 18, 2023
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Had a very wheezy lethargic hen just shy of 2yrs old. Took her to the vet. Her crop was impacted( hubby didn't allow time for evening grit I think) They kept her for 4hrs. 02 & shot of Reglan. Sent her home with abt. Reglan oral took 6 days to get. Though she was pooping & doing better she started wheezing again after 7 days of 14day abt. On the 15th day she literally flailed her neck around gasping for air & went literally limp. We knew she was going to die, she could not breathe & could hear the gurgles. Found YT video on sour crop after abt and we took her outside limp held her almost upside down with straight neck after syringing baking soda h20 in the throat & browning saliva like stuff came out of her beak as I massaged her crop. We put her back up, she popped alert but not for long so we did it again, I could hear & feel the liquid moving & up it came again. After the 3rd time she was like her old self. Seemed like a miracle! Know I'm lost. We held food for 24hrs continued Reglan. She got very restless in the cage. Day 2 tried plain yogurt, she wouldn't touch it after trying it. Scramled egg 1/2 she ate it all. Next day scrambled egg mixed with yogurt & decided to start miconazole 1/2inch 2x a day for 7 days. She's 3 days in. Fruday I couldn't be home. Hubby let her out!!! Let her eat feed and fill her crop and when I got home she was wheezing all over again. Reglan did not fully empty crop that night but this morning it seems to be empty. How do I integrate her back to eating? Do I need to finish the yeast treatment? BTW yesterday gave safeguard paste just incase it's gapeworm? I'm at a loss. She's isolated and antsy when she starts feeling better but clearly can't just eat crumble til she's full. Also her voice is still hoarse. She lays eggs most days. Today I'm back to scrambled egg. I'm just tired. I love her but it's been almost 3wks now & idk how to get her back to being able to be with her sisters & eat notmally.normally. I have attached the before and after of milking the crop to expel liquid. The almost $500 vet visit only gave us the Reglan which does help empty the crop.
 

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If she were mine, I would place her crate outside with her flock to get reacquainted with everyone. What are you feeding the rest of them? I would not give her any whole grains, but just a very watery small bit of balanced chicken feed. You can mix the plain yogurt into the feed which she might take better. A few bits of egg are okay as well. I would let her have a few bits of grit separate from her feed.

Making her vomit is very risky. They can choke to death on the crop contents. Since the Reglan is not helping, I would stop it. Many hens will suffer with impacted or sour crop, and it may be related to other problems (reproductive, worms, cancer, water belly.) Many use miconazole or Monistat cream twice a day to help treat sour crop or fungal infection. If she is on an antibiotic (is she or not) that can help prevent more yeast or fungal infection. Solid or chilled coconut oil can be cut into pieces and offered 1-2 tsp twice a day. Crops can be massaged if they are firm. Azygous has a good article that may help you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
 
I knew the vomiting bit was risky but she was literally on the floor dying. I had to try something. They all eat New Country Organics Crumble but free range all but 4hrs of the mid day( still 90 here). I put her outside(cage in the run) yesterday without food & idk if she ate feathers from the ground or the heat got her but she was wheezing really bad by late afternoon. Brought her in, gave olive oil with 2 drops of Vetrx & put a fan on her(her wings were out) and in 5min she was normal again. Everything seemed fine until he let her gorge on Crumble food after one day of small amounts of scrambled egg. Im thinking it was too much too soon? (I suspect he's holding back that he let her eat grass)
After yesterday I'm scared to.put her cage back outside. I'm just exhausted
 
Oh. I had also tried the coconut oil pieces with gentle massage every 2hrs for 12hrs with the impaction before going to the vet. Reglan worked great just can't stop it from recurring. I really think he just let her eat too much too soon
 
If she were mine, I would place her crate outside with her flock to get reacquainted with everyone. What are you feeding the rest of them? I would not give her any whole grains, but just a very watery small bit of balanced chicken feed. You can mix the plain yogurt into the feed which she might take better. A few bits of egg are okay as well. I would let her have a few bits of grit separate from her feed.

