Impacted and/or Sour crop treatment

[Winderdear]

Grasses are high in indigestible cellulose. So it might be better not to let her out on grass until you're sure she's got a crop that is working. But it sounds like she's definitely improving.

Molt can affect appetite. If a chicken doesn't eat enough, the crop can suffer stasis, slowing down from not enough material moving through the digestive system, kind of like a partial clog in a toilet can slow the flow and eventually require a plumber. Feeding egg is a good plan. Watch the poop. As the disorder is resolved, the poop will turn back to normal consistency.

Also, you are welcome, but a weekend for me is the same as weekdays. I rarely can tell you what day it is regardless.

Ok, we’ll keep her on egg only for now. Thanks again! I’ll update if anything changes with her.

 

[Winderdear]

She had a good day yesterday. There were watery poops on an hourly basis, and near the end of the day the poops got more solid. She had tons of energy, ate three scrambled eggs over the course of the day, spent an hour in the run dust bathing. She seemed close to normal. Her crop was still large but I was able to massage it and felt it shrink a bit when I did.

I was hopeful things would be even better today, but her poops just seem a little different. They’re smaller with more urates, and less frequent. She had several wet poops overnight in the coop, but since this morning she has not been having the large watery poops with a bit of solids like before, but rather smaller poops that looks like this:



I honestly can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not. Sometimes they are followed by a smaller poop that is just watery urates. Her poops are about 1-1.25 hours apart now.

She seems less energetic, but it’s a dark, cold day. She preens a lot. Her tail is high when she walks around, but she isn’t interested in exploring much. She eats her egg, but not necessarily with the gusto she typically has. She initially drank a lot of water after being brought up to the house from the coop, but she’s had enough now. Still, it seems like the amount of water she’s taking in isn’t coming out the other end like I would expect.

Her crop was big, but not as hard this morning. When I massage it, it seems to shrink a bit still. I haven’t smelled any sourness today.

I’m just concerned about the poops being smaller and less frequent, and the fact that she’s less energetic today. I know molting hens are often sluggish, so perhaps that’s all it is.

I’d love to hear that I’m worrying too much, and that her poops and frequency seem normal.

 

[azygous]

Keep up with the miconazole for the full seven days. Her poop shows she still has a yeasty crop. But she is definitely heading in the right direction.

 

[Winderdear]

Keep up with the miconazole for the full seven days. Her poop shows she still has a yeasty crop. But she is definitely heading in the right direction.

Thank you for continuing to advise me! We’re keeping up with the micanozole, today is day 5, so we have two more days left.

The sour smell is back, along with the watery poops with some solids mixed in every 45-60 min.



I’m still feeding her egg and giving her a lot of water, and doing regular crop massages. She has watery poops overnight but her crop still feels large in the morning.

She is alert and likes to explore. Her tail is high, and she preens a lot. She sleeps in my lap because she has nothing better to do, but she would rather be outside with the flock.

Our local vet is not very helpful, but they can x-ray her potentially. Is there any point in doing so?

Can you also tell me the best way to administer the dulcosate sodium? We tried smearing it on some egg, but it’s astringent and she won’t eat it. Should we just have her swallow the gel cap?

 

[lizo97]

Thank you for continuing to advise me! We’re keeping up with the micanozole, today is day 5, so we have two more days left.

The sour smell is back, along with the watery poops with some solids mixed in every 45-60 min.

View attachment 4263785

I’m still feeding her egg and giving her a lot of water, and doing regular crop massages. She has watery poops overnight but her crop still feels large in the morning.

She is alert and likes to explore. Her tail is high, and she preens a lot. She sleeps in my lap because she has nothing better to do, but she would rather be outside with the flock.

Our local vet is not very helpful, but they can x-ray her potentially. Is there any point in doing so?

Can you also tell me the best way to administer the dulcosate sodium? We tried smearing it on some egg, but it’s astringent and she won’t eat it. Should we just have her swallow the gel cap?

What happened to your hen? I had a hen like this and her GI system would completely shut down with each molt. The second time, she didn't make it and when my friend who does rehab did a basic necropsy, she could not find anything unusual except for a lot of fat. Her fecal did show capillaria and we did treat that, but maybe we where too late.

 

[Winderdear]

What happened to your hen? I had a hen like this and her GI system would completely shut down with each molt. The second time, she didn't make it and when my friend who does rehab did a basic necropsy, she could not find anything unusual except for a lot of fat. Her fecal did show capillaria and we did treat that, but maybe we where too late.

I’m so sorry to hear about your hen, that’s heartbreaking.

So far our girl is still fighting, and doing well all things considered I think, though her crop isn’t fully emptying. We’re still treating her with miconazole for the sour crop. I haven’t done a fecal test on her. She was wormed with safeguard aquasol a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn’t fight everything I know. We can get a fecal done tomorrow when our vet opens. I’ve been considering doing this, but now I feel convinced.

I appreciate you sharing your story and your hen’s experience. I wish these beautiful creatures weren’t so fragile.

 

[azygous]

If the dose of miconazole is half an inch, increase it to one inch. If you are only dosing once a day, increase it to two a day.

The stool softener is such a tiny capsule, just slip it into her beak.

 

[Winderdear]

If the dose of miconazole is half an inch, increase it to one inch. If you are only dosing once a day, increase it to two a day.

The stool softener is such a tiny capsule, just slip it into her beak.

Thank you! I’ve been giving a 1/2” twice a day. So I should now give her 1” twice a day?

Edit: I managed to get the stool softener pill down her. First time I’ve ever force fed a pill to a chicken, but it wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. I’ll try to give her one again before bed time, since the dose said two pills.

 

[lizo97]

I’m so sorry to hear about your hen, that’s heartbreaking.

So far our girl is still fighting, and doing well all things considered I think, though her crop isn’t fully emptying. We’re still treating her with miconazole for the sour crop. I haven’t done a fecal test on her. She was wormed with safeguard aquasol a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn’t fight everything I know. We can get a fecal done tomorrow when our vet opens. I’ve been considering doing this, but now I feel convinced.

I appreciate you sharing your story and your hen’s experience. I wish these beautiful creatures weren’t so fragile.

My vet told me I have to give nystatin 4x day! Fragile is an understatement. Shortly after that, I found another favorite dead in the coop. I had even dewormed earlier! That was the first hen I have ever found dead (besides the 12 that were killed by coyotes -- my little boy found them all dead one morning). In my garage currently, I have a hen who is likely internal laying (has enlarged abdomen) and keeps on getting flystrike and a younger hen who is limping (her sister has same problem, so I think it is poor genetics) and is not eating her regular food. Both are molting, of course.

 

[Winderdear]

My vet told me I have to give nystatin 4x day! Fragile is an understatement. Shortly after that, I found another favorite dead in the coop. I had even dewormed earlier! That was the first hen I have ever found dead (besides the 12 that were killed by coyotes -- my little boy found them all dead one morning). In my garage currently, I have a hen who is likely internal laying (has enlarged abdomen) and keeps on getting flystrike and a younger hen who is limping (her sister has same problem, so I think it is poor genetics) and is not eating her regular food. Both are molting, of course.

Oh no, I’m so sorry you’re going through so much with your flock! I hope your hen has something less severe than internal laying, and that she can get better. I remember wishing my hen would molt already, because she didn’t last season and was looking ragged. Now I wish she would have kept her old feathers forever if it meant staying healthy. Molting is the worst.