Ill Rhode Island Red Hen

[rebrascora]

She looks like she may have an impacted crop. Can you check her crop and give it a massage. How does it feel? Smell her breath.... does it smell bad?
She does look sick. Feel her body. Does she feel thin and scrawny with a sharply protruding breast bone?

Obviously not heat stroke since I now see you are in the UK like me.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, feel her crop, but also check her abdomen for swelling/bloat.

She looks like she is very uncomfortable.

 

[chickenlover chickencrazy]

Her breath smells like mealworms and dog buiscuits. She still comes running out to eat dried mealworms and sweetcorn. Her crop seems alright - maybe a tiny bit swollen. She is quite bony and very light.

 

[chickenlover chickencrazy]

I agree, feel her crop, but also check her abdomen for swelling/bloat.

She looks like she is very uncomfortable.

I know but that's the only way she will stand unless she is eating or drinking

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How does her abdomen feel?

 

[rebrascora]

Go easy on the sweetcorn, it doesn't have much protein in it and will dilute their overall protein and calcium intake.

Skinny says she is starving which means her body is not getting the nutrients it needs.... this may be due to a partial blockage (crop or gizzard impaction) or a tumour or possibly blindness causing her not to find food. Chickens will try to appear normal by pecking at food with the rest of their flock but if you suspect you have a sick one, watch closely because they will often pick up and drop the same bit multiple times or peck but not hit the piece of food....usually indicating poor vision.
If her crop is impacted she will be very hungry, but unable to eat much, which sounds like your situation and she will become weak because her body is living off it's reserves.... hence light weight and emaciated. Obviously she will not have enough nourishment to produce eggs. My guess from my own experience is that this has been an ongoing problem for weeks if not months. In my cases, the crops contained a soggy plug of tangled straw/hay and long grass that was preventing food from traveling down into her digestive tract. I managed to get one broken up with massage but it took over a week and the other it didn't work and as a last resort I had to do crop surgery, which was incredibly successful.

If it is her crop, I would recommend 10 minute massages 4 x a day, massaging from the bottom upwards.... she should enjoy it or at least find it beneficial. Sloppy food made from regular chicken feed (pellets or crumble, not mash) soaked in water and then made into a runny gravy with more water and a little olive oil mixed in and if you can get some "Nutri Drops" (they come in a small bottle with a dropper lid) from your local feed store, they will help give her some essential liquid nutrients. Some natural yoghurt mixed into her sloppy feed will also be beneficial.

If you are unable to get things moving after a few days, then you might want to try vomiting her but there are risks, so try massage first.

Or if this is a loved pet and you have the funds, find a vet because she is seriously ill by the look of her.

 

[biophiliac]

I had to do crop surgery, which was incredibly successful.

Did you make an article or thread about this? I would love to hear more.

 

[chickenlover chickencrazy]

Thank you sooooooooo much!!! I will try it. I'm not exactly sure what you mean for me to do with the massage, though

 

[biophiliac]

Thank you sooooooooo much!!! I will try it. I'm not exactly sure what you mean for me to do with the massage, though

I believe she means to make gentle strokes from the bottom of her crop upwards to loosen, dislodge or break up the blockage. I'm not sure of the correct positioning of the hen for this. Perhaps just on your lap?

As pointed out this has probably been going on longer than you realized so surgery might give her a better chance. Good luck to you both.

 

[rebrascora]

I am cutting and pasting a reply I made to the OP via Private Messaging or whatever it is now called on the new forum format, so that others can read and may benefit...

It would be better if we conduct this discussion entirely on the forum rather than through messages so that everyone can see and add to anything I forget or correct me if I say something wrong....we all get it wrong sometimes..... don't worry about the moulting now, your chicken is sick from something much more serious than losing a few feathers and will almost certainly die if you don't take action...

Sour crop is usually caused by a yeast infection in the crop, a bit like thrush. It makes the breath smell bad and the chicken usually goes off their food.

Impacted crop is when the crop is blocked with something and food cannot proceed into the digestive tract to be broken down and absorbed, so the bird effectively starves even though they have plenty of food available. Fibrous material like straw, grass and hay are common causes of impacted crop, but a foreign object can also cause it or a blockage further down the digestive tract. My chickens with this had a wad of soggy straw/hay which was plugging the outlet from the crop and stopping food and water from getting through. They had been eating their straw bedding and long grass and it was all tangled up inside them. If it is this, the crop doesn't usually feel hard but soft and squidgy. Massaging it from the bottom upwards will hopefully help to lift it up off the outlet pipe and allow food to drain through. Giving only liquid feed will help to get nourishment draining through it. Imagine putting a wet ball of cotton wool in your sink and then pouring in a whole load of chicken food and water on top. It will mostly just sit there unless you remove the cotton wool pad covering the plughole.... this is what I think is happening in your chicken's crop, bit the cotton wool pad is probably an entangled ball of soggy straw in your chicken's case.

I hope that makes it easier to understand.