Impacted/Sour Crop?

[Vermont Poultry]

For the past couple days one of the Golden Comet hens would occasionally twitch her head and hold her head back and shake. I noticed it the other day and maybe thought she got a strand of grass in her nose or something. But she doesn't. Last night before they went to bed I felt her crop and it was pretty much full, so I massaged it and angled her and liquid came out, but she had just drank and ate so I don't know if it was sour crop liquid. It smelled sweet like sugar and cinnamon weirdly, but I did just give her corn so maybe the carbohydrates were breaking down into sweet smelling sugars. I don't know anyone got ideas?

 

[Isaac 0]

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[Eggcessive]

For the past couple days one of the Golden Comet hens would occasionally twitch her head and hold her head back and shake. I noticed it the other day and maybe thought she got a strand of grass in her nose or something. But she doesn't. Last night before they went to bed I felt her crop and it was pretty much full, so I massaged it and angled her and liquid came out, but she had just drank and ate so I don't know if it was sour crop liquid. It smelled sweet like sugar and cinnamon weirdly, but I did just give her corn so maybe the carbohydrates were breaking down into sweet smelling sugars. I don't know anyone got ideas?

Did her crop empty by the next morning before she had anything else to eat? Can you post a video of her neck movements? Look for TwoCrows thread about how to treat crop problems.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

Did her crop empty by the next morning before she had anything else to eat? Can you post a video of her neck movements? Look for TwoCrows thread about how to treat crop problems.

Update: It is not an issue with her crop, it was almost completely empty next morning. All I could feel was a few partially digested layer pellets. The head shaking has gotten much worse, not faster just more often. I will try to get a video of it, but I promise I can do it today. How do you post videos anyway.

My suspicion is the neck injury is from the cockerel who mates with the hens like once every couple minutes (he is almost 6 months old, so are the pullets). She is very small chicken despite the largest eggs, the cockerel weighs maybe 3 times as much as her and she is his favorite pullet, and the first pullet he mated with. I have heard of young cockerels killing hens by neck injuries because they are so rough, and he is definitely not the gentlest.

Should I separate her? If it is wry neck how should I repair. Do not want to lose this pullet because she is the most productive layer and despite being a bit of a bully she is nice to humans.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A video will be helpful. When you "reply" click on the "film reel" icon (next to the smiley face), this will prompt you to insert your video.

Look her over well for any signs of lice/mites - check the ears as well, this can cause them to shake their head.

If you suspect Wry Neck, give her some poultry vitamins with Vitamin E and Selenium. If she seems to have difficulty eating/drinking due to the head shaking, it would be best to separate her so you can monitor her symptoms and food/water intake.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

I will upload a video as soon as possible. When I went out there to record she just acted like herself, no head movements. She is eating, drinking, laying, and doing everything a normal chicken can do. So no worries there, she does seem to have a bit of mud residue near her nose from digging holes in the snowy ground. So I don't know if she caked up her throat with some mud and tried to clear it that way, but I wouldn't think she would have an issue for 3 days in a row.

Like I said I will try to get a video. But she doesn't do this all the time, and hopefully she won't again. She is probably the most famous hen (not pecking order wise), she had the first injury (leg injury), laid the first egg, and was the first to be chosen by the rooster.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

Good/Bad news:
The bad news is I could not get a video.
Good news is I couldn't get a video because she is now perfectly fine, no neck bobbing, head swinging, etc.

Sorry for the late update.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Good/Bad news:
The bad news is I could not get a video.
Good news is I couldn't get a video because she is now perfectly fine, no neck bobbing, head swinging, etc.

Sorry for the late update.

Glad to hear she is doing well