Making her vomit is very risky. They can choke to death on the crop contents. Since the Reglan is not helping, I would stop it. Many hens will suffer with impacted or sour crop, and it may be related to other problems (reproductive, worms, cancer, water belly.) Many use miconazole or Monistat cream twice a day to help treat sour crop or fungal infection. If she is on an antibiotic (is she or not) that can help prevent more yeast or fungal infection. Solid or chilled coconut oil can be cut into pieces and offered 1-2 tsp twice a day. Crops can be massaged if they are firm. Azygous has a good article that may help you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
Ok. That article I followed to a "T" with the oil. My confusion is does she stay with no food for the 7 days of miconazole or is she eating small amounts of soft food. She is only on day 3 of miconazole and I believe she had impacted & sour crop, the vet not addressing sour crop. Her breathe was horrible. Now it is not. Just wheezing/ some gurgle even when she eats even a whole scrambled egg.
 
Ok. That article I followed to a "T" with the oil. My confusion is does she stay with no food for the 7 days of miconazole or is she eating small amounts of soft food. She is only on day 3 of miconazole and I believe she had impacted & sour crop, the vet not addressing sour crop. Her breathe was horrible. Now it is not. Just wheezing/ some gurgle even when she eats even a whole scrambled egg.
She finished 14 days of an abt from the vet and the Reglan does help her poop, he recommended to continue it. It only didn't work when he let her gorge on dry crumble for hours when I was gone. I'm gonna put her back out with small amounts of grit & wet crumble but add a fan this time
 
I think that @azygous usually gives some food every day after the first day. Probably very watery chicken feed and egg, but she sometimes responds to tags. I noticed that some people are using papaya extract tablets with some good results. Some are combining that with Metamucil, but I would not do that since she doesn’t need more fiber, just an enzyme to break down the food in her crop. Here is an article to read:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/papaya-enzyme-for-sour-crop.1509484/

Some also use acidified copper sulfate 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 3-5 days to treat sour crop. Here is where to find it:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/acidified_copper_sulfate.html

I don’t know what is causing the wheezing, but maybe feed coming back up from the crop.
 
Quit blaming you "hubby". None of this is his fault.
Grit goes to the gizzard, not the crop, so that wouldn't help, neither is it needed every day.
She appears to be a production bird, those sadly get reproductive issues by 2 years and those cause everything to back up, which it likely her problem.
I'm sorry the vet conned you into a $500 shot, if it's an issue like I believe it was, it unfortunately didn't do anything.
 
I think that @azygous usually gives some food every day after the first day. Probably very watery chicken feed and egg, but she sometimes responds to tags. I noticed that some people are using papaya extract tablets with some good results. Some are combining that with Metamucil, but I would not do that since she doesn’t need more fiber, just an enzyme to break down the food in her crop. Here is an article to read:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/papaya-enzyme-for-sour-crop.1509484/

Some also use acidified copper sulfate 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 3-5 days to treat sour crop. Here is where to find it:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/acidified_copper_sulfate.html

I don’t know what is causing the wheezing, but maybe feed coming back up from the crop.
She did well yesterday in the run in a cage. I gave her softened crumble 1TBS with yogurt 3x and 1/2 small.boiled egg. Put a fan out in the afternoon for heat reduction. She only pooped once that I saw but I put her in the coop last and she did poop overnight
The wheeze is weird. It's only.present(95% of the time) after she eats and when you pick her up
 
Ok. She has had soft food cantaloupe eggs softened food with water. Laying eggs and I put a chicken bra on although i see no sag. I let her out of the cage. She has been treated for sour crop & gape worm. Her voice is hoarse with no sign of returning to normal after weeks. When she started eating dry crumble she sounded like it's making her sneeze or maybe cough...when she pulled her head out I could see the food on her tongue? She stopped eating it & started scratching & searching. Anyone know what this means? Also her legs are different. They seem to look red one one side & near the feet. Not red like an Infection but red streaks like maybe tiny blood vessels? Her legs look super clean compared to the others if that makes sense. No sign of leg scales? (NOT mites)
 

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