Help! What is this impacted crop, respiratory disease, what????

[lilmama]

Hello,

This afternoon one hen (out of four) was wheezing and hiccuping. The hiccuping kind of sounds like a "barking." Her backside seems to be pulsing a little- like she is trying to push something out. But i'm not sure about that. NO OTHER SYMPTOMS. So, no runny eyes, nose, or mouth or anything else abnormal. Except, her crop does feel like a hard ball. She is not eating.

The wheezing is getting constant.

I medicated their H2O with an antibiotic.

What is this and what should I do? The Olive Oil thing I can try- but I am so afraid of not getting it in the right place in the throat and killing her.

Thanks.

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

The crop will be large in the morning after roosting all night if it were impacted.
Mine never wheezed or hiccuped with impacted crop.
Maybe someone else has some ideas.

 

[thegoldengirls]

One of my hens suddenly had a mysterious "squeak" last summer. It was almost like someone squeezing a squeaker toy.
I thought maybe something was constricting her throat, but never saw anything. She was otherwise acting normal.
I was sure it wasn't respiratory, so I went ahead and treated her a couple times a day with 3-4 drops of vegetable oil, thinking it may help loosen things up.
She continued scratching around with the others and drinking, even while squeaking.
Luckily, it finally went away after the second day, and has never happened again. I really don't know what caused it.

I can't say for sure that the vegetable oil helped, or if it just subsided on it's own, but I don't think it hurt.

Good Luck!

Here is an actual clip of my hen.

 

[lilmama]

thanks for the replies. I hope it does go away by tomorrow. I've had to deal with a lot of chicken illness issues recently and not happy about this. any other ideas?

 

[tammye]

maybe you can soak a piece of bread in the olive oil to help get her to eat it. Isolate her from the others and keep her warm and feed, electrolyte solution in her water will help her. look up inpacted crop on the search engine, you can get lots of advice, i hear to massage the crop to help break up the food left in there and adding oil to their diet to help soften the food, I think I have read to give them unfiltered apple cider vinegar in the water this to will help to dissolve any food stuck in the crop.

 

[lilmama]

Thanks, she does seem a bit better today. I didn't feel her crop yet, but I don't think that is the issue. Whatever it is, the noises get worse when she is being "picked on" by the top hen. So, stress exacerbates it. I only have a flock of four and no where to really separate. She ate a bit of dry oatmeal this morning and is now on a top roost in the sun- I"m keeping me eye on her.

 

[tammye]

do you have a cat or dog crate you can put her in? then at least she won't be getting pecked at when she already does not feel well

 

[lilmama]

they seem to be leaving her alone now. it's just when food is in the mix. I will feed her outside the coop later. right now she is sunbathing with two of the other hens on a roost. if it gets worse, yes I will take her out.

thanks!