Impacted egg?

[Soccerchicken]

Ok, so River (she's molting by the way) was just standing hunched in a corner in the coop. I figured she was cold, since she was mostly bald, and brought her inside for a bit. Then I realized she wasn't passing any feces. I figured she had an impacted egg and gave her a bath. After a bit she passed a lot of feces, and I put her back in the coop, but today she hasn't gotten any better and is just standing there. What else could it be?

 

[Judy]

Sometimes in a hard molt they are so uncomfortable they don't eat or drink properly. I think if anything is impacted it's probably feces, from dehydration, since it's very unlikely she is laying during a molt like that. If she were mine I'd take her back inside and encourage food and fluids with a good protein content, and give aspirin. Or maybe take her aside twice a day and give extra food and fluid while she is alone. This is from a sticky in Emergencies:

Aspirin - for pain relief. Dosage is approximately 25 mg per pound of chicken's body weight each day (A standard baby Aspirin is 80 mg, and a standard adult Aspirin pill is 325 mg). This information is from the Poultry Podiatry website. Warning: aspirin thins the blood and should not be used if internal bleeding is suspected or in cases where a wound will not stop bleeding.

 

[Soccerchicken]

You have no idea how relieved I am now, thank you so much!

How should I give her water? Just offer it and see if she'll drink or give it to her with a syringe?

 

[casportpony]

It's very easy to check for a stuck egg, just put on a glove, lube your finger and gently check inside her vent.

I would not suggest giving water with a syringe as they can aspirate that way. Can you just bring her inside where it's warm and offer her crumbles mixed with water and see if she'll drink more being in a warm environment?

-Kathy

 

[Soccerchicken]

I checked for an egg yesterday, there isn't one.

I also gave her some wet feed yesterday. Mostly because it's her favorite food. But of course, I'll bring her inside again.

 

[Soccerchicken]

Ok... So I brought her in and put her on our weight set bar while I cleaned the newspaper, and when I turned around... A LOT of chicken feces. it was bigger than she was and I don't think she's blocked up. But then I felt her crop and it was HUGE. Could it be worms? She is extremely off-balance and won't stand up, eat, or drink.

 

[Judy]

A safe way to encourage fluid is to drip it along side of the beak. They will pull it into their mouth, drop by drop, or hopefully so.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517234/medical-treatments-recommended-by-bycers/0_20#post_6580204

This is a link to a write up in our Emergencies forum sticky that talks about sour and impacted crops. There are also multiple threads and articles on BYC about crop problems.

Worms don't usually block them i don't think, but I suppose it's possible. Valbazen is supposed to be the safest wormer if a bird is heavily infested. Also, check the feces for tiny white segments which indicate tapeworm. Sometimes roundworms show up in the feces if they are heavily infested, and if they have tapeworm, you will see these little whiteish bits. It's always a decision when a bird is sick and you suspect worms. It's not the greatest idea to worm when ill, but on the other hand, if the infestation is severe enough, it can kill, especially if they have complications from the infestation. See below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ll-seeing-live-worms-in-poo/0_20#post_9315842

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...peworm-or-any-worms-really/0_20#post_11670181

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-crd-parasites-are-rampant/0_20#post_7474233

 

[casportpony]

It takes 30ml per 2.2 pounds every 6-8 hours to properly hydrate a bird. With some supplies and a little practice this can be done very safely by anyone in less than three minutes via a tube. Tubing is way less stressful and much safer than syringe feeding, IMO and I'm available by phone to help anyone that's willing to get the supplies needed.

Read the links in post #1 of this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

-Kathy

 

[Soccerchicken]

Thank you both, but my sweet River passed last night.

 

[casportpony]

Sorry for your loss.

-Kathy