Hortense is not well-- maybe crop problem?

[My1stChickens]

Hortense is 3 or 4 years old, and is not well.
Day 1 pm noticed she did not want scratch grains but just went to the roost while the others ate.
Day 2 am she had isolated herself rather than mingling, but was eager to go out for the day. But last night she was the last one to come in, and did not want scratch grains, she wanted to put herself to bed. I took her off the roost to examine, and she expelled a good quantity of clear liquid from her mouth. So three times I gently massaged her crop (squishy but not overly large) and she expelled fluid. (I was doing this from memory, and it seemed logical to get the fluid out). The fluid looked like water, but I did notice a little smell-- sort of a sour garbage smell. It was not strong enough that Hortense smells-- but I did detect odor. Later last night I googled information and saw mixed reviews on this practice-- some really advocating and some saying you'll kill them this way. So I went back out, and checked to see if I'd killed her. She was on the roost, with her friends. A little puffy, but not more than the rest, it was 35 degrees.
Day 3 am (this morning) she was by herself, not mingling. So I caught her to bring her in for observation. She expelled more clear fluid-- but not as much as last night. She is now in the house, with a scrambled egg available, and some water with probiotics. She is alert, active, not happy about being away from the flock. She is standing, and attempted to escape. Her eyes are bright, her comb is upright and red. She does not appear to have lost weight. But she's not 100% right, and there is this issue of the fluid.

Hoping to get some advice, on how to proceed-- specifically let me know if I should not be offering food or water at this time. I have read that a small amount of oil can be helpful if she has a blockage. I do not feel a lump or hard spot in her crop. There was a small poop on her vent last night but I will report back on whether there is any poop now that she is confined. I have her on a white towel so I can be sure of anything she expels.

thanks in advance!

 

[azygous]

Thanks for a very good rundown of her condition. It's a much bigger help than "my hen is sick, do you know why?"

Everything points to a crop yeast infection. I am in the camp that does not recommend "vomiting" the chicken. It's much too risky.

The treatment is an anti-yeast med such as miconazole which is easy to find in the women's hygiene products in the pharmacy.

Since she's an older hen, she could have another crop issue contributing to the yeast condition. Treatment of all three crop disorders are discussed in this article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Sonya9]

Can't offer advice on meds (though I have miconazole pills in the cabinet, left over from one of the dogs).

But if her crop is messed up I would consider giving her raw egg/water/sugar in liquid form as that will probably be absorbed quicker.

 

[My1stChickens]

Everything points to a crop yeast infection. I am in the camp that does not recommend "vomiting" the chicken. It's much too risky.

The treatment is an anti-yeast med such as miconazole which is easy to find in the women's hygiene products in the pharmacy.

Since she's an older hen, she could have another crop issue contributing to the yeast condition. Treatment of all three crop disorders are discussed in this article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you Axygous, and I appreciate the link to the helpful article. I just checked her, and the crop has filled again, all soft and squishy, no hard spots that I can find. She has eaten most of her (scrambled) egg.

I happen to have miconazole on hand (it's also used to treat scratches in horses so I have it in the pantry!).

A couple of questions-- what should she eat during treatment? My "go to" when they are not well is eggs, but should I also give yogurt or mashed pellets? Should she have plain water, without probiotics at this time? And, should she be isolated for the entire treatment-- or once I know she's eating well and pooping, can she be with the flock while getting her miconazole?

 

[azygous]

Eggs and yogurt are good foods during yeast treatment. Chickens with sour crop seem to instinctively know what they should eat. I have also discovered they like a bit of dry crumbles, too. Stay away from fruit or anything with sugar. The probiotics can be given during treatment, but it won't hurt to wait until the treatment is over.

I just started treatment with a hen in my flock this morning. I squeezed out about half an inch of miconazole cream onto my finger, touched it to the tip of her beak, and she nibbled the rest of it off my finger. It has a neutral taste and some hens will take it like that. Others refuse and you will need to wipe your finger off just inside their beak.

I have never had to remove a chicken with sour crop from the flock. It's always better for a sick chicken to remain in the flock unless they have serious injuries or are contagious to the others.

