Hen with diarrhea

[Matilda Belle]

If you massage the crop, can you feel the material in there break up or loosen?

Yes

 

[Matilda Belle]

I do have ivermectin in my cabinet. Do you think I should try it?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes

I do have ivermectin in my cabinet. Do you think I should try it?

No I would not use Ivermectin.

If you can get the material to break up with massaging, then try a bit more oil, massage for about 5-10minutes. Let her have water, no food. In a couple of hours check the crop again. Let us know what it's like then.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Will do. I just finished massaging again and she crapped on me again. Lol

 

[Criticalicious]

It is more common for hens to stop laying eggs while they're molting than not. It depends on how hard they're molting and age. I have 4 molting right now in preparation for cooler weather and only 1 of them is laying eggs. None of them is egg bound.

 

[angela0408]

Do you think it’s the food? The instruction say on my feed to feed for 6 weeks, then switch to grower/finisher. Maybe too much protein? ‍

 

[Criticalicious]

Excess protein typically causes extra white in the poop from the urates (urine), because it can irritate the kidneys. If you can change to grower/finisher, I would recommend it. But it would probably not fix this issue in the short term.

 

[Matilda Belle]

@Wyorp Rock Do you think I should switch foods? My flock consists of both hens and roosters. Right now they have nutrena starter, grit and oyster shell.

Does that poop look normal to you?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This chicken has an impacted or slow crop. Switching feed is not going to help clear up the problem.

It's up to you if you want to switch feeds - feed is a personal preference. I use an all flock/flock raiser feed for my flock it's 20% protein - I feed this to just hatched to the old and have no problem. IF my normal feed is not available, then I use chick starter.

Crop issues can often be a symptom of an underlying condition - reproductive disorders (EYP, cancer, etc.), worms, coccidiosis, blockage and infection are a few common conditions that can cause the digestive system to slow or not function properly.
It's important to treat the crop problem, but also be aware/take note of anything else that may be occurring.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looking more closely at that poop...is that mucous or ?
I do see what looks like a bit of intestinal shed as well.
I would probably go ahead and treat for worms. You can get Safeguard (Fenbendazole) at Tractor Supply. Dosage is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 days.