Impacted Crop, maybe?

[EggHunter_66]

Thank you "seminolewind" & "Johnnyschick" for your replies! Well, yeah it looks like I have a "special chicken" too....lol...Oh and one that has to wear a Bra...

After I finish writing this my next search will be on finding a bra for her....What we do for our pets All laughing aside I will do what I have to for her so she is happy!
I still have her in the house in a large cage and I am watching her right now happily eating the yogurt I bought for her today.
Again, Thank you for your help!!!

 

[EggHunter_66]

Update:
So its day 2 of being in the house, the only thing I have given her to eat was a little bit of yogurt last night and her crop this morning is still the same size...no change in it.

 

[EggHunter_66]

OOOOhhh Gross.....I wanted to tend to my other birds first then come in to sit with my Special Chicken and rub her crop and when I picked her up water came gushing out of her mouth...I mean GUSHING and OMG did it SMELL!!!! I am not a sissy, wimp etc when it comes to sick animals I have been working at an Animal shelter for 7 years so I have seen just about everthing But OMG that smell made me gag!!!!
So if nothing is going down how come she doesnt act or even look sick?

 

[donnavee]

Quote:
I'm sorry your baby is so sick - I have an EE that looks almost just like her, except for the crop bulge. I don't want to discourage you, but a few months ago, I got a hen and noticed the next day that she was moving her head from side to side in a strange way and when I felt her crop, it was pretty hard. So, I did the massage thing, fed her soft foods, etc and she threw up a lot of what looked like stinky grains and liquid. The crop became soft, but she would barely eat and had very watery poop. It was a holiday weekend and by the time I got her to a vet, her weight was down to 1 1/2 lbs. They put her on some different meds including an antibiotic. Unfortunately, she was so weak, she died in my arms.

So, fast foward a few months and one of my other chickens started acting kind of strange, didn't want snacks and so I picked her up and she threw up a bunch of liquid. I immediately brought her in the house and started her on the meds I had left over from the other chicken. After about a week, she was much better and ready to rejoin her sisters. Your situation does seem a bit different since neither of my chickens wanted to eat much and they mainly just sat around. Yours does sound a lot like she might have a sour crop though and she made need medication to get over it. I think there is a way to flush the crop, but I don't know how it's done.

Fingers crossed that your girl pulls through and gets well again.

 

[EggHunter_66]

Sorry to read about the one that didnt make it

Thanks for your reply though! Its just so strange....she has been like this ever since we got her which was about a year ago. Six months ago is when I first read up on impacted crop, sour crop and anything else I could find that dealt with the crop. I did the empting of the crop etc, and it always stayed the same. I wasnt concerened because she acts fine and looks fine other then her enlarged crop so I just let it go until the day before yesturday I had to save her from the other chickens, they were picking on her and they have never done that before so I knew I had to bring her in the house and re-read up on crop issues plus make a post on this site for help.
What kind of Medication did your Vet give you?

 

[donnavee]

Thanks, even though we only had her for a few days, losing her really hurt. She was a SLW so now we plan to get another this Spring in her honor. Guess we are much too soft hearted, but I know she was sick when we got her even though her previous owner denied it.

The vet prescribed 3 diff meds:
Cephalexin -.5cc for 10 dys (antibiotic)
Reglan - .75cc for 3 dys
Nystatin - 2cc for 10 dys

All were to be given twice a day and you can google the names. I think the last 2 have something to do with helping to get the crop working properly again. They also gave us some sort of fancy food to be mixed with water but yours eats and drinks normally which is very different than how my girls acted.

Good luck and keep us updated, I'm pulling for her!

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
Grit in the crop will do nothing, it is a holding area. Grit in the gizzard is where the grinding action occurs.

Yes but don't they need the gizzard to work properly for things to move on down?

 

[Johnnyschick]

I agree with "donnavee"-it does sound like a sour crop. Although I'm not an expert by any stretch everything I've read mentions a really bad smell with sour crop. Maybe her condition makes her more susceptible to it.

Something I read mentions holding the chicken upside down while massaging the crop to get the contents to expel. But you have to be careful because you shouldn't have the chicken upside down for very long. Again, I'm just going from memory about what I read a few months ago. I would never try it because I'm too afraid I'd hurt her. I also think that some type of antibiotic is given for the bacterial infection that caused the sour crop.

Thankfully my vet's office has a doctor that takes care of chickens. She did a crop lavage on Gladys and, while she did not have sour crop, gave antibiotics just in case. She even showed me how to give the antibiotic so I didn't drown her. I have also started weighing my girls every couple of weeks on our digital postal scale just to make sure they are not loosing weight. Mine was thin by the time I took her to the vet but thankfully I figured out there was a problem before she got too thin. So, I watch them like a hawk! I guess I should phrase the differently! LOL

Let us know how things go. It's so hard when one of our little ones is sick!

(Sorry, I just read the second post from "donnavee" so mine will probably be redundant!)

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
They don't really throw up but their crops can sort of "overflow". Can you get some kefir grains and make some kefir for her? Kefir has a bunch of really great probiotics in it, much more powerful than yogurt or even ACV. However, does look like she may need to have the crop emptied out.

 

[anderson8505]

Oh Jee, I think I have a hen with impacted crop too. Glad there is a current thread running on it. I caught it fast this time (lost one a month ago to sour crop) so I think she may make it.

I just switched to pellets from crumbles. Does anyone else think this may be the culprit???

Only other change has been the new goat's hay, and her crop didn't feel like hay, felt more grainy lumpy.

I found her sitting under a chair by herself today when I came home. They free range during the day. I knew Glinda, this wasn't her style. She was sitting there, listless. Her crop only had a small bulge in it and I massaged it and she burped. No bad smell! Immediately syringed olive oil down slowly, letting her swallow naturally. She's not interested in food. Dipped her beak in youghurt and she wouldn't eat it. So, I keep giving her 2 tsp water by syringe every 1/2-1 hour. She perked up a little after the first 1/2 hour. Crop feels better. So, I'm really hoping that this one will make it.

PLEASE do not withhold water from them! They can dehydrate very fast.

EDIT: She's gone. 7:15 went to check on her, dead.

Could have been crop, otherwise no signs of disease. I know I know, I should have a necropsy done. I will if someone else dies/gets sick this week. Everyone else looks fine, I still think it could have been this switch to pellets.