 

[My1stChickens]

Checked again-- it's been about 4 hours inside. She has eaten 85-90% of the egg, so I know she has good nutrition. She's either consumed or spilled half the water-- a couple ounces. There are two stains on the towel--off white with a good bit of brown smudges and a strong urine odor-- on the towel. She is bright and alert, albeit a little puffed up.

I picked her up in preparation to give her the miconazole. She's not used to being held or handled, so this is not fun for her. I gently checked her crop, which is squishy again. I gently massaged, as described in the article, thinking this would allow me to check for any impaction one more time, but maybe allow the crop to drain as described in the article. She was upright, and it seemed to cause her to spit out a little more fluid. More drops, than a stream, but enough that I was glad I planned ahead and had a towel. Each time a few drops would come, she worked her beak to swallow. I did not continue the gentle massage after the third time drops were coming out. It's still clear, but one drop that hit the sink did look a little dirty.

I gave her the miconazole off my finger. (she's not docile enough to hold while opening her beak and putting in her mouth so I put tiny bits at a time on the side or end of her beak, and it bothered her so she ended up eating it in tiny amounts till I think I got enough in her) Given that she has eaten an egg, had her first dose and is bright, and it's 55 and sunny, I'm going to put her back with her friends. I'll dose her again tonight.

She will have access to layer pellets, grit, water with probiotics and water without probiotics while out with the flock. I'm assuming no scratch grains, no fruit, no treats whatsoever for her-- should I separate her daily for egg/yogurt? (If I don't separate her, the other 10 will gobble it up) Once a day? Twice a day? I'm assuming its quite important that she eat.

How is this fluid going to come out of her?

 

[azygous]

You've got everything correct but the crop massage. It's of no value in sour crop, a needless risk, only impacted crop, two different issues. The sour fluid will empty on its own. As the miconazole kills the candida, very little new fluid will be generated. By day three, she should be free of the fluid and feeling 100% better. But it's very important to continue the 2x a day miconazole for a full seven days.

If you have enough egg and yogurt for the others, there's no reason they can't enjoy the party, too, as long as our patient still gets some.

 

[My1stChickens]

You've got everything correct but the crop massage. It's of no value in sour crop, a needless risk, only impacted crop, two different issues. The sour fluid will empty on its own. As the miconazole kills the candida, very little new fluid will be generated. By day three, she should be free of the fluid and feeling 100% better. But it's very important to continue the 2x a day miconazole for a full seven days.

If you have enough egg and yogurt for the others, there's no reason they can't enjoy the party, too, as long as our patient still gets some.

Thank you so very much, for being incredibly helpful. Hortense is a feisty little hen, and hard to warm up to-- but I always want to do right by animals in my care. When I carried her back out to the coop, I was careful to secure her without any contact with her crop, and there was no spitting up. I put her in the coop and the other 10 came in, and they all mingled agreeably. Hortense was bright, alert and "chickening" rather than looking pathetic. I'm sure getting nearly a whole egg in her made her feel stronger.

I will absolutely do the full seven day course of miconazole, and am quite pleased to hear that she should be expected to feel better by day 3.

Grateful for the kindness of strangers on this site.

 

[azygous]

Oh, we do our best. Our reward is to know that a sick chicken is going to be feeling better soon.

The hen I'm treating now may be a little like your Hortense. My Molly is usually indifferent to me, but rarely enjoys being handled. This morning she tolerated it, probably because she isn't feeling tip top. I left her about an hour ago tucking into her soft boiled egg and a dollop of yogurt.

 

[My1stChickens]

Instead of the usual scratch grains for their "come in for the night" snack, I scrambled four eggs for the 11 to share. Hortense got several bites-- she was quite enthusiastic about a snack this evening. I'm sure the miconazole has not had time to help yet since she's only had one dose-- so it must be the egg she ate this morning that gets the credit. But it was great to see her feeling so much better, and acting like herself this evening. I am waiting til later tonight for her 2nd dose, since it's only been 8 hours since her first dose. Tomorrow I'll give it first thing, and get her on a "schedule". I bet she'll be hard to catch tomorrow.