Yesterday I noticed that one of our 2 girls was spending a little extra time in her coop. I sat with her and held some food in my hand which she quickly took. I noticed that her crop was protruding a bit so I felt it - it was the size of a golf ball. I checked the healthier hen and could not feel any kind of lump. "Twitchys" (the sick hen) crop was also very red and warm to the touch. I quickly ran into the house to this site to look up information and figured what she has must be an impacted crop. I do not smell anything foul from her beak.
I gave her some olive oil via a medicine drop (many I have in the house from 2 young boys), she took that okay but seemed to just want to eat. I also isolated her in a smaller coop we keep outside - the problem with that coop is that she can walk around outside covered but still peck at the dirt. I gave her some ACV in water but she didn't want to drink it, she didn't want to drink even plain water. She stayed in the coop for about 4 hours and I noticed that her poops were small and starting to look slimy (maybe the olive oil?).
BTW, I was also massaging her crop, she seemed to like that.
Last night when it was time to close the ladies up for the night I put her in with her roomate in the big coop but took out their food and only left their water which only has plain water.
This morning she was cheery, there was a larger poop that I think was hers because again it seemed slimy. Her crop felt normal, infact I couldn't any lump at all. She quickly found the feed outside of the coop an ate ferociously. She layed a beautiful egg (she hasn't missed a day laying) and eventually wandered the yard with her buddy.
I should mention also that she is has broken feathers all over. I started to notice them near the end of our winter. I figured it was from boredom since the girls didn't come out much in the cold weather. But now we have had good weather for over a month and she has even more broken feathers in various areas of her body. I have checked for mites and don't see any, yesterday I noticed she does have what looks like dandruff.
After "Twitchy" was roaming for about 2 hours I checked her crop and it was full again, squishy and a bit smaller than yesterday. Her buddy "Feisty"'s crop feels almost the same. I read somewhere that there crop will stay full for 3-4 hours after they eat before it passes - is this true?
Does anyone have any suggestions or guidance about what I should do, what I've already done or general help? We have our girls since last July (it's now April) so we are still learning as we go.
I gave her some olive oil via a medicine drop (many I have in the house from 2 young boys), she took that okay but seemed to just want to eat. I also isolated her in a smaller coop we keep outside - the problem with that coop is that she can walk around outside covered but still peck at the dirt. I gave her some ACV in water but she didn't want to drink it, she didn't want to drink even plain water. She stayed in the coop for about 4 hours and I noticed that her poops were small and starting to look slimy (maybe the olive oil?).
BTW, I was also massaging her crop, she seemed to like that.
Last night when it was time to close the ladies up for the night I put her in with her roomate in the big coop but took out their food and only left their water which only has plain water.
This morning she was cheery, there was a larger poop that I think was hers because again it seemed slimy. Her crop felt normal, infact I couldn't any lump at all. She quickly found the feed outside of the coop an ate ferociously. She layed a beautiful egg (she hasn't missed a day laying) and eventually wandered the yard with her buddy.
I should mention also that she is has broken feathers all over. I started to notice them near the end of our winter. I figured it was from boredom since the girls didn't come out much in the cold weather. But now we have had good weather for over a month and she has even more broken feathers in various areas of her body. I have checked for mites and don't see any, yesterday I noticed she does have what looks like dandruff.
After "Twitchy" was roaming for about 2 hours I checked her crop and it was full again, squishy and a bit smaller than yesterday. Her buddy "Feisty"'s crop feels almost the same. I read somewhere that there crop will stay full for 3-4 hours after they eat before it passes - is this true?
Does anyone have any suggestions or guidance about what I should do, what I've already done or general help? We have our girls since last July (it's now April) so we are still learning as we go.
