Impaction gone, now not eating as much

[Plant City Newb]

One of my hens had a crop impaction. I isolated her and we got it cleared out and this morning I put her back into the run with the other chickens. She isn't eating as much as usual today. Is this normal after going through a crop impaction?

 

[micstrachan]

I personally don't have experience with this, but I would guess she is still feeling a bit "yucky" and therefore not eating as much. Was she eating well while impacted?

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Hello Plantcitynewb,

Your little girl will need to be in a hospital cage for most of the day, and then you can let her sleep in the coop with her flock at night. Check her crop each morning to make sure it is emptying and also check that she is pooping normally.

My hen just recovered from a bad crop impaction. If you keep her in the hospital cage, you can monitor her progress, they are very weak after. She should be eating only soft foods for the week. I fed my hen: cooked grains oat groats, wheat berries, brown rice and pearl barley, diced grapes & apple, a little cooked meat or eggs, creamed corn etc. I offered moistened layer mash and dry too. Fresh water is very important. It's easier to feed her special foods if she is alone. You will also be able to tell if she is healing.

My hen was also given Lactulose for 4 days to keep things moving and also an antifungal.

If you put her with the flock too soon, she will be too weak to compete for food. She will be sleepy for a few days, so it is good for her to be alone most of the day to rest. If she falls into frailty she could get a secondary infection, which could be lethal.

Hope this info is of use to you and your little hen.
God Bless.

 

[Plant City Newb]

Thanks everyone.

 

[Plant City Newb]

OK...I put my hen back into the hospital crate. She's not wanting to eat much (there was some food in her crop) but she is drinking a lot of water. There's a mash of oatmeal and a little feed but she's not touching it. Now she's having runny, watery poop. I'm assuming this is because she's not eating much. She's been asleep most of the afternoon. Not sure what to do. I'm going to give a few cc's of sugar water to see if that helps her feel better and maybe gets her eating. I'm not sure how to get feed into her mouth if she's not interested in eating.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

This is where I really like to use Hemp Protien Powder. It will not only nourish the hen, but stimulate her appetite. Have you tried giving her some chopped pieces of cooked meat? Chickens are wired to crave protein when they are weak. It gives a physical boost to endure harsh environments. Also, high energy fruit like black or red grapes, diced up. Creamed corn is also enticing, put a little in her mouth with a spoon or straw, to get her going. She'll need some serious pampering to get her back on her feet.

If she is drinking, that is good, you can add some aloe vera with a bit of apple juice to heal her digestive system and provide energy too. Sugar water is good but has no nutrients, give her some Nutri Drench to provide vitamins. .

Yes, that runny watery poop is the water going through her digestive system with not enough food to create bulk.

If you can syringe feed by grinding some feed in a spice mill or blender, then sifting it so that it doesn't plug the syringe. If it does, cut the tip of the syringe to make a bigger outlet for the food. Add some water to the sifted feed to make a slurry. Then, suck it up into the syringe and feed that little girl.

Sometimes you gotta think outside of the box, you got this!

God Bless!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Also, if it gets cold at night where you are, some mild warmth will benefit her. Make sure she can move away from it if she wants.

 

[rebrascora]

I would guess that you have not fully resolved the impaction. I've had birds that went weeks with treatment and I ended up doing surgery on one because the impaction would not shift and even though she was weak and skinny, she was wolfing down mushy food immediately after surgery.
How long was your girl impacted and what did you do to clear it? Just because it is no longer hard does not mean the impaction is cleared. Often it is caused by a soggy plug of ravelled up grass/hay or straw. If that goes down into the gizzard and causes an impaction there it is much more serious, so that is a possibility. I would keep her separated, only give her sloppy well homogenised food and massage her crop 4x a day for at least 10mins each time. Electrolytes in the sloppy food will keep her energy up and if they are getting sloppy food I don't worry too much about them drinking as well.

 

[Plant City Newb]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and help. My hen passed away sometimes during the night.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Excuse me for mentioning it, but would you consider opening her up, so that you can learn from her sad death. I find it very beneficial, if they die, to relate the symptoms I have been trying to treat with what is actually going on inside, so that hopefully the next time I will be more knowledgeable and maybe more successful in keeping it alive. I understand it can be emotionally difficult when it is a pet but once you cover the head and just focus on working out what you are seeing inside, it can be quite fascinating. There are threads here on BYC where we share photographs of our DIY post mortem examinations and discuss possible diagnoses. I can post a link if you are interested? Another alternative is to get a professional necropsy done. It needs to be done on a fresh, refrigerated carcass and some university facilities only charge a nominal fee. There are lists of state labs in the US that do them if that is something that you would consider. Vets tend to charge more and often don't have a lot of experience with poultry and have to send samples off for analysis anyway, so probably not the best option if you decide to have a necropsy done.

Best wishes for the rest of your flock

Regards

Barbara