Hen's face is pale, not as active as others, crop big, please helpšŸ™

talkinboutchickens

Constantly Talkin Bout Chickens
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Mar 8, 2024
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Hello everyone..well one of my hens, a 2 year old Sapphire gem named Gert, isn't looking so hot.
Her comb and wattles seem way paler than the normal deep red they are, and her crop is very large. I'll have to see if it's empty by the morning, because I just noticed her crop today (so it's too early to "diagnose" impacted or sour crop.) She just went through a molt and is still in the process of growing back her feathers. Also, when she was drinking she was almost "shaking" her beak in the water...I don't know if that's important to note or not.
Gert is also not as lively as the others, but at the same time she's not stationary all the time closing her eyes either:hmm I put some ACV in their water just in case, and when we fill up the food bin later I'm also going to dump in some dried herbs (crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano, tumeric, ginger, chives, cilantro, parsley, garlic and other dried stuff.) All the other babies seem perfectly fine and active, just doing their normal chickie stuff- bullying each other, eating, drinking, scratching, etc. and their crops are not as bulbous as Gertie's is.
I don't have pics right now, because it is dark outside but I'll hopefully get some tomorrow.
So, I was wondering, is there anything I should give her without having to take her inside and everything? If there's any other info you need to know feel free to ask.
Thank you so much in advance:hugsā˜ŗļø
P.S. I might not check back on this thread until tomorrowšŸ˜‰
 
Hello everyone..well one of my hens, a 2 year old Sapphire gem named Gert, isn't looking so hot.
Her comb and wattles seem way paler than the normal deep red they are, and her crop is very large. I'll have to see if it's empty by the morning, because I just noticed her crop today (so it's too early to "diagnose" impacted or sour crop.) She just went through a molt and is still in the process of growing back her feathers. Also, when she was drinking she was almost "shaking" her beak in the water...I don't know if that's important to note or not.
Gert is also not as lively as the others, but at the same time she's not stationary all the time closing her eyes either:hmm I put some ACV in their water just in case, and when we fill up the food bin later I'm also going to dump in some dried herbs (crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano, tumeric, ginger, chives, cilantro, parsley, garlic and other dried stuff.) All the other babies seem perfectly fine and active, just doing their normal chickie stuff- bullying each other, eating, drinking, scratching, etc. and their crops are not as bulbous as Gertie's is.
I don't have pics right now, because it is dark outside but I'll hopefully get some tomorrow.
So, I was wondering, is there anything I should give her without having to take her inside and everything? If there's any other info you need to know feel free to ask.
Thank you so much in advance:hugsā˜ŗļø
P.S. I might not check back on this thread until tomorrowšŸ˜‰
Hey sorry Gertie isn’t feeling well. How was her crop today? Was it flat this morning? Is she doing any better?
 
Hey sorry Gertie isn’t feeling well. How was her crop today? Was it flat this morning? Is she doing any better?
I don't have any advice, but hope she is feeling better. If she just went through a molt, maybe consider giving her an egg for an extra hit of protein?
Her crop is great today! Tysm for asking! ā˜ŗļø Unfortunately little stinker Rose is eating all the eggs, or else I would give Gert oneā˜¹ļø
 
Hmm. Is she eating/drinking? What is her normal diet? Also has she been dewormed? Can you post a picture of her poop
Yes she has been both eating and drinking (maybe she is drinking a lot which causes her poop to be watery?) No they are not dewormed, I was considering worms as a possibility but there are none in her poop:hmm I did some research, and parasites of some sort makes sense because there are always at least 3-5+ wild Sparrows in the run and coop.
I keep telling my parents that we need to block off the areas the birds get in from with 2x4s or something, so the birds cannot get into there. Can't prevent them from getting the bird flu by locking them up for months when there is birds literally living in the coop and run and drinking and pooping in their water and eating their food and pooping in it too. If it was up to me I would have already done it. I do not know how to use power tools and such so there is nothing I can do about it. I feel really badšŸ˜¢šŸ˜ž
Sorry about the rant. Here's the pics of Gert. I couldn't get a pic of the poop on the ground because they must have dug over it or something bcuz it was missing. Anyway it was a brownish caramel color and was very liquidy. Was not foamy. No parasites visible.

20250311_152811.jpg
20250311_152751.jpg


This is what her comb and wattles usually look like:
20240408_121403.jpg


TYSM in advancešŸ™‚
 
Yes she has been both eating and drinking (maybe she is drinking a lot which causes her poop to be watery?) No they are not dewormed, I was considering worms as a possibility but there are none in her poop:hmm I did some research, and parasites of some sort makes sense because there are always at least 3-5+ wild Sparrows in the run and coop.
I keep telling my parents that we need to block off the areas the birds get in from with 2x4s or something, so the birds cannot get into there. Can't prevent them from getting the bird flu by locking them up for months when there is birds literally living in the coop and run and drinking and pooping in their water and eating their food and pooping in it too. If it was up to me I would have already done it. I do not know how to use power tools and such so there is nothing I can do about it. I feel really badšŸ˜¢šŸ˜ž
Sorry about the rant. Here's the pics of Gert. I couldn't get a pic of the poop on the ground because they must have dug over it or something bcuz it was missing. Anyway it was a brownish caramel color and was very liquidy. Was not foamy. No parasites visible.

View attachment 4070221View attachment 4070222

This is what her comb and wattles usually look like:
View attachment 4070237

TYSM in advancešŸ™‚
Aw poor Gertie. She looks like maybe she got a little frost bite on her comb? Is that a possibility?

How is her abdomen, does it feel enlarged at all? I know she is molting now, but did she have signs of reproductive disorders when she was as laying?

I understand your frustration with the sparrows, our run is a chainlink fence and they get into ours, too. I desperately wanted to put netting over it but in reality, the chickens free range in our yard where the sparrows have access also. To deter the sparrows from chicken feed, I put up a bird feeder in a separate yard; its worked pretty well so far. To put your mind a bit at ease, song birds aren’t the usual carrier of avian influenza, it’s typically large fowl such as geese or ducks. But with that being said, they certainly can carry it, so always best to be wary.
 
Aw poor Gertie. She looks like maybe she got a little frost bite on her comb? Is that a possibility?

How is her abdomen, does it feel enlarged at all? I know she is molting now, but did she have signs of reproductive disorders when she was as laying?

I understand your frustration with the sparrows, our run is a chainlink fence and they get into ours, too. I desperately wanted to put netting over it but in reality, the chickens free range in our yard where the sparrows have access also. To deter the sparrows from chicken feed, I put up a bird feeder in a separate yard; its worked pretty well so far. To put your mind a bit at ease, song birds aren’t the usual carrier of avian influenza, it’s typically large fowl such as geese or ducks. But with that being said, they certainly can carry it, so always best to be wary.
Yes, she did get a bit of frostbite but only on the tips. You would think that the entire rest of her comb would be redder though.. In the past when she has gotten frostbite, her face has never been this pale.
I will feel her abdomen tomorrow because I am out right now. She lays big eggs but never has had a problem surprisingly lol! She has also had many, many chicks. Yeah, there are three other bird feeders in our yard but that unfortunately doesn't stop the sparrows from living in there.
And thank you for the reassurance ā˜ŗļø
Do you know what I can use to deworm them?
 

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