- Feb 2, 2016
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6yr old Barred Rock, 6 lbs, impacted crop recovered after docusate sodium, but impacted again after trying to lay egg, but no shell felt, yet. Again seems to be recovering.
Attaching images of last night's droppings. The yellow plastic background holds droppings scraped off the dropping board from before midnight, the newspaper is from where I brought her in after that (3 views of same droppings.)
I seem to have trouble telling if a bird has ascites, though this one seems firm?
Before molting, she had laid a small egg. Mid April, her first egg was soft-shelled. (She goes off the oyster shell, sometimes, and had been focused on protein during the molt.) I gave her layer feed, fresh oyster shell with some millet to get her interest, and a piece of a calcium pill. She lays every 2-3 days, being an older hen, but when she did go to the nest box, we never found the egg. I gave her more calcium. No egg again. More calcium. I missed one morning checking her crop, but found less on the dropping board. She seemed ok, but I think I added vitamins or something to her food. I had to leave her until the evening. She had a full crop on the roost, but it was still full the next morning. She was sitting by the feeder, so maybe she got up early and ate, but her eyes were closed and her comb was very red, so I was worried. I felt no stuck egg, but gave her calcium and magnesium complex dissolved in a bit of water, because I was planning to, anyway. After no droppings for almost an hour, I gave docusate sodium. I then got yellow watery droppings. Later, they were green with grit, so I flushed her crop with baking soda. It didn't seem bad, so I figured the problem was inflammation in her intestines. I gave her alternating probiotics and teas I use for unknown infection and fungal infection with free choice chopped garlic, little feed, mostly veggies and protein, and lots of water. She didn't lay during this time, but improved quickly. She was emptying her crop, again, and was extra hungry one day, so I expected she was preparing to resume laying. The next day, her crop was slow, again. I thought maybe she had overeaten. I took a while examining her, but she was stressed out and making noises like she wanted to lay. I gave her a tiny bit of calcium and magnesium in water (just used an eyedropper) before letting her go to the nest box. She took hours, but no egg to be found. Then she seemed a bit dehydrated, dark comb tips, light earlobes, but wouldn't drink, so I gave her as much water as I felt she could take with maybe 20-25mg of docusate sodium. (I didn't want to give too much without enough water, besides, she spilled the rest.) She started eating a little and having watery droppings. The next day, yesterday, her crop was more empty and she started drinking, again. I know fungal infections can come back like that, but am worried about the missing egg at the same time. Maybe she is having trouble absorbing calcium, and passing the egg, or do they try to use the nest box if it is layed internally? Any advice? I intend to treat like last time, maybe with extra calcium, until I find something better.
I don't have emergency vet service. I thought about looking for a vet who would X-ray her, but not sure if that would work out.
She is in a coop with pine bedding and sandbox area. I bring her in if it gets bad outside, but try to minimize that because she does better out there.
Attaching images of last night's droppings. The yellow plastic background holds droppings scraped off the dropping board from before midnight, the newspaper is from where I brought her in after that (3 views of same droppings.)
I seem to have trouble telling if a bird has ascites, though this one seems firm?
Before molting, she had laid a small egg. Mid April, her first egg was soft-shelled. (She goes off the oyster shell, sometimes, and had been focused on protein during the molt.) I gave her layer feed, fresh oyster shell with some millet to get her interest, and a piece of a calcium pill. She lays every 2-3 days, being an older hen, but when she did go to the nest box, we never found the egg. I gave her more calcium. No egg again. More calcium. I missed one morning checking her crop, but found less on the dropping board. She seemed ok, but I think I added vitamins or something to her food. I had to leave her until the evening. She had a full crop on the roost, but it was still full the next morning. She was sitting by the feeder, so maybe she got up early and ate, but her eyes were closed and her comb was very red, so I was worried. I felt no stuck egg, but gave her calcium and magnesium complex dissolved in a bit of water, because I was planning to, anyway. After no droppings for almost an hour, I gave docusate sodium. I then got yellow watery droppings. Later, they were green with grit, so I flushed her crop with baking soda. It didn't seem bad, so I figured the problem was inflammation in her intestines. I gave her alternating probiotics and teas I use for unknown infection and fungal infection with free choice chopped garlic, little feed, mostly veggies and protein, and lots of water. She didn't lay during this time, but improved quickly. She was emptying her crop, again, and was extra hungry one day, so I expected she was preparing to resume laying. The next day, her crop was slow, again. I thought maybe she had overeaten. I took a while examining her, but she was stressed out and making noises like she wanted to lay. I gave her a tiny bit of calcium and magnesium in water (just used an eyedropper) before letting her go to the nest box. She took hours, but no egg to be found. Then she seemed a bit dehydrated, dark comb tips, light earlobes, but wouldn't drink, so I gave her as much water as I felt she could take with maybe 20-25mg of docusate sodium. (I didn't want to give too much without enough water, besides, she spilled the rest.) She started eating a little and having watery droppings. The next day, yesterday, her crop was more empty and she started drinking, again. I know fungal infections can come back like that, but am worried about the missing egg at the same time. Maybe she is having trouble absorbing calcium, and passing the egg, or do they try to use the nest box if it is layed internally? Any advice? I intend to treat like last time, maybe with extra calcium, until I find something better.
I don't have emergency vet service. I thought about looking for a vet who would X-ray her, but not sure if that would work out.
She is in a coop with pine bedding and sandbox area. I bring her in if it gets bad outside, but try to minimize that because she does better out there.
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