Hey everyone. About a month and a half ago, I noticed my favorite hen, Bloom, a 3 year old Rhode Island Red, was acting lethargic and having unusually green colored and loose stool. I couldn't find anything obviously wrong, but I brought her inside and monitored her. She laid a large lash egg and her comb began drooping and turning pale, so I immediately worried about infection. I took her to my vet, who ran a fecal test and prescribed Clavamox antibiotic for a few days. The only thing he found was signs of an e. coli infection and he was fairly confident the antibiotic would work.
The antibiotic did seem to help give her some of her energy back, but she kept passing lash eggs from time to time - albeit smaller, kidney bean sized ones. She'd also somehow developed an impacted/doughy crop despite only being on layer feed. When I went back to the vet, he didn't seem worried and suggested that the antibiotic probably slowed down her digestive system and suggested giving probiotics. He also didn't think continuing the antibiotic was necessary.
I've tried everything - sprinkling probios powder on her food, greek yogurt, kefir - but she doesn't seem to be improving. If anything, it feels like she's just wasting away. I've successfully treated multiple chickens for compacted and/or sour crop before, but I can't get her crop to stay drained either. I give her mineral oil and coconut oil multiple times a day, Monistat twice a day, massage her crop... But nothing seems to help. Sometimes I can get her crop completely drained for a morning or two, but it always comes back. It's not typical sour crop either. Like I mentioned before, it's doughy. When I massage it, I can physically move it around and tamp it down a bit.
Bloom has had quite a long history of egg laying problems, so I'm wondering if this is related. She has not laid a proper egg in over a year. When she does lay (which she hasn't done at all besides lash eggs since she got sick), her eggs were shell-less, thin shelled, or otherwise deformed. I've taken her to the vet before for suspected infections, and the antibiotics seemed to get her back to normal. But this is the worst I've seen her.
Her appetite is decent and her poops are pretty solid, if a bit eggy. So I know food is passing through. But she's lost a lot of weight and is still passing lash eggs. Her spark hasn't returned either. I'm worried she may be slowly dying, but I'm at a loss for what to do. Do I try deworming her? Do I try to find a different vet and get a second opinion? Do I just accept that this is probably her time and make her as comfortable as possible?
All of that is to say... if anyone has any treatment ideas, I'd really appreciate it. I love Bloom so much, and am desperate to help her, but I feel so at a loss.
The antibiotic did seem to help give her some of her energy back, but she kept passing lash eggs from time to time - albeit smaller, kidney bean sized ones. She'd also somehow developed an impacted/doughy crop despite only being on layer feed. When I went back to the vet, he didn't seem worried and suggested that the antibiotic probably slowed down her digestive system and suggested giving probiotics. He also didn't think continuing the antibiotic was necessary.
I've tried everything - sprinkling probios powder on her food, greek yogurt, kefir - but she doesn't seem to be improving. If anything, it feels like she's just wasting away. I've successfully treated multiple chickens for compacted and/or sour crop before, but I can't get her crop to stay drained either. I give her mineral oil and coconut oil multiple times a day, Monistat twice a day, massage her crop... But nothing seems to help. Sometimes I can get her crop completely drained for a morning or two, but it always comes back. It's not typical sour crop either. Like I mentioned before, it's doughy. When I massage it, I can physically move it around and tamp it down a bit.
Bloom has had quite a long history of egg laying problems, so I'm wondering if this is related. She has not laid a proper egg in over a year. When she does lay (which she hasn't done at all besides lash eggs since she got sick), her eggs were shell-less, thin shelled, or otherwise deformed. I've taken her to the vet before for suspected infections, and the antibiotics seemed to get her back to normal. But this is the worst I've seen her.
Her appetite is decent and her poops are pretty solid, if a bit eggy. So I know food is passing through. But she's lost a lot of weight and is still passing lash eggs. Her spark hasn't returned either. I'm worried she may be slowly dying, but I'm at a loss for what to do. Do I try deworming her? Do I try to find a different vet and get a second opinion? Do I just accept that this is probably her time and make her as comfortable as possible?
All of that is to say... if anyone has any treatment ideas, I'd really appreciate it. I love Bloom so much, and am desperate to help her, but I feel so at a loss.
