Hen with bloated, squishy crop - UPDATE - DIAGNOSIS

[TammyTX]

Have you considered Thrush as a possiblity?

 

[chickletranch]

She doesn't have any symptoms of thrush. Her poo is very mucus-y now, yellow, dead worms still present. She is eating a bit more corn, but mostly just sitting and napping. Is there anything else I should give her? Could the mucus be a sign of infection? Thanks, Lynn

 

[TammyTX]

Quote:
Sorry. Yellow poo is maybe because of the corn and very little fiber???

I would like to suggest a book that is very helpful to me, "The Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow. It lists different diseases, their symptoms and treatments.

 

[Akita]

Did ya'll actually massage the chicken's crop? I tried to do that last night and my 5 year old pet hen died in my hands. She threw up, flapped her wings twice, and died. What did I do wrong?
Dorie

 

[chickletranch]

Akita, so sorry to hear about your hen. More than likely, there was something else going on with her and her health was very fragile.

I have been massaging her crop for days, periodically. This morning, there don't seem to be any worms in her droppings, but they are still watery with undigested food in them (I can identify the fresh corn she ate yesterday). I gave her some egg this morning and put pro bios in her water. She is drinking alot today. She seems alittle more active, but still clearly ill. I'm not sure how to address the digestion/nutrition issue besides giving her food that's easy for her body to process. Don't know what kind of damage was done by the worms.

Thanks,
Lynn

 

[chickletranch]

Zoe the hen is doing better. Vet came yesterday and checked her. After talking to him, we think that the original worming was the root cause of all her problems. A large number of worms died, creating a blockage in her digestive tract. That's why her crop wouldn't empty...the food could not get through normally. When I brought her inside and put vinegar in her water, for some reason this helped to dislodge the worms. It took several days for all of them to be expelled. Her crop was finally empty 2 days ago and she had a huge "purge" from her vent that day. After that, she was ravenous and began eating normally. Now we just have to reduce her intake of water, because it's causing her poo to be very watery. Vet says to remove water when I get home until I leave in the morning and her body should begin to regulate. Will also start her back on mash and grains and reduce the amount of fresh veg I give her. Today, she really wants to go outside and seems back to normal. Thought I'd let everyone know the outcome. Keep in mind that sometimes things are not what they seem and you need to work through things and follow your instinct about a course of treatment.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Thanks for the update! This is great news and really helpful for everyone here.

 

[TexasSilkies]

I came here to search for amswers about my silkie having this very same issue. Been dealing with it for a month. Whatever happened to yours? Did you ever figure out the issue?

I would say those are worms, how long ago did you redose her? Thats probably why she is expelling them.

Also I want to add that I have a 3 month old silkie pullet with the large air or fluid filled squishy crop too. She is thin so I do not think that she is processing food correctly. No smell, as you say when you empty the crop, just does not seem to go away. I isolated her several weeks ago but she acted worse being away from her buddies after 2 days so I put her back. She is still alive and still has the balloon like crop, though some days it does not seem to be as bad.
I fully expect her to die eventually if she cannot process feed right but I think this may just be some kind of digestion problem in her that may not be fixable. They have never been exposed to the outside to get worms and she certainly is not impacted.

I know this does not help you, but the fact mine is still alive is a good thing I guess??

 

[Smoky73]

no, I never did figure out what it was, and she did die